Eighty-nine years after Charles Lindbergh became the first man to fly non-stop across the Atlantic, a Swiss explorer is repeating the feat in a solar-powered airplane. Bertrand Piccard took off this morning on a solo flight onboard Solar Impulse 2 across the Atlantic from New York to Europe on the 15th leg of its circumnavigation of the globe.
Provided weather conditions for the experimental airplane remain favorable, Piccard will roughly trace a route flown by American Charles Lindbergh, who in 1927 became the first man to fly solo non-stop across the Atlantic. Piccard’s Si2 airplane, on a record-breaking journey to raise awareness of the potential of clean technologies, will be propelled entirely by energy collected in its 17,000 solar cells and without using a drop of fuel. Lindbergh’s airplane needed 450 gallons of fuel.
Piccard is expected to land in Sevilla, Spain about 90 hours later. He and Swiss compatriot André Borschberg are taking turns flying the airplane on its historic journey around the world.
The Abu Dhabi-supported explorer gave the following interview shortly before leaving New York.
Why is crossing the Atlantic so important for you?
I met Charles Lindbergh when I was 11 years old at Cape Canaveral in Florida for the launch of Apollo 12. He symbolized for me the explorer and pioneer who changed the world of aviation. Since then, the Atlantic Ocean always inspired me. I crossed it a first time when I won the first Transatlantic Balloon Race in 1992, and a second time during my nonstop round the world balloon flight in 1999. It will be my third time with Solar Impulse, and really look a lot forward to it.
Who else inspired you?
Of course my grandfather with his stratospheric flights and my father with his submarine dives, one of which was the deepest ever, to the bottom of the Marianna Trench. And I also met most of the astronauts of the US moon program. They inspired me from that moment on! to beco me an explorer, to try to find new ways and embrace the unknown. I started flying hang-gliders when I was 16 and was an ultralight pioneer in Europe, before achieving the first non-stop round the world balloon flight. Now, to be able to fly across the Atlantic in a solar-powered plane is a dream coming true for me.
Why are you so interested in following his route from New York to Europe with your airplane?
Transatlantic crossings have always been testing ground for airplanes, balloons, airships, steamboats and even windsurfs, a rite of passage confirming their maturity and usability. Now, for the first time ever, it will be a solar airplane, flying electric without emissions and without fuel.
What’s different about your flight and Lindbergh’s?
It’s completely different in the sense that there is no fuel on board the Si2. This is an entirely new cycle in aviation. When Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic no one knew if it would be possible. Now, with a solar plane without any fuel and producing no polluting emissions, on board, it’s also been considered impossible. That’s why we have to try!
What’s the goal of your flight across the Atlantic and around the world?
What was interesting about Lindbergh’s journey is that he was making his flight in the hopes that it could open the way for commercial air traffic. After his flight to Paris he became very active in opening so famous that it opened doors to air traffic and airports everywhere. My goal with Solar Impulse 2 is not to push commercial air traffic but instead to push clean technologies and renewable energy. Our goal is for progress and innovation. What I really want to do is help push the implementation of clean technologies for a better world.
What else do you hope to accomplish flying solo in a solar-powered plane across the Atlantic?
There is an extremely important symbolic aspect of this flight across the Atlantic. This ocean historically represents the passage from the Old World to the New World. For hundreds of years people crossed the Atlantic to the United States believing they would discover a better life. But the Old World today is not a continent or a country any more but rather a state of mind of old polluting technologies, of oil and CO2 emissions. The New World today is the world of clean technologies, renewable energy and respect for the environment. This flight is a symbol, bridging the Old World with the New World. It will show everyone that we can enter into a New World of clean technologies.
Can you tell us a bit about your route, how long it will take and how high you’ll be flying.
I’ll be following the path of the Gulf Stream, the exact continuation of the route that my father (Jacques Piccard) took in a submarine he built in order to drift along the East Coast in 1969 from Florida to Nova Scotia. The departure date will depend on the weather conditions. We’re prepared to fly to airports in Ireland, France, Portugal, Spain and Morocco. I’ll be flying up to 9,000 meters and will be able to see and hear the transatlantic jets flying back and forth above me at 10,000 to 12,000 meters. Because the Solar Impulse is silent, you can hear the other planes flying around in the sky. Depending on the tailwinds, the flight will take four to six days. I’ll be doing exercises in the cockpit to stay fit and taking short 20-minute naps with the plane on autopilot, using technics of self-hypnosis I learned as a medical doctor.
