A solar-powered airplane midway through an attempt to circle the globe finished the 10th leg of its history-making journey on Monday (May2), in Arizona after a 16-hour flight from northern California.
The spindly, single-seat experimental aircraft dubbed Solar Impulse 2 arrived in Phoenix shortly before 0900 p.m. (0400 gmt).
The lengthy duration of Monday’s flight, which an airliner would make in just two hours, stems from a cruising speed more akin to that of a car, requiring pilots to practice meditation and hypnosis in training to stay alert for long hours.
Occupying the plane’s tiny cockpit for the trip was Swiss aviator Andre Borschberg, a co-founder of the project.
