With André Borschberg at the controls, the single-seater solar-powered aircraft landed at Dayton International Airport at 9:56 pm EDT after of 16 hours and 34 minutes in the air.
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It departed from Tulsa International Airport at 4:22 am (0922 GMT).
The Solar Impulse 2 has already broken records in its round-the-world attempt.
The plane took off again in late April from Hawaii to San Francisco.
Project officials say the layovers give the two Swiss pilots Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg a chance to swap places and engage with local communities along the way so they can explain the project, which is estimated to cost more than $100 million. That set the stage for the current project.
The aeroplane has a wingspan of 236 feet (exceeding that of a Boeing 747), weighs just 5,070 pounds, but is slower than most aircraft powered by gas-turbine engines – averaging speeds of approximately 56 miles per hour.
Weather is a key consideration for Solar Impulse’s flight schedule: Forecasters determined that today provided a good opportunity to avoid clouds and rain, which would pose risky difficulties for the lightweight solar-powered plane.
After crossing the United States, the pilots are set to make a transatlantic flight to Europe, from where they plan to make their way back to their point of departure in Abu Dhabi.
“Breaking the journey into parts makes weather conditions a lot easier to manage”, the team said. Excess energy is stored in four batteries during daylight hours to keep the plane flying after dark. In a similar way, Piccard hopes that he and Borschberg will help usher in an age of super-efficient solar power.
“Eager to reach #Dayton, the city of the Wright Brothers”.
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The plane is expected to make at least one more stop in the United States – in NY – before crossing the Atlantic Ocean to Europe or northern Africa, according to the website documenting the journey.
