Abu Dhabi: The first solar plane circumnavigating the globe is waiting for favourable weather in China for the sixth leg of its flight.
Solar Impulse 2 (Si2) landed in the Chinese city of Chongqing on March 31. Its planned departure for Nanjing from Chongqing after a few hours of landing was cancelled due to bad weather.
As there is no improvement in weather conditions, the plane is still in Chongqing. The flight is expected to take off on Friday, April 10, a spokesperson of the Solar Impulse 2 team said.
André Borschberg will continue the onward journey to Nanjing in China from Chongqing.
The Solar Impulse team has already reached Nanjing for advanced preparations for the flight’s landing there.
Bertrand Piccard piloted the plane from Mandalay in Myanmar to Chongqing in its fifth leg. The approximately 20-hour-long flight of 1,375 kilometres was physically demanding for the pilot as he had to use an oxygen mask for almost 15 hours in the unpressurised cockpit, facing temperatures plunging to minus 20 degrees Celsius.
The flight was tough with steep ascent and limited time allowed for high altitude preparation while flying over the Himalayas at the beginning of the flight.
During the coming months, Piccard and Borschberg will cross the Pacific Ocean and stop in the USA, North Africa or southern Europe before returning to Abu Dhabi to complete the circumnavigation of the world.
Piccard, initiator and chairman, and Borschberg, co-founder and CEO, will continue their journey, travelling 35,000 kilometres around the globe, accumulating 500 flight hours over five months to spread the message that clean technologies can be achieved through a pioneering spirit.
