Solar Impulse to attempt to fly across America
On 3 May, Solar Impulse, the Swiss solar-powered aircraft, will take off from San Francisco, USA, at 6:00 local time (15:00 CEST).
Bertrand Piccard, the initiator of the Solar Impulse project, will pilot the airplane from San Francisco, California, to Phoenix, Arizona. This will be the first leg of the coast-to-coast flights across the USA. It is expected to land tomorrow around 1:00 local time (the estimated flight duration is 19 hours).
In the next legs of the journey across America, Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg will alternately pilot the solar airplane to complete the challenge.
- Early May 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
The FAI has already ratified several world records achieved by André Borschberg onboard Solar Impulse during flights which took place in 2010 (Payerne, Switzerland) and 2012 (Payerne to Madrid, Spain).
| SUB-CLASS | TYPE OF RECORD | PERFORMANCE | DATE | CLAIMANT | STATUS | ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CS | Absolute altitude | 9235 m | 2010-07-08 | André Borschberg (SUI) | ratified - current record | 16042 |
| CS | Duration | 26 h 10 m 19 s | 2010-07-08 | André Borschberg (SUI) | ratified - current record | 16044 |
| CS | Gain of height | 8744 m | 2010-07-08 | André Borschberg (SUI) | ratified - current record | 16043 |
| CS | Straight distance, pre-declared waypoints | 1099.3 km | 2012-05-25 | André Borschberg (SUI) | ratified - current record | 16558 |
Photo credit: Jean Revillard - Test flight from Moffett Field: Solar Impulse flies over the Golden Gate bridge on 23.04.2013
