An experimental, solar-powered aircraft took off from Tulsa in the midwestern US state of Oklahoma early Saturday, kicking off the latest phase of its record-breaking quest to circle the globe without consuming a drop of fuel. Swiss businessman Andre Borschberg, who has teamed up with adventurer Bertrand Piccard for the Solar Impulse 2 project, piloted the flight expected to last
about 18 hours. The plane, which aims to promote clean energy technologies, departed Tulsa International Airport and was due to land at Dayton International Airport, Ohio, hours later the project organizers said. “The flight is part of the attempt to achieve the first ever Round-The-World Solar Flight, the goal of which is to demonstrate how modern clean technologies can achieve the impossible.
How IT WORKS – The Solar Impulse 2, which weighs roughly the same as a family car but has wings wider than those of a Boeing 747, contains 17,000 solar cells that power the aircraft’s propellers and charge batteries. At night, the plane runs on stored energy. The typical flight speed is around 30 miles an hour, which can increase to double that when exposed to full sunlight. After crossing the United States, the pilots are set to make a transatlantic flight to Europe, from where they plan to make their way back to their point of departure in Abu Dhabi. Piccard, a doctor by training, completed the first non-stop round-the-world balloon flight in 1999. His teammate Borschberg is no stranger to adventure — 15 years ago he narrowly escaped an avalanche, and in 2013 he survived a helicopter crash with just minor injuries.
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