World’s first round-the-world solar flight Solar Impulse 2 (Si2) has entered Indian airspace and is expected to land in Ahmedabad late on Tuesday night.
The Swiss airplane which began its journey from Abu Dhabi on Monday made its first scheduled stopover at the Muscat International Airport in Oman on Tuesday after covering 400 kilometres. It took off from Oman in the morning and headed for its second scheduled landing at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, Ahmedabad covering 1,465 kilometres in 16 hours.
Co-pilots and co-founders Bertrand Piccard and Andre Boschberg are taking turns to fly the single-seater 2,300-kilogramme aircraft in a journey around the world, spread over 25 flight days of five months and covering 35,000 kilometres. The journey from Oman to India was piloted by Mr. Piccard one of the first balloonists to circle the earth.
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The flying initiative of this experimental solar aircraft is aimed at spreading the message of renewable energy and clean technologies.
“Solar Impulse was not built to carry passengers but to carry messages. We want to demonstrate the importance of innovation and pioneering spirit, to encourage people to question their old certitudes and habits. The World needs to implement new ways of improving the quality of human life. Clean technologies and renewable forms of energy are part of the solution, as thy can simultaneously protest the environment and create jobs and profit for the industry,” Mr. Piccard has said in a press release.
Solar Impulse 2 is not the first solar airplane, but the first to fly across oceans and continents. It took the two promoters 12 years to develop and carry out feasibility studies for the project.
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In India the flight will stop in Ahmedabad and Varanasi.