Solar Impulse 2 completes first round-the-world journey

The first round-the-world solar powered flight by Solar Impulse 2 was completed on 26 July 2016 after the aircraft landed successfully in Abu Dhabi.

The plane has travelled 26744 miles since setting off from Abu Dhabi. The aircraft has racked up 558 hours of flight time.

About Solar Impulse 2

• Construction of Solar Impulse 2 started in 2011.

• The wingspan of Solar Impulse 2 is 71.9 m, slightly less than that of an Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger airliner.

• It is made of carbon-fibre.

• It weighs only about 2.3 tonnes.

• It features a non-pressurized cockpit 3.8 cubic metres in size and advanced avionics, including an autopilot.

• It has 17248 solar cells built into the wings that supply the plane with renewable energy, via four motors.

• It was first publicly displayed on 9 April 2014.

• Its inaugural flight took place on 2 June 2014, piloted by Markus Scherdel.

• The aircraft reached its maximum altitude during a flight on 28 October 2014.

• By the end of May 2015, the plane had traversed Asia.

• It made an unscheduled stop in Japan to await favourable weather over the Pacific.

• The aircraft began the flight from Japan to Hawaii on 28 June 2015.

• Piloted by Andre Borschberg, the plane reached Hawaii on 3 July 2015, setting new records for the world's longest solar-powered flight both by time (117 hours, 52 minutes) and distance (7212 km).

• The plane landed at Moffett Field in California on 23 April 2016.

• With Bertrand Piccard in the cockpit, the aircraft crossed the Atlantic Ocean and arrived in Seville, Spain, on 23 June 2016.

• The aircraft next landed in Cairo, Egypt, on 13 July 2016.

• On 23 July 2016, the plane departed Cairo and landed in Abu Dhabi on 26th July 2016.

Now get latest Current Affairs on mobile, Download # 1  Current Affairs App