Abu Dhabi: A plane with the top speed of a homing pigeon is set to embark on a landmark round-the-world flight powered only by the sun’s energy, organisers said yesterday.
Solar Impulse 2, the first solar-powered plane to be able to fly for several days and nights, will land 12 times along its roughly 35,000km trip — including a five-day stretch above the Pacific Ocean without a drop of fuel.
“We want to demonstrate that clean technology and renewable energy can achieve the impossible,” said Solar Impulse Chairman Bertrand Piccard, the scion of a dynasty of Swiss scientists-cum-adventurers.
The plane’s route was unveiled yesterday in Abu Dhabi, where it will begin the journey in late February or early March.
It will first stop at Muscat, to benefit from the Gulf’s low-cloud conditions, before crossing the Arabian Sea to India and heading on to Myanmar, China, Hawaii and New York. Landings are also earmarked for the midwestern United States and either southern Europe or north Africa, depending on weather conditions.
The longest single leg will see a pilot fly the plane non-stop for five days and nights across the Pacific between Nanjing in China and Hawaii — a distance of 8,500km.
With flight speeds of 50-100km per hour, the entire round-the-world journey is expected to take five months to complete.AFP
