First Solar Powered Plane completes successful 650 nautical miles

A team of researchers, supporting crew and pilots has successfully completed their first fly in a Solar powered aircraft. Solar Impulse, a renewable energy flight successfully landed in Phoenix, Ariz after a fly of 18 hours and 18 minutes from coast to coast. The pilot Bertrand Piccard flew this gigantic aircraft to a destination that was 650 nautical miles away at an average altitude of ten thousand feet and at a ground speed of 40.6 miles per hour. After the first success, the flight is set to take off again  from Phoenix to Dallas/Forth Worth, which is approximately 865 nautical miles trip. Interestingly the flight will be controlled by Solar Impulse CEO Andre Borschberg with a fellow pilot. It is said that, the pair will alternatively fly for the remaining four parts of the trip, thus giving rest to the off-duty pilot.

Well, here is a schedule of the Solar Impulse,

May 3rd 2013: First leg, San Francisco/Moffett Airfield – Phoenix/Sky Harbor
Mid May 2013: Second leg, Phoenix/Sky Harbor – Dallas/Fort Worth
End May – Early June 2013: Third leg, Dallas/Fort Worth – St. Louis/Lambert Airport
Mid June 2013: Fourth leg, St. Louis/Lambert Airport – Washington DC/Dulles
Early July 2013: Fifth and last leg, Washington DC/Dulles – New York/JFK

“We are thrilled to have safely and successfully completed this first leg and we weren’t alone: thousands of names of our supporters virtually accompanied us. With them, we launched the ‘Clean Generation’ initiative promoting clean technologies.” told by Borschberg and Piccard in a report.

Are you ready to fly in Solar Impulse? Let us know your thoughts.