Solar Impulse 2 lands in Ohio on record-breaking flight

Washington, May 22: The Solar Impulse 2 aircraft has landed in Dayton, Ohio the latest leg of a record-breaking trip to circle the globe without consuming a drop of fuel, hours after taking off from Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The solar-powered plane piloted by Swiss businessman Andre Borschberg arrived at 9:56 pm (local time) yesterday at Dayton International Airport after a flight that lasted a 16 hours and 34 minutes, aimed at promoting renewable energy, a live video feed showed. The slow-moving, single-seat plane with the wingspan of a Boeing 747 cuts a flimsy figure, but it has traversed much of the globe in stages since taking off March 9, 2015 from Abu Dhabi, with Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard alternating as pilots.

The aircraft - clad in thousands of solar cells, the sole source of energy for the flight - reached its destination more than an hour ahead of schedule.

AFP