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A comment on Solar-powered aircraft flown for nearly three weeks without landing. Parent comment

Re:Solar-powered aircraft flown for nearly three weeks witho... by titanomachy on Monday October 11, 2021 @07:19PM (#28834199)
Wow, the "Silent Yachts" one has a "fully automated towing kite"! That's not something I've ever encountered before, very clever. Removes the need for an annoyingly tall mast and probably saves a lot of weight as well.
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Re:Solar-powered aircraft flown for nearly three weeks witho... by contingencies on Monday October 11, 2021 @07:54PM (#28834427)
A mast provides a predictable center of lift in the boat on two axes, easy to control, handles high winds elegantly. Kite? Not so much. Also, try sailing in to the wind with a kite. May be possible, but very, very slow going. Traditional sail plans strike a balance between functionality at all points of sail, ease of handling and safety. They also have downwind sail options.
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Re:Solar-powered aircraft flown for nearly three weeks witho... by Stevvo on Monday October 11, 2021 @08:16PM (#28834578)
One advantage of a kite sail is you have more surface area for solar panels and those panels are not going to shaded by the sail while underway.
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