Le Monde | • Updated | By
sly Party of Japan on June 28, the solar airplane Solar Impulse 2 (Si2) landed the cheers Friday 3 July at 17 h 55 (hours Paris) on the second airport of Honolulu, Hawaii. And if its pilot André Borschberg entered the aviation legend asking him there, it’s a little – as he has repeatedly pointed -. Thanks to his yogi, Sanjeev Bhanot
He who follows the last decade has the condition to allow it to achieve one of the largest aeronautical feats: flying for five days and five nights without stops or fuel other than the sun’s rays, above a hostile environment, the Pacific Ocean. “I draw my strength and my mental strength of meditation and yoga” , has often told the media the project manager and chief engineer of ‘airplane.
About an hour after arrival, while Si2 was parked near his hangar, the pilot, the neck surrounded by a collar of flowers was still sitting in the cockpit, to legs massaged by a physiotherapist. André Borschberg has indeed been little move his lower limbs during the week, even before taking medication to prevent thrombosis and fight against the onset of cramps. “But the champagne is very good and clear trace blood pressure “, laughed Jean-Pierre Boss, the team doctor, while the pilot sprinkled the crowd.
” Fantastic human achievement “
Among aviation experts all agree “fantastic human achievement” , says Pierre Condom, director of the magazine Interavia . “Beyond the technical success of the aircraft, it is a physical and historical performance and extraordinary mental, adds Olivier Sybourg, head of aviation at the Swiss survey Service on airline accidents (SESA). This is obviously a good omen for the completion of the round the world “ launched on 9 March in Abu Dhabi
Read also:.” Solar Impulse “and his pilot fly the solo flight record
Quickly captured by the media, André Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard (project initiator and second pilot), asked about the difficulties of the adventure and the possibility of perpetual flight, responded that “the only factor preventing the driver is now” . Before insisting – invariably, and because it is also the purpose of the project – about what can be achieved with renewable energy: “If we can fly a plane with solar cells, it proves that this technology can be applied anywhere on the planet. “
Among aviation experts, all identified above all ” fantastic human achievement “, says Pierre Condom, director of the magazine Interavia . “Beyond the technical success of the aircraft, it is a physical and historical performance and extraordinary mental, adds Olivier Sybourg, head of aviation at Swiss Investigation Service on airline accidents (SESA). This is a good omen for the completion of the round the world “ launched on 9 March in Abu Dhabi
Read also:. A difficult weather obliges” Solar Impulse 2 “to land in Japan
The transpacific journey that ended Friday in Hawaii, and that allowed André Borschberg to beat the record for the longest solo flight without refueling with 117 hours 51 minutes spent in the air, was only one step in a chain of thirteen around the globe. It began quietly Sunday at Nagoya, where solar plane was forced to land there was a small month from China, the weather being degraded to the point of preventing the great crossing.
In Japan, a first attempt at new flight was announced to the media on June 23, before being canceled at the last minute, forcing André Borschberg gnawing at the bit, and picking tears of disappointment to Bertrand Piccard under the eye of the cameras. But on June 28 – this time without notifying the press – start! For 8263 km traveled at a speed of 80 to 140 km / h, playing roller coaster every five days, the airplane climbed to 10,000 m to recharge your batteries with its 17,248 photovoltaic cells before then fly hover flat in the night between the clouds and two cold fronts.
The second, taken as a wall on the fourth day, has caused a cold sweat to the driver as much as engineers Control Center in Monaco, due to strong turbulence encountered. Especially Andre Borschberg, 62, who slept in increments of 20 minutes during the journey, had accumulated fatigue. Earlier, during the same rest periods, another concern had appeared: the autopilot kept to trigger alarms in the cockpit. Engineers, in a delicate maneuver, then asked the pilot to turn off and restart some electronic systems. And everything is back in order.
Tears of joy
“Despite this, the aircraft has performed very well, as he was built carefully by the entire team “, says astronaut Claude Nicollier, head of flight tests. ” This is a great reward for the tens of engineers who worked on this project for over a decade “, adds Olivier Sybourg, which has seen them work before his eyes in the hangar in Payerne SESA where Si2 was finalized. Arrived there two days in Hawaii, and as he peered into the night the plane that went round and round in the sky – it was taken at dawn Hawaii overview of pictures – Bertrand Piccard Internet explained his emotion and tears of joy this time he paid when he saw the sixteen LED headlights of the broad flight of 72 m.
Read also: Solar Impulse 2 around the world
“When, on 29 June, we passed the point of no return , he says, j ‘I felt an absolute and irreversible feeling that we would get there. It was so powerful that nothing, neither at home nor André, could make us change our opinion on the outcome of the flight. “ A journey that, besides the control sequences, naps and solicitations open media worldwide to heaven, then also allowed André Borschberg to relax. Reading a collection of anecdotes written by his team and hidden in the cockpit. Or having fun, when it’s disguised with a long beard by wonder she pushed during the night.
“Another ordinary day office “, he joked on Twitter at dawn on the fourth day of flight. Just put the plane was supported by engineers, who must repair it for later imminent, adventure: in three days if the weather permits, it is Bertrand Piccard, who will make inning to complete across the Pacific and join Phoenix, United States.
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