Solar Impulse 2 Makes Historic Landing In Dayton, Home Of Modern Aviation
Solar Impulse 2, the solar-powered plane attempting to fly around the world, arrived in Dayton, home of aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright.
SI 2 set off from Abu Dhabi in 2015 with pilots Andre Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard. The plane made its way to Japan and later Hawaii, not without hiccups. It was stranded at Hawaii for nine-months due to problems caused by heat. By then however the pilots had set a record for the longest solo flight stretching up to 117 hours and 52 minutes, CNN reported.
BREAKING @andreborschberg just landed in #Dayton after a zero-fuel 17h flight to #Ohio ! #futureisclean pic.twitter.com/Iqp5dgWAFC
— SOLAR IMPULSE (@solarimpulse)
Impulse landed in Ohio after a 17-hour flight from Phoenix. "People told the Wright Brothers & us what we wanted to achieve was impossible," Piccard reportedly said after landing. "They were wrong!" Piccard piloted the aircraft from Hawaii to San Francisco.
Made of light carbon fiber, the plane has a longer wing span than Boeing 747. It can reach speeds of 62 miles per hour while soaking solar energy through thousands of solar cells embedded within. The batteries allow it fly without fuel in the night at a heights of over 8,000 meters.
"This flight marks the completion of the fourth Solar Impulse mission flight this year. Despite tricky weather conditions over the United States, our mission engineers at the Mission Control Center in Monaco and the Air Traffic Control in the United States have made it possible for us to push forward in order to attempt the completion of the round-the-world solar flights," a blog post reads.
Technology of Solar Impulse 2 is expected to propel the next generation of aviation which is hoped to be less taxing on the environment. "Everybody could use the same technologies on the ground to halve our world's energy consumption, save natural resources and improve our quality of life," is the message the plane and its pilots say they wish to convey.
Impulse is headed for New York City before it attempts to cross the Atlantic later this year.
