The solar plane began its attempt to circumnavigate the world – Clarín.com

The challenge of to circumnavigate the world in a plane little would novel if there were an adventure to embark on board an aircraft, such as the Solar Impulse 2 (SI2) uses sunlight as its only fuel and will face a stretch of up to five days straight flight .

The crossing took off early today from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, the plan is encircle the planet in twelve steps , which insumirán a five months .

Solar impulse project has the support of several large companies and aims to spread the use of renewable energy .

Led by the Swiss Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, adventure from around the world is the crowning of a path full of world records : The Solar prototype Impulse 1 became the first solar airplane fly by night , the first combining two continents and who first crossed from side to side the United States.

Now the SI2, aims to be the first solar plane to circle the world in a journey of 35,000 km of course. Piccard and Borschberg will take turns driving the ship , which has room for one person. When the aircraft crosses the Atlantic Ocean should fly five straight days .

The full journey, as expected, demand about 150 days . The takeoff point, Abu Dhabi, is also the end point of the tour, in late July or early August

The route includes stops in Muscat, Oman.; Ahmedabad and Varanasi, India; Mandalay, Myanmar; and Chongqing and Nanjing, China. After cross the Pacific Ocean with a stopover in Hawaii, SI2 fly over the continental US, where he has provided three arrests: Phoenix, at JFK city New York and in third place in the Midwest will be decided based on the weather .

After crossing the Atlantic, the final stages of the journey include a stop in southern Europe and North Africa before coming back to Abu Dhabi.

The SI2 is covered by more than 17,000 solar panels boasts of not use a drop of traditional fuels . “It’s a plane that is designed for travel. The first (SI1) was a prototype for local flights. The Solar Impulse 2 has a larger cabin for the pilot can lie, has autopilot to sleep, bathroom, very reliable instruments with duplication of all systems. This is an aircraft that can stay aloft six or seven days, “said Bertrand Piccard in an interview with swissinfo.ch.