Solar Impulse 2 (Si2) – the solar airplane of Swiss pioneers Bertrand Piccard and André
Borschberg – took off from Moffett Airfield in Mountain View, California, USA, and landed in Phoenix Goodyear Airport in Arizona on May 2, with Borschberg at the controls. Si2 is capable of flying day and night without fuel and is dependent only upon solar energy.
The flight, which lasted 15 hours 52 minutes and spanned 745 miles (1,199km), reached a maximum altitude of 22,000ft (6,706m) and an average speed of 43.58mph (70.15km/h).
The flight is part of an attempt to achieve the first ever round-the-world solar flight, to demonstrate how modern clean technologies can achieve the impossible, according to statements from Si2.
As soon as possible, and weather permitting, Bertrand Piccard will pilot Si2 to continue the crossing of the USA.
May 6, 2016
