Thierry Dubois is a freelance writer specializing in helicopters, business aviation and aerospace technology. He earned a degree in fluid dynamics from an engineering school in Toulouse, France in the mid-1990s. At an unexpected crossroads, he found his first job in journalism. In 1997, he started working for French aerospace weekly Air &amp; Cosmos in Paris. This lasted until 2000, when he moved south to Lyons. He then became a freelancer, working for various aerospace publications and has been part of the AIN team since late 2000. In addition to writing about business aviation, Thierry shares responsibility for the rotorcraft section. He also is a regular on-site writer for AIN’s daily editions at international airshows such as the Paris, Farnborough, Dubai and Singapore shows, as well as at EBACE in Geneva.
In 2007, he won the Honeywell award for “Best systems or technology submission” at the Aerospace journalist of the year awards. In 2013, he won an Aerospace Media Award for the "Best Safety, Training &amp; Simulation Submission."
In other activities, Thierry moderates international conferences on aviation technology topics. Thierry is married and has three children, who seem to begin enjoying the mountains–as their parents do.

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Thierry Dubois

The Solar Impulse 2 launched this week on its mission to be the first solar-powered aircraft to circumnavigate the globe, and the organizing team held a debriefing at the mission control center in Monaco, after the first two flights in the sun-powered aircraft's round-the-world journey. Solar Impulse 2 landed on Tuesday in Ahmedabad, India, after what was seen as a difficult leg. It was relatively short, about 15 hours, but it crossed an ocean in a region where the company's meteorologists had a hard time finding tailwinds while keeping the risk of turbulence low. The 236-foot-span, 5,000-pound aircraft is so sensitive to turbulence that air traffic controllers enforce an agreed 2,000-foot vertical separation, instead of the standard 1,000 feet.

 


The flight was also an opportunity to test the redesigned pilot oxygen supply at 28,000 feet. The new system has been available for only three weeks, as Swiss civil aviation authorities nixed the previous one.

 


The batteries, fed by photovoltaic cells, account for about 10 hours of endurance, while climbing during day time allows another 4.5 hours of flight in descent, at night, using practically no electric power, explained “flight strategist” Stéphane Yong. &nbsp;

 


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Solar Impulse Logs First Legs in Round-the-world Flight

Powered by photovoltaic cells, the single-pilot aircraft flew from Abu Dhabi, UAE to Muscat, Oman and then on to Ahmedabad, India.

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