Solar plane prepares for global trip
Print Edition
A PLANE with the top speed of a homing pigeon is set to embark on a landmark round-the-world flight powered only by the sun’s energy, organizers said yesterday.
Solar Impulse 2, the first solar-powered plane to be able to fly for several days and nights, will land 12 times along its roughly 35,000 kilometer trip — including a five-day stretch above the Pacific Ocean without fuel.
“We want to demonstrate that clean technology and renewable energy can achieve the impossible,” said Solar Impulse chairman Bertrand Piccard, the scion of a dynasty of Swiss scientists-cum-adventurers.
“Renewable energy can become an integral part of our lives, and together we can help save our planet’s natural resources,” he said.
The plane’s route was unveiled yesterday in Abu Dhabi, where it will begin the journey in late February or early March.
It will first stop at Muscat in Oman, to benefit from the Gulf’s low-cloud conditions, before crossing the Arabian Sea to India and heading on to Myanmar, China, Hawaii and New York. Landings are also earmarked for the midwestern United States and either southern Europe or north Africa, depending on the weather.
The longest single leg will see a pilot fly the plane non-stop for five days and nights across the Pacific between Nanjing in China and Hawaii — a distance of 8,500 kilometers.
It will take about 25 days of flying time for Si2 to complete its round-the-world journey.
Although groundbreaking in distance, the trip will not be undertaken at a lightning pace. With speeds of 50-100kph, the trip is set to take five months.
The plane is the successor of Solar Impulse, which completed a 26-hour flight in 2010.
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