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Solar-powered
airplane
completes
historic
round-the-world
flight,
landing
safely
in Abu
Dhabi
By Erik
Kirschbaum/Tell
Us
USA/The
Green
News
ABU
DHABI
(Tell Us
USA) –
In an
epic
demonstration
of the
potential
of clean
technologies,
Swiss
adventurer
Bertrand
Piccard
landed
the
5,500-pound
sun-powered
Solar
Impulse
2
airplane
in Abu
Dhabi on
Friday
to
complete
the
first
circumnavigation
of the
globe
with an
aircraft
that did
not use
any
fuel.
Finishing
the 17th
leg of
the
history-making
journey
from
Cairo at
the same
airport
here
where
the
airplane
first
took off
on its
mission
on March
9, 2015,
Piccard
and his
compatriot
Andre
Borschberg
had
alternated
solo
flights
at the
controls
of the
single-seat
airplane
that
derives
its
power
from
17,000
solar
cells
embedded
in the
wings --
which
are as
large as
a Boeing
747.
Piccard
and
Borschberg
had been
working
on the
project
for 12
years
and were
supported
by a
crew of
engineers,
meteorologists
and
other
specialists
as
mission
control
in
Monaco.
The
Solar
Impulse
2, which
is made
out of
carbon
fiber
and
weighs
about
the same
as a
small
truck,
drew
enthusiastic
crowds
of
thousands
of
spectators
at each
of the
stops,
eager to
learn
more
about
the
potential
of clean
technologies.
Aside
from
flying
nonstop
over the
planet’s
largest
two
oceans,
the
Pacific
and
Atlantic,
and past
some of
the
world’s
most
iconic
landmarks
such as
the
Himalaya,
San
Francisco’s
Golden
Gate
Bridge,
the
Statute
of
Liberty
in New
York and
the
pyramids
in
Egypt,
the
pilots
also set
a number
of
aviation
records.
Borschberg
shattered
the
record
for
endurance
by
flying
solo for
117
hours
and 52
minutes,
or five
days and
five
nights,
non-stop
across
the
Pacific
Ocean
from
Nagoya,
Japan to
Hawa ii
– a
distance
of 8,924
kilometers/
7,272
miles.
Excess
energy
collected
during
daylight
hours
was
stored
in the
airplane’s
four
batteries
and used
to keep
the
plane
flying
overnight.
It was
able fly
as high
as
28,000
feet
(8,500
meters)
but
usually
flew at
lower
altitudes
at night
to
conserve
energy.
The
pilots
trained
at
staying
alert
for long
stretches
of time
by
practicing
meditation
and
hypnosis
that
allows
them to
stay
awake
for
multiple
days
interrupted
only by
several
short
naps
each
24-hour
cycle.
“Everywhere
we went
the
reception
we got
was
emotional
and
deep,”
said
Borschberg,
who flew
the
penultimate
leg to
Cairo
from
Seville,
Spain
and said
he was
thrilled
to prove
that a
solar-powered
airplane
could in
theory
“fly
almost
forever”
because
it does
not need
any
fossil
fuels to
stay
aloft.
“It was
great to
show so
many
people
why
we’re
doing
this
project,
to show
them the
possibilities
of clean
technologies,
conserving
energy
and en
ergy
efficiency.”
Starting
in Abu
Dhabi,
the
plane
flew to
Muscat,
Oman,
then
across
the
Arabian
Sea to
Ahmedabad,
India,
before
heading
to
Varanasi,
India
and then
to
Mandalay,
Myanmar.
From
there it
was to
China
for
stops in
Chongqing
and
Nanjing.
Borschberg
had
planned
to fly
directly
to
Hawaii
but was
forced
to
re-route
to
Nagoya,
Japan
due to
weather.
The
longest
flight
then
followed
to
Kalaeloa,
Hawaii,
the
first of
seven
stops in
the
United
States:
Mountain
View,
California;
Phoenix,
Arizona;
Tulsa,
Oklahoma;
Dayton,
Ohio,
Lehigh
Valley,
Pennsylvania
and then
New
York.
From
there,
Piccard
flew
across
the
Atlantic
to
Seville,
Spain
for the
second
longest
flight –
just
over 71
hours.
The
penultimate
stop was
in
Cairo.
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