Solar Impulse 2 finally crosses China after delays of three weeks
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Solar Impulse 2, the first attempt to fly around the world on nothing but solar power, has taken off on the sixth leg of its five-month journey after a unexpected delay of three weeks.
The plane landed in Nanjing in the northeast of China at 23:30 local time (14:30 BST) after a journey of more than 15 hours and 740 miles (1,190km) from Chongqing in the southwest of the country.
The plane will go through servicing for the next 10 days before it prepares for the daunting five-day crossing of the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii.
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Swiss pilot Bertrand Piccard has successfully flown Solar Impulse 2 from Chongqing to Nanjing in China. Here he is seen celebrating with a crowd in Nanjing as he climbed out of the plane
Swiss pilot Bertrand Piccard was at the controls, as his fellow Swiss co-pilot André Borschberg - who was supposed to be flying this leg - had to temporarily head back to Switzerland for medical check-ups after reporting migraine problems.
The next leg of the journey over the Pacific, along with the five-day crossing of the Atlantic, is the most difficult leg of the journey. As the plane will fly non-stop, conditions must be absolutely perfect.
If they are not, and something goes wrong, the pilot will be forced to bail out.
They have been trained in ocean survival and will await rescue if this is the case, while the plane would be left to plunge into the ocean.
Solar Impulse 2 arrived at Chongqing airport from Myanmar on 31 March.
It had been due to make a brief stop in the southwestern Chinese city and quickly travel on to Nanjing, but was held up by weather and safety concerns.
Chongqing, on the Yangtze river, is notoriously foggy but Solar Impulse 2 spokesman Marc Baumgarten said the initial delay was due to 'cross winds which are covering the entire country'.
And on Twitter, Piccard wrote: 'Today's flight was like a miracle, because the weather was bad yesterday and will be bad tomorrow.'
Shown above is the landing of Solar Impulse 2 in Nanjing. Credit: Solar Impulse
The journey of 740 miles (1,190km) took more than 17 hours, with landing due at 4pm BST (11am EST) today. It followed three weeks of unscheduled delays as winds hampered attempts to continue the round-the-world trip
Solar Impulae 2 takes-off from Chongqing to Nanjing (China) after an unexpected delay of three weeks with Bertrand Piccard at the controls. The first round-the-world Solar Flight will take 500 flight hours and cover 22,000 miles (35,000km), over five months
Another departure attempt on 16 April was foiled 'due to a narrow window for the landing in Nanjing', according to an update last week on the solar plane's Twitter account.
'It was necessary for me to achieve detachment, to take a break in order to ensure the future of the project,' Borschberg wrote in a Twitter update Monday.
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 round the world attempt.
The plane is the successor of Solar Impulse, which notched up a 26-hour flight in 2010, proving its ability to store enough power in lithium batteries during the day to keep flying at night.
Solar Impulse 2's maiden global circumnavigation began in Abu Dhabi and is scheduled to take in 12 stops, with a total flight time of around 25 days spread over five months.
The plane has been grounded in China's southwestern city of Chongqing for three weeks, having expected to stay there for just one night.
The delay was due to bad weather, as the plane - wide as a Boeing 747 but as light as a car - requires almost perfect conditions in order to fly.
Solar Impulse 2 cannot fly if wind speeds are more than four knots (4.4mph / 7km/h), as the plane is too lightweight to safely operate in such conditions.
And since then, it had been unable to find a window of clear weather in which to take off.
Finally in the air again! It is very impressive to be flying above the Yangtze River with #Si2 http://ift.tt/1cV1FBT
— Bertrand PICCARD (@bertrandpiccard) April 20, 2015 Above is an interactive module that you can use to watch inside the cockpit of Solar Impulse 2, and also track its progress
Piccard is seen here preparing to get into the cockpit. Landings in various countries are made every few days to switch pilots and organise public events for governments, schools and universities
Swiss pilot Bertrand Piccard is seen at the controls here. His is fellow Swiss co-pilot - who was supposed to be flying this leg - had to temporarily head back to Switzerland for medical check-ups.
Piccard, left, uses an oxygen mask while flying as the cabin is not pressurised. On the right, the plane is seen lifting off from Chongqing
Solar Impulse is flew to Nanjing, and will then cross the Pacific Ocean via Hawaii, after another pit stop, a flight which will take five days
Solar Impulse 2 is seen here before lifting off from Chongqing. 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 round the world attempt.
The single-seater aircraft, seen here with Piccard inside, is made of carbon fibre, and the cockpit has a total area of 40.9 square feet (3.8 square metres). It has no fuel on board and weighs around the same as a car at 382 stone (2,300kg)
The team had been aware that progress might be slow, but the longest waits were expected to be before crossing the Pacific and the Atlantic. Having to wait for more than two weeks so far in Chongqing is not ideal.
'You can believe that your will can influence the weather,' said Piccard, reported CNN.
But 'then you'll be really disappointed because it doesn't work,' he added.
The last attempt to take flight, on 15 April, had to be postponed due to the weather, but on 20 April it finally took flight.
