BEGINNINGS
In 1983, Jay Godsall was a high school student hoping to expand his lawn-mowing business in Ottawa. His friend Michel Rugema, son of a Burundian diplomat, introduced him to the African embassy community for a simple lunch meeting to talk business. It turned into a debate over the challenges of transportation posed by landlocked Africa and Canada, and Jay realized that solving the problem would require a new kind of vehicle - a vehicle that did not rely on extensive infrastructure, or on fossil fuels.
The venture was a departure from mowing lawns, but after several challenging starts and almost 25 years, Jay founded Solar Ship Inc. in 2006 to build buoyant aircraft that fly anywhere without the need for fuel, roads or infrastructure. Since then, Solar Ship has developed and tested more than a dozen aircraft and recruited world leaders in aviation, energy, logistics, advanced materials, finance, and remote operations.
The venture was a departure from mowing lawns, but after several challenging starts and almost 25 years, Jay founded Solar Ship Inc. in 2006 to build buoyant aircraft that fly anywhere without the need for fuel, roads or infrastructure. Since then, Solar Ship has developed and tested more than a dozen aircraft and recruited world leaders in aviation, energy, logistics, advanced materials, finance, and remote operations.
HYBRID AIRCRAFTS
Guided by its unwavering mission, Solar Ship has been pushing the boundaries of aviation since its founding. Combining novel aircraft design with pioneering electric propulsion and control systems is a challenge that comes with risk as well as reward, and some of the many lessons that have been learned over the years have been hard ones. After several years of testing and flying remotely-piloted and manned prototypes of its hybrid aircraft successfully, Solar Ship set out to build the world’s first solar-electric powered hybrid airship, the Caracal. While it set records for electric short takeoff and landing (STOL) performance as part of its Test & Evaluation program, the Caracal crashed, injuring its pilots.
The crash led to soul-searching and a thorough re-analysis of every aspect of the design to understand the novel aerodynamic and aero-structural root cause. This effort became the foundation for the Wolverine aircraft program, and years of computational fluid dynamics, prototyping, and test & evaluation culminated in a clean-sheet design improving on every aspect of Solar Ship’s hybrid aircraft. Solving the stability challenges and improving efficiency at the same time, this design is the basis for all of Solar Ship’s current hybrids.
The crash led to soul-searching and a thorough re-analysis of every aspect of the design to understand the novel aerodynamic and aero-structural root cause. This effort became the foundation for the Wolverine aircraft program, and years of computational fluid dynamics, prototyping, and test & evaluation culminated in a clean-sheet design improving on every aspect of Solar Ship’s hybrid aircraft. Solving the stability challenges and improving efficiency at the same time, this design is the basis for all of Solar Ship’s current hybrids.
AEROSTATS
What if an aerostat could fly itself to the site of operation? This ambitious challenge led to the development of Solar Ship’s spherical airship, the Tsorocopter, combining the envelope of the Powerstat with enough electric motors to independently control its flight in every direction. The prototype was so successful that it led to an entirely new product line of airships offering precise maneuverability and heavy lift capabilities for a variety of missions and applications.
AIRSHIPS
What if an aerostat could fly itself to the site of operation? This ambitious challenge led to the development of Solar Ship’s spherical airship, the Tsorocopter, combining the envelope of the Powerstat with enough electric motors to independently control its flight in every direction. The prototype was so successful that it led to an entirely new product line of airships offering precise maneuverability and heavy lift capabilities for a variety of missions and applications.
TEEPEE
The Teepee is another offshoot of the development of the Powerstat. Remote area infrastructure able to house large aircraft is a persistent challenge, if not an impossibility if it involves heavy metal or concrete construction. The Teepee is a unique building like an enormous tent that gains its primary structural integrity from the buoyant lift of a spherical aerostat pulling tension on its fabric instead of requiring rigid poles. This innovation dramatically reduces the size, weight, and deployment time required to erect large structures in remote areas.