- cross-posted to:
- solarpunktravel@slrpnk.net
- cross-posted to:
- solarpunktravel@slrpnk.net
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Except the fuel used to get them to altitude?
See the video, but not really.
spoiler
A tiny bit for the initial winch, but most of the altitude gain is just air currents.
You could also do a hike&fly, which is where you hike up a mountain and then jump. From that point you just catch thermals, so literally zero fuel (except food for you body I guess)
They do use a winch that gets them up a couple hundred feet or so - it’s technically not energy-free, but it’s pretty darn close to it. It basically shortens the initial climb and makes it easier since they basically have to find a thermal to gain altitude. So having a couple hundred feet to play with means they can fly around to find a thermal.
So they could take off without the winch, but it helps. But it’s such a minimal amount of energy that while it technically means not quite energy-free, it’s pretty darn close.
And once they find that first thermal, it’s certainly energy free for as long/far as they can go, which can be hundreds of miles.
deleted by creator
Height ≠ Distance
I guess?
They said they use a mechanical winch in the video, so they might not use any fuel at all, even for the initial launch.
