AHMEDABAD, India
The world's only solar-powered plane has docked in the city of Ahmedabad of India Tuesday night, completing the second leg of its record-breaking attempt to fly around the world, according to the company Solar Impulse's website.
The Swiss-made airplane "Solar Impulse 2," which is able to fly day and night without a drop of fuel, started its solar-powered flight early on Monday as it took off from Abu Dhabi and headed east to Muscat in the Sultanate of Oman.
It took a 12-hour flight for "Solar Impulse 2" to arrive in Muscat, where it lifted off once again for Ahmedabad in the Indian state of Gujarat.
After completing the second leg of the first round-the-world flight in 16 hours, the aircraft is to remain two days in Ahmedabad before departing for Varanasi in northern India.
The pilots and founders of the aircraft are Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg.
Solar Impulse 2 is expected to reach the origin city Abu Dhabi late July after a five-month world tour, in which it will also stop in Myanmar, China, the U.S., Europe and North Africa.
According to the company website, the aircraft, made of fiber, is the lighter version of the Solar Impulse 1 that was engineered five years ago.
It has a 72-meter wingspan weighing 2.3 tons with 17,000 solar cells embedded into the wings.
"During the day, the solar cells recharge lithium batteries weighing 633 kg, which allow the aircraft to fly at night and therefore to have virtually unlimited autonomy," details the website of Solar Impulse 2.
