THE solar-powered aeroplane on a
globe-circling voyage that began more
than a year ago in the UAE reached a
milestone on Saturday, completing a trip
across the US with a Statue of Liberty
fly-by before landing in New York.
The Swiss-made Solar Impulse 2 landed
at John F. Kennedy International
Airport at 4am after a 4-hour 41-minute
flight of about 165 miles from Lehigh
Valley International Airport in
Pennsylvania. Its trip across the US
began on April 24, when Solar Impulse
landed in San Francisco from Hawaii.
“Si2 is now safe in New York, JFK
airport ... Our new home is Hangar 19
in John F. Kennedy International
Airport!” the pilots’ logbook read.
Pilots Andre Borschberg, who flew the
plane to New York, and Bertrand
Piccard, who will start the next leg of
the journey, expect to leave “soon” to
cross the Atlantic Ocean for Europe or
South Africa on their way to completing
an aviation engineering feat to advance
environmentally compatible technology.
The Solar Impulse 2’s wings, which
stretch wider than those of a Boeing 747,
are equipped with 17,000 solar cells that
power propellers and charge batteries.
The plane runs on stored energy at
night. The trip began in March 2015
from Abu Dhabi and made stops in
Oman, Myanmar, China and Japan.
Source: http://www.dawn.com/news/1264262/solar-powered-aeroplane-lands-in-new-york-city