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Now in Cairo, Si2 and the Solar Impulse team are ideally positioned to attempt the last leg of the ‘round-the-world solar flight, when the weather is right, and reach Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates where the adventure started in March 2015. Solar Impulse 2 Photo
On its journey around the world, Solar Impulse 2 (Si2)—the solar airplane of Swiss pioneers Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg—landed in Egypt after a flight of two days and two nights (48 hours and 50 minutes) without fuel. This flight, which crossed the Mediterranean Sea from west to east and covered a distance of 3,745 kilometres (2,327 miles) powered only by the sun, was the second to last leg of the attempt to achieve the first ever ‘round-the-world solar flight, the goal of which is to demonstrate how modern clean technologies can achieve the impossible.
At the controls of Si2, Borschberg touched down at the Cairo International Airport, at 07:10 local time (UTC+2), after an iconic moment flying over the pyramids of Egypt completing a flight of two days and two nights—at a maximum altitude of 8,534 metres (28,000 feet) and average speed of 76.70 kilometres per hour (47.66 miles per hour)—that took off from Seville on July 11 at 6:20 a.m. local time (UTC+2). This flight, connecting Europe to North Africa by crossing the Mediterranean without a drop of fuel, marks the penultimate leg of the first ‘round-the-world solar flight as well as the last flight of Borschberg in the context of this pioneering adventure, before Piccard will take the controls for the last leg to Abu Dhabi.
“This was an emotional and meaningful leg for me, being able to enjoy once more the incredible sensation of flying day and night thanks only to the energy of the sun and enjoying fully the present moment,” said Borschberg. “But it also brought back many memories about the project: from the moment I heard about Bertrand’s incredible vision of an airplane with perpetual endurance, to the creativity, motivation and spirit demonstrated by the entire team and partners throughout this adventure.”
“This landing in Cairo brings Solar Impulse back to the origin of my dream. Egypt is the country where I landed after my non-stop ’round the world balloon flight in 1999, and it’s precisely here that I had the idea of an airplane flying around the world on solar power,” said Piccard. “André and his team of engineers helped to translate my vision into reality, and I congratulate them for having built such a revolutionary airplane.”
Now in Cairo, Si2 and the Solar Impulse team are ideally positioned to attempt the last leg of the ‘round-the-world solar flight, when the weather is right, and reach Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates where the adventure started in March 2015. By flying around the world with no fuel, Piccard and Borschberg are demonstrating that today exploration and pioneering are no longer about conquering new territories, but about exploring new ways to have a better quality of life on Earth.
Solar Impulse’s clean technologies can already be used not only in the air, but also on the ground, and have the potential to change individual habits, societies and markets in an unprecedented way.
