Honolulu (USA) (AFP) – After almost 300 days of a long technical stop, the solar airplane Solar Impulse 2 resumed Thursday off and turn the unique world, leaving Hawaii to rally the coast western United States in just over two days.
the revolutionary experimental device that works with a battery fed by solar power took off under clear skies from the airport at 4:15 p.m. Kalaeloa GMT and headed Mountain View near San Francisco, California, according to images broadcast live on the internet.
“It’s beautiful! It is in the air,” shouted during takeoff Swiss pilot Bertrand Piccard, only the orders for the ninth flight. He and his compatriot André Borschberg will take turns to complete each step.
Taking advantage of a favorable weather window, the “SI2″ took off “without a drop of fuel” on a journey “that will last 59 hours until landing at (the airport) Moffett Airfield Mountain View, “said Solar Impulse in a statement.
Solar Impulse will put about ten times longer than a flight for traditional commercial route.
a few seconds of takeoff, André Borschberg said he was “delighted” that the aircraft can resume its journey in the air after an uncertainty in the morning because of winds that delayed the start.
“We are very serene” for this first phase of Solar Impulse in 2016, told the driver.
“Every morning, you have the suspense to know how much energy you still have in the batteries. Then, with the sunrise comes the virtuous cycle of endless flight, “he told Bertrand Piccard, Solar Impulse city.
After six hours of flight, the organizers tweeted that all checks had been carried out. “SI2 can start climbing to the altitude of 28,000 feet,” is 8,500 meters.
At the same time Bertrand Piccard on Twitter evoked a “strange sensation of being alone over the ocean peaceful. just as Amelia Earhart must have felt, “referring to the American pilot disappeared while flying over the Pacific during a world tour in 1937.
around the unique world of the two adventurers clean energy militants had suffered a sudden halt at the finish of the unit in July in Hawaii, is halfway through the journey of 35,000 km.
the plane was there immobilized for 293 days for a technical stop, time to recharge his batteries and repair but also waiting to have ideal weather conditions to take off again.
the batteries Solar Impulse 2 were damaged during its last step above the Pacific, a journey of a record time of 5 days and 5 nights between Nagoya, Japan and the American archipelago of Hawaii in the Pacific
-. paper Airplane –
“Even during the past nine months, the adventure never stopped,” says the website of the Solar Impulse project. “We built an experimental aircraft that we use to explore not only the altitude but also uncharted territory in the field of clean technology.”
Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg went 9 March 2015 d Abu Dhabi, UAE.
the aircraft must go around the world in a dozen stages, representing some 500 flight hours, to promote the use of renewable energy.
once arrived near San Francisco, he will remain several steps to complete their round the world, including two in the central United States to reach New York and the East coast, before entering the crossing of the Atlantic.
They will decide at the last moment to make stops in Western Europe or North Africa. The aircraft will then stop on the Mediterranean coast before returning full circle to Abu Dhabi.
The trip was initially planned for five months between March and August 2015, but is already 13 months halfway.
The unit built in Switzerland had been transported in Abu Dhabi in January 2015 cargo. plane
Its wings are covered with over 17,000 photovoltaic cells, which charge batteries the day.
Known as the “flat paper” (paper plane), it has a wingspan of 72 meters, larger than that of a Boeing 747, and a weight of 2.3 tons, that of a small van
. Source: AFP
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