Solar Impulse 2 Plane Starts Fifth Leg of Round-The-World Journey

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The Solar Impulse 2 (SI-2), a fuel-free plane that runs solely on power generated by sun batteries, has departed for the fifth leg of its round-the-world flight, the first ever carried out using a solar aircraft.

"On Sunday March 29th, Solar Impulse took off for its fifth flight from Mandalay (Myanmar) at 21:06 UTC, to Chongqing (China). Bertrand Piccard will fly the zero-fuel airplane on about 1375km (742NM) for an estimated time of 20 hours," a statement on the Solar Impulse 2 website says.

The round-the-world journey began on March 7, when the plane departed from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The circumnavigation flight is expected to be completed in 12 legs. It is part of the Solar Impulse project, founded by Bertrand Piccard and his business partner Andre Borschberg. Both of them are taking turns piloting the single-seater plane during the trip.

There are over 17,200 solar cells on the plane's upper wing surface, fuselage and tailplane that collect the sun's energy which powers the engines. SI-2 can reach a maximum speed of 140 kilometres (87 miles) per hour. Its wingspan is 72 meters (236 feet) and the weight is only 2,300 kilograms, or 5,070 pounds, equivalent to that of a car.

The aircraft's prototype is Solar Impulse 1, which was used by Borschberg to conduct the world's first ever manned 26-hour solar-powered flight in July, 2010.