Solar Impulse II plane lands in Spain after crossing the North Atlantic – La Prensa Grafica

The plane Impulse II, flying solely on solar power, landed Thursday with the first light of day at the airport in the Spanish city of Seville after crossing the North Atlantic and overcome one of the most difficult stages of his tour around of the world.
 

It landed at 07.38 local time (05.38 GMT), at the controls of the Swiss pilot Bertrand Piccard, after two days, 23 hours and 10 minute drive from taking off at 02.30 local time (06.30 GMT) on Monday at JFK airport in New York.

this journey of almost 6,300 kilometers, is considered one of the most difficult stages of this project, given its duration, weather conditions and the heavy air traffic in this area.

the aircraft flew over Seville in southern Spain, and the landing was escorted by a pair of Eurofighter and the Patrol eagle, the Spanish Air Force.

the Impulse II and completed the fifteenth stage of its orbit around the planet, with which promotes renewable energy, having already flown by Oman, India, Myanmar, China, Japan and the United States.

this feat of Piccard follows the starring last year by another engineer behind this project, also Swiss André Borschberg, who flew over the Pacific Ocean for five days and nights.

then he set a new world record for nonstop and solo, to show that renewable energy can meet the energy needs of the planet.

Borschberg was the first to climb today to the cabin Impulse II and merge in a long embrace with his companion Piccard, who could not suppress a powerful “Sevilla Good morning!” getting off the plane

Later, Bertrand Piccard kissed his wife, his daughter and his sister and quipped to the press. “Columbus made the trip to America and someone had to come back.”

Piccard said his journey from the new to the Old world has not only geographical but also symbolic, because it has led to Europe “the new world of clean technologies and respect for nature,” the which has been proclaimed “ambassador”.

he stressed that all aircraft have crossed the Atlantic, theirs was the first that has made clean technology without any emissions.

the Solar Impulse project is complete trip around the world aboard a powered exclusively by solar energy plane aims to raise awareness among governments of the benefits of renewable energy and encourage them to implement clean technologies to preserve the environment .

the team must now decide how to complete the round the world. In principle, it expects to make two flights, one from Seville to somewhere in the Mediterranean and the second and last, from that point to Abu Dhabi in United Arab States, where in March 2015 began this adventure.

Impulse II is a car aircraft, manufactured with carbon fiber, with a wing larger than the scale 747, but moves similar to an empty weight family car.

 Maintains a cruise speed of between 45 and 55 mph, while reaching a ceiling of maximum flight of 8,500 meters.

A total of 17,248 solar cells built into the wing charge four batteries in turn drive the four electric motors and propellers.

Thanks to the ten cameras that leads, thousands of followers of this project can always see the evolution of the pilot, which are monitored in real time by a team of engineers located in Monaco.