Solar Plane will take Historic Round-The-World Flight

on
Solar Plane will take Historic Round-The-World Flight

Solar Plane will take Historic Round-The-World Flight
Techy GUYS
Solar Plane Will Take Historic Round-The-World Flight - A solar powered plane aims to fly into history on Monday, taking off from Abu Dhabi on a round-the-world odyssey to promote alternative energy. The flight of Solar Impulse 2, whose hoped-for today takeoff had to be put off due to strong winds, will cap 13 years of research and testing by two Swiss pilots whose idea was ridiculed by the aviation industry. The Si2 made a third successful test flight in the United Arab Emirates on Monday, and mission chiefs reported no problems. Solar Impulse's chairman and one of the pilots is Bertrand Piccard, who hails from a family of scientist-adventurers and was the first person, in 1999, to circumnavigate the globe in a hot air balloon. 'We want to demonstrate that clean technology and renewable energy can achieve the impossible,' he told AFP.

Solar Impulse Plane begins Epic Global Flight
Solar Impulse Plane begins Epic Global Flight
Techy GUYS
Solar Impulse plane begins epic global flight - A record-breaking attempt to fly around the world in a solar-powered plane has got under way from Abu Dhabi. The aircraft - called Solar Impulse-2 - took off from the Emirate, heading east to Muscat in Oman. Over the next five months, it will skip from continent to continent, crossing both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans in the process. Andre Borschberg was at the controls of the single-seater vehicle as it took off. He will share the pilot duties in due course with fellow Swiss, Bertrand Piccard. The plan is stop off at various locations around the globe, to rest and to carry out maintenance, and also to spread a campaigning message about clean technologies. Before taking off, Borschberg told BBC News: "I am confident we have a very special aeroplane, and it will have to be to get us across the big oceans."

Related articles