Flight From Moffett Field Took Nearly 16 Hours

Solar Impulse 2 (Si2) – the solar airplane of Swiss pioneers Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg capable of flying day and night on solar energy – landed in Phoenix Goodyear Airport, Arizona, with André Borschberg at the controls, on May 2 at 2055 local time (UTC-7).

The flight departed from the Moffett Airfield in Mountain View, California, at 0503 local time (UTC-7) and lasted 15 hours and 52 minutes. Borschberg and Si2 covered 647 nautical miles at a maximum altitude of 22,000 feet and average speed of about 38 knots.

The team is attempting to achieve the first ever Round-The-World Solar Flight, the goal of which is to demonstrate how modern clean technologies can achieve the impossible.

As soon as possible, weather permitting, Bertrand Piccard will pilot Si2 to the next stop-over, which has not yet been selected, and continue the crossing of the United States to New York City. From there, the plane will cross the Atlantic and return to Abu Dhabi, where the attempt began nearly a year ago.

Flight report: Leg 10 - Moffett Airfield, Mountain View (CA) to Phoenix Goodyear Airport (AZ)

• Pilot: André Borschberg, Solar Impulse Cofounder and CEO
• Take-off: 0503 local time Mountain View, CA on 02 May 2016
• Landing: 2055 local time Phoenix, AZ on 02 May 2016
• Flight time: 15:52 hours
• Maximum altitude: 22,000 ft
• Average speed: 43.58 mph (approx 38 knots)
• Flight distance covered: 647 nm

(Source: Solar Impulse news release. Image provided by Solar Impulse via Flickr)

FMI: www.solarimpulse.com