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Slovenian solo explorer takes off on third round-the-world flight

Xinhua, March 26, 2016 Adjust font size:

Slovenian pilot Matevz Lenarcic took off with ultralight aircraft in Portoroz in eastern Slovenia on Friday, starting his third solo round-the-world flight with an environmental project.

As part of the GreenLight WorldFlight 2016 Lenarcic will help measure atmospheric concentrations of black carbon, a powerful pollutant that has been found to play an important role in global warming.

After getting airborne in Portoroz, Lenarcic will fly over 42,000 km in a month. First day's 2,000-km stage on Friday will take him to Spain's Jerez, probably in about nine hours. The longest of the 13 stages planned will take him around 20 hours at average speeds of 230 to 240 km/h.

As he circumnavigates the globe at an altitude of three km, his plane will collect black carbon data. The data will be collected and analyzed by a team of researchers as part of a study aimed at raising awareness about the impact of black carbon on global warming, according to the report by Slovenian Press Agency (STA).

Lenarcic had successfully completed two solo round-the-world flights in 2004 and in 2012 respectively, both flights were rounded up with a Dynamic WT 9 ultralight plane made by Slovakian company Aerospool. Endit