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Solar plane to start world tour Monday

Xinhua, March 9, 2015 Adjust font size:

Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, the Swiss co-founders and pilots of Solar Impulse 2 (Si2), announced here on Sunday they will start their first solar-powered round-the-world flight on March 9.

The solar-powered aircraft will take off in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), then head to Muscat, Oman, India, Myanmar, from where Si2 will head to China and make planned stops in Chongqing and the coastal city of Nanjing.

After crossing the Pacific with a stopover in Haiwai, Si2 will head to Phoenix and New York. Then the solar-powerd plane will cross the Atlantic, and the final legs will include a stopover in southern Europe or north Africa before arriving in Abu Dhabi.

The aircraft's batteries will be charged solely by solar panels which are attached on the plane's wings with a spread length of 72 meters.

The project was initiated in 1999, and the first test flights during day and night were done in 2010. Endit