Solar-powered plane lands in China (Updated)
Solar Impulse 2 took off from Mandalay early yesterday morning, flew over mountains in extremely cold conditions and landed in Chongging, China, twenty and one-half hours later. No fuel was used.
Solar Impulse 2 took off from Mandalay early yesterday morning, flew over mountains in extremely cold conditions and landed in Chongging, China, twenty and one-half hours later. No fuel was used.
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Tuesday morning
The Solar Impulse 2 comes in to land in Chongqing airport at 1:35 am (17:35 GMT Monday) after a 22-and-a-half hour flight from Myanmar, on March 31, 2015. AFP PHOTO
Solar Impulse lands in China after 20-hour flight from Myanmar
Shanghai, AFP – Solar Impulse 2 landed early Tuesday in China, the world's biggest carbon emitter, as it completed the fifth leg of its landmark circumnavigation of the globe powered solely by the sun.
With pilot Bertrand Piccard at the controls, the revolutionary plane landed in Chongqing airport at 1:35 am (1735 GMT Monday) after a 20-and-a-half hour flight from Myanmar, its vast wingspan lit up by rows of led lights.
The plane had been expected to make just a brief stop in the southwestern city and quickly travel on to Nanjing, about 270 kilometres (170 miles) from Shanghai, but that has been delayed due to weather and safety concerns, with the team now expecting to stay a few days waiting for better conditions for the trip east.
"We are tired but we are still very, very happy to be in Chongqing," said mission engineer Michael Anger on the project's website.
"In China it was demanding, this flight, especially for Bertrand but also for the team preparing two flights in a row and then this afternoon cancelling the second flight due to bad weather in Nanjing."
Monday stories
Pilot Bertrand Piccard waves to the press in front of the Solar Impulse 2, the world's only solar-powered aircraft, before taking off at the Mandalay International Airport in Myanmar on March 30, 2015. Solar Impulse 2 took off from Mandalay, the second largest city of Myanmar, for Chongqing in China, its fifth flight after embarking on a landmark journey to circumnavigate the globe powered solely by the sun. AFP PHOTO / YE AUNG THU
20:00 75 percent complete. It will be another night landing.
16:20 Pilot Bertrand Piccard and his solar-power Solar Impulse are now past the half-way mark on the flight to Chonqqing, China, a trip that is now estimated to take 20 hours in total. Piccard is over a mountainous area in southern China and is wearing an oxygen mask because of the high altitude. It is still light, so you can see him clearly in the live feed from mission control. http://www.solarimpulse.com/leg-5-from-Mandalay-to-Chongqing
A live view from the Solar Impulse 2 website taken at 16:26 Thai time.
Solar-powered plane leaves Myanmar
MANDALAY, MYANMAR, AFP – Solar Impulse 2 took off from Myanmar's second biggest city of Mandalay early Monday and headed for China's Chongqing, the fifth flight of a landmark journey to circumnavigate the globe powered solely by the sun.
The single-seater aircraft's team spent more than a week waiting in Mandalay for weather conditions to improve in southwestern China for what will be one of the most challenging legs of the round the world attempt so far.
Speaking on a live feed from mission control in Monaco, Prince Albert gave pilot Bertrand Piccard clearance for takeoff.
"Bertrand, from Albert, you are clear to proceed. Have a nice flight," Prince Albert said.
"Thank you very much my friend," Piccard replied before taking off at around 3.35am local time (4.05am Thailand time) into the dark pre-dawn skies.
Once again, you can follow the Solar Impulse 2 journey live here: http://www.solarimpulse.com/leg-5-from-Mandalay-to-Chongqing
Piccard, one of the two Swiss pilots of the solar-powered plane, will have to battle extreme cold of down to -20 degrees Celsius in the cockpit and the general unpredictabilities of flying above the mountainous Chinese provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan.
Flying at high altitude for most of the journey, Piccard will also need to use additional oxygen.
The 1,375-kilometre route is expected to take around 18 hours.
If the plane flies direct it will cross over a remote region of Myanmar's border with China where intense fighting has broken out between predominantly ethnic Chinese Kokang rebels and Myanmar's military.
The team behind Solar Impulse 2, which has more than 17,000 solar cells built into its wings, hopes to promote green energy with its circumnavigation attempt.
Muscat was the first of the 12 planned stops on the plane's maiden journey around the world from Abu Dhabi, with a total flight time of around 25 days spread over five months.
From Oman the plane flew to the Indian city of Ahmedabad before heading to Varanasi and then Mandalay.
From Chongqing it will depart for the eastern coastal city of Nanjing before embarking on the most arduous leg of its journey, an 8,172-kilometre, 120-hour odyssey across the Pacific to Hawaii.
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