Swiss pilot Bertrand Piccard completed the 62-hour leg of the journey on Sunday morning after taking off from Kalaeloa airport in Hawaii on April 21st.
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The milestone saw the solar aircraft – with a Boeing 747’s wingspan, but approximating the weight of an SUV – flying over the Golden Gate Bridge and into the San Francisco Bay. “I can not wave but I’m sure they will see #Si2” he tweeted.
Piccard, who has been alternating the long solo flights with team-mate Andre Borschberg, will now hand over to his team-mate who will pilot Solar Impulse across the United States and to NY. The Solar Impulse 2 (Si2) landed successfully in Mountain View, California, just before midnight local time on Saturday. The flight around the world began in March of previous year when the Si2 took off for the first leg of the journey-from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, to Masqat, Oman-and then made stops in India, Myanmar, China and Japan. A significant difference in the two flights is that Earhart’s plane carried 500 gallons of gasoline whereas the Solar Impulse 2 runs on only energy from the sun.
Along with co-founder and CEO André Borschberg, Piccard has been working toward fuel-free solar-powered flight for more than a decade. Unfortunately the joy subsided after damage due to over-insulation to Solar Impulse 2’s batteries, which caused it to delay its final journal until this month. After uncertainty about winds, the plane took off from Hawaii on Thursday morning.
Image: With 17,248 solar cells built into the wing powering the aircraft’s four batteries, Si2 crossed 4,523km across the Pacific. But that will depend on weather.
The solar plane project, which has Google as its sponsor, is estimated to be worth more than $100 million.
A Swiss explorer and psychiatrist, Piccard said the journey is a symbol of a new era, as per a CNN report. “This is where the pioneers can really express themselves and be successful”. As Vox’s Brad Plumer wrote when the plane took off in 2015, its slow speed and the fact that it can only hold two passengers means that solar-powered aircraft might not have many practical implications for air travel in the foreseeable future.
Reaching shoreline of the US mainland was a major milestone and one of the most challenging legs for the Solar Impulse 2.
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“Maybe it will be boring in 20 years when all the airplanes will be electric and people will say ‘Oh, it’s routine.’ But now, today, an airplane that is electric, with electric engines, that produces its own energy with the sun, it can never be boring”, he added.
