Solar powered plane completes historic flight across the Atlantic
Solar Impulse 2 touches down in Spain after risky four day journey from New York to Seville
A Swiss pilot has completed the first solar-powered flight across the Atlantic and secured a place in aviation history.
Bertrand Piccard flew the the revolutionary Solar Impulse 2 from New York to Seville, completing his four day journey early this morning.
The aeroplane collects solar energy and stores it in batteries, allowing to fly through the night and cope with bad weather.
"The Atlantic is the symbolic part of the flight,” Piccard .
“It is symbolic because all the means of transportation have always tried to cross the Atlantic, the first steamboats, the first aeroplane, the first balloons, the first airships and, today, it is the first solar-powered aeroplane.
“But the goal is not to change aviation, as Charles Lindbergh did, but to inspire people to use [renewable] technologies and show people they can use these technologies every day to have a better quality of life."
The pioneering craft was deigned to become the first aeroplane to travel around the world using solar power in place of fuel, but its journey has been dogged with delays and setbacks.
Solar Impulse 2 was forced to wait out the winter in Hawaii after it smashed the record for the longest uninterrupted flight in history during a 118 hour journey from Japan in June last year.
The aircraft's batteries overheated and had to be replaced, leaving it grounded until April 2016.
Is mission then began again with a flight to Mountain View, the Californian home of Google.
The Solar Impulse 2 has a wingspan the same size as a Boeing 747, but has roughly the same weight as a car.
It collects energy using 17,000 cells fitted to its wings, which is then stored in four batteries.
The trans-Atlantic flight took four day and ended with Piccard touching down in Spain - the first time he's landed the solar aeroplane on European soil during the around the world journey.
He's hoping for good weather and has timed the journey to coincide with favourable flight conditions.
On its blog, the Solar Impulse team described the terrifying conditions he encountered during the flight
"Over the Atlantic Ocean, the weather can be rather unstable and unsettling so we can definitely expect to cross a cold front during the flight," they wrote.
"As many sailors have expressed before, the Atlantic Ocean holds the most difficult winds they have ever encountered."
Solar Impulse 2 began its journey in Abu Dhabi, before stopping in countries including Burma, China, Japan and the US.
It is expected to reach Abu Dhabi later this year, marking the end of a long journey around the world.
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