Landed Wednesday in Varanasi, India, And Planned Quick Departure For Myanmar

Solar Impulse 2 has crossed into India, making a stop in Ahmedabad in Western India before continuing on to Varanasi on Wednesday. In making the crossing from Muscat in Oman to Ahmedabad, the airplane with Bertrand Piccard at the controls set a distance world record for straight distance, pre-declared waypoints record by travelling 1,468 km (912 miles).

But the flight from Ahmedabad to Varanasi was delayed by paperwork that needed to be completed before they could proceed. The French News Service AFP reports that the flight to Varanasi was delayed by five days while they sorted through the red tape.

“The delay is administration. I am not here to accuse anybody,” Solar Impulse co-founder André Borschberg said to reporters at the Ahmedabad airport. “Since past five days, we have been trying to get all the stamps and paperwork. But every day, they say tomorrow.”

The stop at Varanasi was short. Solar Impulse 2 was scheduled to leave at daybreak Thursday, or late Wednesday Eastern Daylight Time, en route to Mandalay in Myanmar. That leg is about 685 miles.

From Myanmar, the plane will fly across China before making its first long ocean crossing above the Pacific.

(Image provided by Solar Impulse)

FMI: www.solarimpulse.com