London - Sitting on a Chinese runway waiting to take off, this solar-powered aircraft is not expected to touch down again until it reaches Hawaii, six days and 5 079 miles away.
And all without using a drop of fuel.
Solar Impulse 2 took off on Saturday from Nanjing in eastern China for the longest and most dangerous leg of its audacious attempt to fly around the globe powered solely by the rays of the sun. Even veteran pilot Andre Borschberg admitted the record-breaking attempt could be a tall order, adding: “This is the moment of truth.”
The epic seventh leg of the journey will test both pilot and plane to the limits of endurance. Mr Borschberg, a 62-year-old Swiss fighter pilot, must fly across the Pacific alone, snatching sleep for just 20 minutes at a time and enduring temperatures in the unheated, unpressurised cockpit of -40C to 40C.
The Swiss-built plane is the first solar-powered aircraft that can fly day and night. To make the most of the sunlight, during the day it will fly to 27 800ft to power its solar cells and store energy for the night, when it falls to just 5 000ft.
Since the single-seat plane began its five-month, 22 000-mile journey to promote renewable energy on March 9, Mr Borschberg and colleague Bertrand Piccard, 57, have taken turns to fly alternate legs. Mr Piccard is due to fly from Hawaii to Arizona.
Daily Mail