ABU DHABI // Solar Impulse 2 landed in safely in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Friday, completing the 11th leg of its round-the-world flight using only solar energy.
Piloted by Swiss co-founder Bertrand Piccard, the 1,570-kilometre leg took 18 hours and 10 minutes.
It was the project’s third mission flight this year after crossing the Pacific Ocean from Hawaii to California, and then from San Francisco to Phoenix, Arizona.
Commenting on the flight conditions, Mr Piccard said everything worked out well, “For me, It was a magical flight, you know sometimes in life we have the impression that everything matches absolutely perfectly for something to be fulfilled, which was the case this time,” he said in a statement.
The take-off date and destination for leg 11 were kept secret from the project’s international followers.
“Until two days before take off, our engineers had not even considered flying to Oklahoma due to its tornado potential,” a statement on the project website read. “They were originally considering a flight from Phoenix, Arizona to Kansas City, Missouri, however due to difficult weather conditions over the plains in the state of Kansas, we had to find a different solution.”
The team’s original plan was to to fly from Arizona to Missouri, however, difficult weather conditions over the plains in the state of Kansas made them decide on Tulsa as an alternative destination.
The flight reached its destination at Tulsa International Airport on Friday, 8:15am UAE time.
“Back on the ground after a zero-fuel 18-hour flight! Hello Tulsa, Oklahoma, I’m eager to discover this new region,” Mr Piccard said on his Twitter account.
Solar Impulse 2 landed in Phoenix, Arizona, last week after a 16-hour flight from California.
As for the next leg, the team do not expect to depart from Tulsa before the beginning of next week.
“Next flight will depend on the different constraints we always face like weather, air traffic control and logistics, but so far we don’t expect a departure before beginning of next week at the earliest due to weather conditions in Tulsa,” a statement on the project website read. “Our goal is to get to New York as quickly as possible in order to allow us enough time to find a good weather window to cross the Atlantic Ocean.”
Abdullah Al Saboosi, the consul general from the UAE Consulate in Los Angeles, and Emirati students were at Goodyear Airport for the take-off.
The Masdar-sponsored project began its journey last year, taking off from Abu Dhabi with plans of going around the world using only the power of the Sun.
tzriqat@thenational.ae
