Abu Dhabi: Solar Impulse 2, the first solar plane that started circumnavigating the globe from Abu Dhabi, is in last-minute preparations to notch up a landmark in the history of aviation.
André Borschberg, CEO of Solar Impulse, will fly for five consecutive days and nights across the Pacific from Nanjing in China to Hawaii in the US without a drop of fossil fuel.
The plane is expected to take off on Monday, if weather conditions are favourable, a representative of Solar Impulse told Gulf News on phone yesterday.
This is the most challenging leg of the plane’s round-the-world trip, which has already created suspense and emotions among enthusiasts of adventure, science and technology, and clean energy.
The pilot of the single-seater aircraft will be exposed to extreme conditions flying alone for up to 120 hours non-stop, living in the confinement of a 3.8m3 cockpit. They will be facing many human, technical and operational challenges which have been carefully researched, developed and simulated.
The world will be watching how the pilot will live in the small cockpit for five days in a row and how he will operate the plane and interact with the team on the ground. He must stay alert throughout the crossing of the Pacific.
From Hawaii,
Bertrand Piccard, initiator and chairman of Solar Impuse, will take the commands and fly to Phoenix, Arizona.
The plane will further stop in New York, Northern Africa or Southern Europe before attempting to return to Abu Dhabi after flying 35,000 kilometres around the globe accumulating 500 flight hours over five months to spread the message that clean technologies can achieve the impossible.
