Tags: Aircraft.
The AstroFlight Sunrise was an unmanned experimental electric aircraft technology demonstrator and the first aircraft to fly on solar power.First conceived in November 1970 the Sunrise first flew on 4 November 1974 from Bicycle Lake a dry lakebed on the Fort Irwin Military Reservation. The first prototype was destroyed on its 28th flight by turbulence. The improved Sunrise II flew the following year.