Solar Impulse Si2 circumnavigation flight path unveiled

Solar Impulse team has revealed their route to complete the first piloted circumnavigation of the Earth using a Solar Impulse 2 fixed-win...

Solar Impulse team has revealed their route to complete the first piloted circumnavigation of the Earth using a Solar Impulse 2 fixed-wing aircraft powered by sun.

The historic flight will begin and end in Abu Dhabi, slated to start between late February and early March.
Speaking at a press conference in Abu Dhabi' Al Bateen Executive Airport, Si2 pilots and Solar Impulse co-founders Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg said the aircraft will land in 12 locations across the world and travel 18,900nm (35,000km).

The aircraft will fly at speeds ranging between 27- 54kt(50-100kph), spanning around 25 flight days and spread over five months.

The Si2 will have stops in cities including Muscat (Oman), Varanasi and Ahmedabad (India), Chongqing and Nanjing (China).

After crossing the Pacific Ocean via Hawaii, Si2 will fly across the USA, stopping in three locations: Phoenix, New York and a location in the Midwest to 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.

Among challenges before the mission concludes, will be a non-stop flight of five days and nights from China to Hawaii. The plane, powered by 17,248 solar cells which drive four 17.4 hp brushless electric motors, will soar higher than Mount Everest each day while fully charging its batteries to stay aloft during the night.

Bertrand Piccard is a psychiatrist and aeronaut, who made the first non-stop round-the-world balloon flight, is the initiator and chairman of Solar Impulse, André Borschberg, an engineer and graduate in management science, a fighter pilot and a professional airplane and helicopter pilot, is the CEO.

The ultra-lightweight plane is powered entirely by solar panels and onboard batteries, which charge during the day to allow the plane to fly when the sun goes down and built using composites.

The single-seater solar aircraft has a huge wingspan of 72 meters (236 ft) for its weight of just 2,300 kg (5’000 lbs.), producing an aerodynamic performance and energy efficiency greater than anything to date. There is a 3.8 m3 cockpit, every detail of which has been designed for a pilot to live there for a week. However, for the sake of maximum energy efficiency, the cabin is not pressurized or heated – a further endurance challenge for the pilot.

The Si2 made its first flight in first flight in June 2014 and has clocked 68 hours of flight tests across Switerzland.

Si2 was delivered knocked down to Abu Dhabi by a Cargolux Boeing 747 cargo plane from the Payerne aerodrome in Switzerland on 6 January.