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Solar powered aircraft leaves India for Myanmar on maiden global flight

Xinhua, March 19, 2015 Adjust font size:

Solar Impulse 2 (Si2), the solar powered aircraft on its maiden round the world flight, took off from Varanasi, northern India, Thursday morning for Myanmar, said organizers.

It's next halt is Mandalay. The sector from Varanasi to Mandalay is being piloted by Bertrand Piccard.

The Solar Impulse (Si2) aircraft had landed in Varanasi on Wednesday evening after days of over stay in the western Indian city Ahmedabad waiting for clearance for taking off.

The Si2 is the brainchild of Bertrand Piccard, a psychiatrist who flew around the world in a hot-air balloon in 1999, and former Swiss fighter pilot Andre Borschberg.

The first global flight of the plane is aimed at promoting clean energy and environmental protection. Endi