Solar Powered Plane Lands In Egypt In Around The World Flight
- by Virginia Carter
- in World Media
- — Jul 14, 2016
The Solar Impulse 2 has a 72 meter wingspan, and is fitted with over 17,000 solar cells. Solar Impulse will take off to complete the circle when weather conditions are optimal. The solar-powered plane landed in Mountain View, California, on Saturday night, April 23, 2016, to complete the Pacific segment of its circumnavigation of the world.
While the Solar Impulse is wider than a 747, it only weighs 2.3 metric tons. In the US, the plane traveled from San Francisco to Phoenix, then on to Tulsa; Dayton, Ohio; Allentown, Pa., and New York City.
"The most important thing isn't to make world records", Piccard said previous year. "This is what we can do with these new technologies". The plane left Seville, Spain, at around dawn local time on Monday. The last leg will see Solar Impulse return to Abu Dhabi, where its journey began sixteen months ago.
Solar Impulse is being flown on its 35,400-kilometre trip around the world in stages, with Mr Piccard and his Swiss compatriot Mr Borschberg alternating at the controls of the single-seater aircraft.
Commenting on the significance of the solar plane flying over the Masdar-invested plant, Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Masdar CEO, said: "A key misconception about solar energy is that it is only viable during daylight hours".
That record-breaking flight damaged the plane's battery. He made this statement before taking off from Seville International Airport at 04:20 GMT.
"It's André's last flight during our round the world endeavor, and I congratulate him for having led the technical team who realized such a revolutionary airplane,"says Bertrand Piccard".
"Thanks to clean technologies, today you can reconcile economy and ecology. this was my goal when I started the project", Piccard told Reuters.
In a tweet, as Borschberg was preparing for landing, he said "I'm exhausted but also feeling emotional about nearing the end".
This penultimate leg will involve having to negotiate busy air routes across seven countries. Each of the pilots has had a chance to fly the plane one last time.
"This landing in Cairo brings Solar Impulse back to the origin of my dream".
