Two pilots embark on a record breaking journey in a solar plane
The Solar Impulse-2 plane leaves Abu Dhabi on 5 month journey to fly round the world on a solar-powered plane.
Follow the Solar Impulse 2 in real time
In case of malfunction, you can go directly to the Tracking page
Record-breaking attempt to fly round the world on a solar plane
The Solar Impulse-2 plane leaves Abu Dhabi on 5 month journey to fly round the world on a solar-powered plane.
Andre Borschberg, took off in his single-seater, the Solar Impulse-2, from the Emirates yesterday, heading east to China, to embark on a 5 month round the world journey, hopping from continent to continent.
The journey in total is 35,000km distance, and co-pilot Bertrand Piccard from Switzerland, more well-known for his ballooning exploits, will assist at various locations, taking over so Borschberg can rest.
The aircraft has already set a number of world solar-powered records, but it will be interesting to see how it handles the large ocean crossings. It has a wing span of 72m (larger than a 747 jumbo), weighing only 2.3 tonnes. 17,000 solar cells on the top surface of the wings and lithium-ion batteries which will sustain night time flying.
The pilots could be flying for up to 5 consecutive days and nights to cover the wide ocean crossings, only sleeping for 20 minutes at a time to rest, however will be closely monitored by their team on the ground from Monaco.
Le reportage BFM Télé (France)
The reportage of THE GUARDIAN
