Solar Plane 6 Day Nonstop Flight to Hawaii has Started

The Solar Impulse 2 Solar Plane is on its nonstop flight from China to Hawaii. It is a 6 day nonstop flight. Due to bad weather the start of the history making flight had been postponed for quite some time. Now the sun powered plane is in the air.

The Solar Impulse 2 solar powered airplane is in the midst of a mission to fly around the world without a drop of fossil fuel. Today it took off on its most daring leg of the journey. The Solar Impulse 2 plan started on its 6 day nonstop flight from China to Hawaii. 

Solar Impulse took off for its seventh flight from Nanjing to Hawaii on Saturday /4/30th at 18:39 UTC. André Borschberg will attempt to cross the Pacific on solar energy only, a first in history. Pilot André Borschberg will fly the zero-fuel airplane on about 8,172km (4412NM) for an estimated time of 6 days and nights. 

Right now the Solar plane is over South Korea. Borschberg Tweeted: “I’m slowly getting used to #Si2’s cockpit and feeling more and more comfortable in my new environment.”

The Swiss led around-the-world mission flights take place over 5 months from the beginning of March to the end of July 2015. The Solar Impulse 2 solar airplane around the world flight started in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirate. The route includes stops in Muscat, Oman; Ahmedabad and Varanasi, India; Mandalay, Myanmar; and Chongqing and Nanjing, China.

After crossing the Pacific Ocean via Hawaii, Si2 will fly across the Continental U.S.A. stopping in three locations – Phoenix, and New York City at JFK. A location in the Midwest will be decided dependent on weather conditions. After crossing the Atlantic, the final legs include a stop-over in Southern Europe or North Africa before arriving back in Abu Dhabi.

The Solar Impulse 2 Solar Plane mission in numbers

• 2 pilots, Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg.
• 1 airplane: Solar Impulse 2
• Zero fuel on board
• A 35,000km (22,000 miles) journey
• 500 flying hours approx.
• 10 legs approx., some lasting more than 5 days and nights
• A 5-month mission (March-August 2015)
• A 60 people support team

You can follow the solar plane mission live on the Solar Impulse site.