After landing the plane, pilot Bertrand Piccard was greeted outside the cockpit by his fellow pilot Andre Borschberg.
Advertisement
The Solar Impulse 2 airplane touched down early Tuesday, completing its final leg of the first entirely solar-powered flight around the world.
In April, Solar Impulse 2 made global headlines after crossing the Pacific, which included a 5,500-mile nonstop flight from Japan to Hawaii ― the longest of the trip. Let’s take it further, ‘ Piccard said, concluding the 13-year exploit. The plane runs on stored energy at night.
Previous legs of the journey took Piccard and his alternative pilot and Solar Impulse co-founder Andre Borschberg over India, China, the Pacific Ocean, the continental U.S., the Atlantic Ocean, Europe, and the Mediterranean as it set a string of solar-flight records. Every takeoff and landing were led by runners and bicyclists.
Over its entire mission, Solar Impulse 2 completed more than 500 flight hours, cruising at an average speed of between 45 kph and 90 kph.
During its stops in the United States, the aircraft landed in New York, Oklahoma, California, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.During its stops in the United States, the aircraft landed in New York, Oklahoma, California, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.
The carbon-fiber plane is a single-seater aircraft; its two Swiss pilots had to take turns flying solo for long days and nights. You can fly now longer without fuel than with fuel, and you fly with the force of nature, you fly with the sun.
With the trip now in the record books, the organizers say they want to turn the focus to how Solar Impulse 2’s technology could be applied to other technology.
“By flying around the world thanks to renewable energy and clean technologies, we have demonstrated that we can now make our world more energy efficient”, said Borschberg, who also piloted the plane.
The solar project, which is estimated to cost more than $100 million, began in 2002 to highlight the importance of renewable energy and the spirit of innovation.
Advertisement
The plane was then delayed nine months after the batteries overheated on the trip from Japan to Hawaii, and there was no way to cool down the technology. The UAE-based Masdar, the Abu Dhabi government’s clean-energy company, was a main sponsor of the flight.