Apparently, this still keeps the plane on its five-month schedule though; it can't actually cross the Pacific until the days in the Northern Hemisphere get longer at the end of the month, giving it enough energy to make the perilous journey.
The journey to Chongqing was a comparatively simple stretch, covering 907 miles (1,459km) in 20 hours and 29 minutes, while the journey to Nanjing is similar: 740 miles (1,190km) with an estimated time of 20 hours.
But the next leg, a five-day non-stop flight over the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii, is much more daunting: 5,078 miles (8,172km) with an estimated time of five days.
Piccard's co-pilot, fellow Swiss André Borschberg, has traveled to Switzerland for medical check-ups but will re-join the team next week.
The successful launch from Abu Dhabi on 9 March capped 13 years of research and testing by the two pilots.
From Oman the plane flew to Ahmedabad and Varanasi in India, then to Mandalay in Burma, then on to Chongqing. Next is Nanjing in China, before the five-day flight to Honolulu in Hawaii, followed by a crossing of the US.
That leg will take in Phoenix, Arizona, and JFK airport in New York, followed by a crossing of the Atlantic to either southern Europe or northern Africa.
The final leg will take the craft from either of those locations back to Abu Dhabi, where it will make its final landing. All this will happen without burning a single drop of fuel, and is seen as being a major revolution in solar power technology.
Swiss pilots Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg had to wait to continue their groundbreaking flight. They are attempting to fly around the world powered only by the sun with their Solar Impulse 2 plane
The plane touched down in Chongqing with Swiss pilot Bertrand Piccard at the controls (shown) on 31 March, and was expected to take off the following day towards Nanjing, North West China
The ambitious route over five months (shown) takes the plane to a variety of countries, with the most daunting stretches due to be the flights of the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, each of which will take about five days
André Borschberg (left) and Bertrand Piccard (right) are welcomed by a crowd of media after the landing at the Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport, China, completing the fifth leg of the first round-the-world solar flight
Solar Impulse 2 is seen here before it took off from Mandalay, Myanmar on 30 March 2015. The two pilots take turns flying Solar Impulse 2
The two pilots, who fly the plane in alternating shifts, have to contend with some testing conditions aboard the plane as they fly alone for up to five days at a time. They use yoga and self-hypnosis to keep themselves occupied.
'It's a flying home in some ways,' Swiss co-pilot André Borschberg told MailOnline in an interview from Myanmar last month.
The cockpit has no heating, and the pilots are not able to stand up or walk around - for up to five days on longer flights. Instead, they can only recline in their seats to get a bit of exercise or rest.
A 'visit' to the toilet is pretty uncomfortable too - they simply use a hole in their seat.
'You need to develop habits and know exactly what you want to do, because it's very tiny inside,' explains Borschberg. 'How to move, what to do when, where to put your stuff - we have to be well-organised, especially if you are gone for five days and five nights.'
For example, while the pilots can brush their teeth in the cockpit, they do not shave - as even a razor would add unnecessary weight to the plane.
'I may get the adventurer look when I land, but that's what's needed,' said Borschberg. 'We have a toilet, but of course you cannot take a shower - you use a wet tissue to clean yourself.
Before the flights began, the team performed a number of simulations to see how they would cope with the conditions. Here, Piccard is seen in the reclining chair used in the plane
Solar Impulse 2 is seen here taking off from Ahmedabad, India on 17 March 2015 to Varanasi (also India) with André Borschberg at the controls. The entire journey around the world will take 500 flight hours and cover 22,000 miles (35,000km) over five months
When it comes to food, they must eat things that are sustainable and rewarding for their bodies. The daily intake for the pilots is 5.2lbs (2.4kg) of food, 84.5 ounces (2.5 litres) of water, and 33.8 ounches (one litre) of sports drink.
They get this through dietary plans designed for each pilot, developed by Nestlé, including mushed up food such as quinoa and spelt. Other meals include mushroom risotto and tabouleh - a salad that includes tomatoes, parsley, mint and onion.
All of this might seem like a lot of pain for little gain - but Piccard told MailOnline there was a reason for the pioneering mission.
If the mission is successful, the plane will represent a considerable achievement for solar power - as the plane uses only solar energy to power its four engines, and not a single drop of conventional fuel will be used as it crosses three continents and spans two oceans.
'I believe that the adventure of the 21st century is not to go back to the moon - it is to improve the quality of life,' he said, saying Solar Impulse could be key in bringing solar power to the masses.
Piccard wants to see solar power become one of five major sources of energy in the future - including wind, biomass, hydroelectricity and geothermal.
By 2050, it is estimated that solar power could become the world's dominant source of energy, and while Solar Impulse 2 is not particularly bringing any new technologies to the table, it is proving just how far solar power can go.
The airplane moves like a 'leaf in autumn' in windy conditions, when the pilots must stay in control of the aircraft. It is as wide as an passenger jet but as light as a car, and it doesn't have full autopilot mode
Whether the duo can make it around the world in five months with all these delays remains to be seen. The plane is seen here taking off from Varanasi in India to Mandalay in Myanmar on 18 March 2015 with Piccard at the controls
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