On the longest stretch, the Solar Impulse 2 was flown for five days straight over the Pacific Ocean from Japan to Hawaii, a record distance and time in flight – close to 118 hours – for a piloted-solar powered plane.
Advertisement
For the two pilots, landing back where they started was only “the beginning of the continuation” of a longer journey, said Piccard, who in 1999 became the first person to circumnavigate the globe non-stop in a hot-air balloon.
Piccard and Borschberg worked tirelessly on the Solar Impulse aircraft for over a decade.
“There’s something that is truly special about solar power”, he said.
The flight began in Abu Dhabi, one of the United Arab Emirates, on March 9, 2015.
Solar Impulse is no heavier than a vehicle, but has the wingspan of a Boeing 747. Four batteries keep the plane’s four engines operating for nighttime flight.
Solar Impulse 2 was greeted by the world’s media when it touched down in Abu Dhabi, as well as Swiss transport minister Doris Leuthard, who praised the achievement for highlighting the “innovation” of Switzerland.
However, while a large-scale solar plane is unlikely to be seen, electric or hybrid electric planes have taken a step forward with the recent announcement of the NASA X-57 all-electric plane.
German test pilot Markus Scherdel steers the solar-powered Solar Impulse 2 aircraft with the Mont-Blanc in background during a training flight at its base in Payerne, September 27, 2014.
Piccard, who is 58, and André Borschberg, 63, took turns in the airplane for the 16 other flights in the single-seater, which has the wingspan of a 747 jumbo jet but weighs only as much as a auto.
The solar airplane, piloted by Swiss adventurer Andre Borschberg, flies over Manhattan, U.S. on June 11, 2016 shortly before landing at John F. Kennedy airport.
Growing costs also threatened the project.
The project is estimated to cost more than $100 million.
The project showed numerous difficulties facing solar flight. Weather and equipment failures kept the plane grounded for long periods of time.
Some experts believe these problems can be solved with further research.
It is already involved in innovative and profitable uses of sustainable “green” technologies such as the development of ultra-lightweight materials and multiple-use solar-powered drones. “It was what I call the moment of truth”, Borschberg said.
Advertisement
Co-founders and pilots of Solar Impulse said their accomplishment was created to prove “that clean technologies can achieve the impossible” and that it was “not just a first in the history of aviation, but also a first in the history of energy”. Mario Ritter adapted it for Learning English.
