The Tribune

A SOLAR-powered plane on a mission to fly around the world landed in California at the weekend, completing a risky, three-day flight across a great expanse of the Pacific Ocean.

Pilot Bertrand Piccard landed the Solar Impulse 2 in Silicon Valley on Saturday night following a 62-hour, non-stop solo flight from Hawaii without fuel.

Piccard and fellow Swiss pilot Andre Borschberg have been taking turns flying the plane on a round-the-world trip since taking off from Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, in March, 2015. It made stops in Oman, Myanmar, China, Japan and Hawaii. The trans-Pacific legs were the riskiest part of the plane’s travels because of the lack of emergency landing sites.

The Solar Impulse 2 landed in Hawaii in July and was forced to stay in the islands after the plane’s battery system sustained heat damage on its trip from Japan. The team was delayed in Asia, too. When first attempting to fly from Nanjing, China, to Hawaii, the crew had to divert to Japan because of unfavourable weather and a damaged wing.

The carbon-fibre aircraft weighs over 5,000 pounds and its wings, 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.

Solar Impulse 2 will make three more stops in the United States before crossing the Atlantic Ocean to Europe or northern Africa.

The project, which is estimated to cost more than $100 million, began in 2002 to highlight the importance of renewable energy and the spirit of innovation.