Solar plane Si2 takes off on five-month world tour
Xinhua, March 9, 2015 Adjust font size:
The Swiss solar-powered plane Solar Impulse 2 (Si2) successfully took off here on Monday, starting its first leg on its five-month tour around the world.
The solar-powered aircraft, developed by Swiss environmentalists Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, took off at 7:15 a.m. local time (0315 GMT), from Al-Bateen executive airport in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) capital Abu Dhabi.
The plane will fly approximately 10 hours until it reaches its first destination in Muscat, the capital of UAE's southern neighbor Oman, then head to India, Myanmar, from where Si2 will head to China and make planned stops in Chongqing and 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