The Solar Challenger was a solar-powered aircraft designed by Paul MacCready’s AeroVironment. The aircraft was designed as an improvement on the Gossamer Penguin, which in turn was a solar-powered variant of the human-powered Gossamer Albatross. It was powered entirely by the photovoltaic cells on its wing and stabilizer, without even reserve batteries, and was the first such craft capable of long-distance flight. In 1981, it successfully completed a 163-mile (262 km) demonstration flight from France to England.
The Solar Challenger was designed by a team led by Paul MacCready as a more airworthy improvement on the Gossamer Penguin, directly incorporating lessons learned from flight testing the earlier aircraft. As with the Gossamer Penguin, construction was sponsored by DuPont in exchange for publicity for the company’s patented materials incorporated in the design. AstroFlight, Inc. supplied the motors and solar panels, designed by Robert Boucher. The plane’s wings carried 16,128 solar cells yielding a maximum solar power of 3,800 watts. It was flight tested in Western USA in winter 1980–1981.

First flown on 6 November 1980, at Shafter, California, the Solar Changer then made several training flights including one of 90 minutes on 14 November 1980 reaching 1600 ft / 488 m. For these initial flights an electric battery was carried providing for an output of 3 hp for less than 30 minutes, the remainder of the flight using soaring techniques. Subsequently 15,000 solar cells were fixed to the wing and tailplane with the capability of producing similar power, and further flights were made in December 1980 including one of nearly 2 hrs and another to 3500 ft / 1067 m.

All flights to February 1981 were made by Janice Brown.

On July 7, 1981, the aircraft flew 163 miles from Pontoise – Cormeilles Aerodrome, north of Paris, France to Manston Royal Air Force Base in Manston, United Kingdom, staying aloft 5 hours and 23 minutes, with pilot Stephen Ptacek at the controls. Currently the plane is owned by the Smithsonian Institution’s Air and Space Museum.

The Solar Challenger was designed to be sturdier, more powerful, and more maneuverable than the Gossamer Penguin so as to be able to withstand sustained high-altitude flight and normal turbulence. It was over three times as heavy (without pilot) as the Gossamer Penguin and had a shorter wingspan, but was proportionately more powerful, with electricity supplied by 16,128 solar cells powering two three-horsepower motors. The solar panels were directly affixed to the wing and large horizontal stabilizer, both of which had to be flat on top to accommodate them. The two motors, each 3 inches wide and 17 inches long and incorporating samarium-cobalt permanent magnets, operated in tandem on a common shaft to drive a single, controllable-pitch propeller. The design incorporated advanced synthetic materials with very high strength to weight ratios, including Kevlar, Nomex, Delrin, Teflon, and Mylar, all supplied by the aircraft’s sponsor, Dupont.

Powerplant: 1 × solar-powered electric motor, 2.75 hp (2 kW)
Wingspan: 47 ft 0 in (14.3 m)
Length: 29 ft 0 in (8.8 m)
Empty weight: 205 lb (90 kg)
Gross weight: 350 lb (159 kg)
Maximum speed: 40 mph (64 km/h, 35 kn)
Service ceiling: 14,300 ft (4,360 m) demonstrated
g limits: +6, -3
Rate of climb: 150 ft/min (0.765 m/s)
Seats: 1