The longest fuel cell powered flight of a radio-controlled airplane has been achieved by students at the University of Michigan and engineers at Ann Arbor-based fuel cell manufacturer Adaptive Materials, Inc.

Their plane, named Endurance, flew for 10 hours, 15 minutes and 4 seconds in a flight that lasted from sunrise to sunset on Oct. 30, 2008 at Field of Dreams Park in Milan, Mich. The previous world record was just over 9 hours. It was held by another group.

The student SolarBubbles team built the airframe, which has an 8-foot wingspan. Adaptive Materials built the propane-powered solid oxide fuel cell. The plane has a fuel cell/battery hybrid power system.