An ultra-lightweight, solar powered plane has exceeded the official world record time for the longest duration unmanned flight with a 54 hour flight achieved during trials.

Launched by hand (well, a few by the looks of the pic below), the Zephyr is an ultra-lightweight carbon-fibre aircraft with a wingspan of up to 18 metres but weighing just 30 kg. During the day it flies on solar power generated by amorphous silicon arrays no thicker than sheets of paper that cover the aircraft’s wings. By night it is powered by rechargeable lithium-sulphur batteries that are recharged during the day using solar power.

The 54 hour flight unofficially well and truly breaks the previous record of 30 hours 24 minutes held by a Global Hawk surveillance aircraft; powered by jet propulsion.

With some further development, theoretically the plane could be flown pretty much indefinitely. During the flights, Zephyr reached a maximum altitude of more than 58,000ft (18,000m), which is far higher than a regular airliner, any bird and even stretching the limits of the now-defunct Concorde.

While the Zephyr is being developed with defence funding, it could also provide a cheaper alternative to satellites and be used for monitoring natural disasters. Perhaps it could even be used for bringing Internet connectivity more cheaply to remote areas.

As for it’s military applications, bleh – but it’s good to see war bucks being spent on something that doesn’t chew volumes of oil, drop bombs or has guns poking out of it… yet.