ABSTRACT
Gossamer Penguin was the world’sfirst solar-powered airplane tocarry a human pilot. It made its first flight in 1980. Gossamer Penguin is one of several experimental aircraft designed to investigate the possibility of using energy from the Sun, rather than fossil fuels, to power airplanes of the future. The advantage of a solar airplane is that it could fly for many days without ever having to land, because its power source (sunlight) is all around it in the atmosphere.
