35,000km journey with no fuel: Swiss pilots attempt first solar-powered flight around the world
Two Swiss pilots on a solar-powered aeroplane will attempt to complete the first ever round-the-world flight with zero fuel – with stops in Chinese cities scheduled for later this month.
Two Swiss pilots on a solar-powered aeroplane will attempt to complete the first ever round-the-world flight with zero fuel – with stops in Chinese cities scheduled for later this month.
The single-seater aircraft called Solar Impulse 2 will be piloted alternately by André Borschberg, co-founder and chief executive of Solar Impulse, the Swiss company that developed the plane, and his partner Bertrand Piccard, a Swiss balloonist and psychiatrist.
Solar Impulse 2 is almost as large as an Airbus A380 but weighs only as much as a car. It has a 72-metre wingspan, wider than that of a Boeing 747 jumbo jet, but only a maximum speed of 90 km/h at sea level and 140 km/h at maximum altitude.
The 35,000-kilometre journey, which is planned to start on March 3 in Abu Dhabi, will take them five months, in that time they will be flying for a total of 25 days, with breaks in between for educational and promotional events at the destination cities.
They will land in 12 locations including China's Chongqing, scheduled for March 17, and Nanjing four days later.
Borschberg spoke to the South China Morning Post before embarking on the historic journey to traverse the globe, harnessing only the power of the sun.