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CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM
The Solar Impulse 2 is currently hangared at Kalaeloa Airport. The crew has a target date for sometime in April for the next leg of its around the world journey. The next destination will be to the west coast of the United States.
The Hawaii Department of Transportation said Tuesday that the public will be able to view Solar Impulse 2, the plane attempting to travel around the world powered only by the sun, on April 2.
The public can visit the plane from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Hangar 111 at Kalaeloa Airport on Midway Street in Kapolei. The public will be able to view the aircraft and meet the crew. Parking is available along Midway Street. The Department of Transportation said those interested in attending the event on April 2 are urged to register online.
The plane has been stationed in the hangar since landing in July when Solar Impulse 2 pilot Andre Borschberg arrived in Hawaii after five days and nights in the air, marking the longest solar flight both by time and distance.
The Department of Transportation said the date of the event may change to April 3, depending on weather conditions.
On March 26, students and staff from University of Hawaii and Honolulu Community College will be able to visit Kalaeloa Airport to learn more about the plane. The event on March 26 is not open to the public.
The earliest possible date for Solar Impulse to depart for the mainland, as part of its round-the-world adventure, is April 15.
Hawaii was first of four U.S. destinations for the plane. Since leaving Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, in March, the plane has traveled to Muscat, Oman; Ahmedabad and Varanasi, India; Mandalay, Myanmar; Chongqing and Nanjing, China; and Nagoya, Japan.
The plane is pure experimental and not commercially viable alternative to current aircraft aloft. Until storage of solar power is ever solved it will remain as merely a lab specimen. The round the world flight only proved its limitations that it cannot remain aloft for a degree of time unless a better battery is invented/designed.
Did you bother to go see it? Is is still an amazing thing. By the way they are not thinking it will lead to mass air transportation. They are bringing light to making our planet green. Go and see it.