sun plane Completes historic round-the-global Flight

The solar Impulse 2 aircraft landed in Abu Dhabi these days (July 26), finishing a 17-leg adventure that crossed Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the us, the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and the middle East. Pilots Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg's ambitious flight started on March nine, 2015, with Borschberg on the controls for the primary leg of the expedition. The pilots then took turns inside the single-seater cockpit as they traveled round the world, logging a complete of 23 days of flight and visiting 26,744 miles (forty three,041 kilometers).

"This isn't handiest a first within the history of aviation; it is before all a primary within the records of energy," Piccard said in a statement. "i'm sure that, within 10 years, we'll see electric airplanes transporting 50 passengers on brief- to medium-haul flights. however it is now not sufficient. The same smooth technology used on solar Impulse will be implemented at the floor in our day by day life to divide by using  the [carbon dioxide] emissions in a worthwhile way." [See more photos of the plane's round-the-world flight]

sun Impulse 2 became designed to fly day and night without using any gas. it's far powered absolutely by means of 17,000 solar cells and onboard batteries, which fee at some stage in the day to electricity the aircraft at night time and throughout cloudy climate.

The flight around the world garnered international interest, and a total of nineteen global facts had been set alongside the manner or are still looking forward to confirmation via the sector Air sports Federation. Borschberg accomplished the longest-period solo flight while he flew five consecutive days and nights over the Pacific Ocean from Japan to Hawaii. Piccard have become the primary to pass the Atlantic Ocean in a solar airplane.

After starting the adventure in Abu Dhabi in March 2015, the plane made stops in India, Myanmar, China and Japan before the record-breaking flight throughout the Pacific Ocean. In Hawaii, the plane became grounded for almost a yr due to overheated batteries, which brought about irreversible damage to the plane.

the adventure resumed when solar Impulse 2 flew from Hawaii to California in April 2016. After it crossed the usa — making stops in Arizona, Oklahoma, Ohio, Pennsylvania and the big apple — the aircraft became the first sun-powered aircraft to move the Atlantic Ocean, flying from big apple to Spain in seventy one hours and 8 minutes. earlier this month, the sun-powered airplane flew over the pyramids in Egypt, providing a hanging comparison among ancient and futuristic technology.

Borschberg and Piccard aimed for the historical flight to exhibit the energy of renewable energy resources and to encourage in addition improvement of "inexperienced" technologies.

"extra than an illustration, it is the confirmation that these technology are virtually reliable and dependable," Borschberg stated. "there's a lot ability for the aeronautical international: whilst one hundred-percent-sun-powered airplanes may take longer to materialize, electric airplanes will increase within the close to future due to their exceptional blessings, which includes strength performance."