Solar Impulse 2, the solar-powered plane attempting to make the first flight around the world without fuel, was set to leave Japan for Hawaii on Tuesday, but organizers had to call it off due to weather.
The plane is back in its mobile hangar in Nagoya, Japan, after its second failed attempt to accomplish the most challenging leg of the journey: to fly across the Pacific for five days and nights.
Swiss explorers and pilots Andre Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard originally planned for Borschberg to fly the plane from Nanjing, China, to Honolulu earlier this month. The plane left China on May 31 but had to cut the trip short, landing in Nagoya on June 1, due to weather.
The departure Tuesday was postponed because the weather outlook for the third and fourth days of the five-day journey was unfavorable, said organizers.
The design of the plane makes selecting the right time to fly crucial, as the plane — with the wingspan of a commercial airliner and the weight of a car — is sensitive to turbulence. The single-seater aircraft has 17,000 solar cells built into the wings, four electric motors and lithium batteries.
The weather is monitored up to the last second before takeoff to ensure the best weather window for the five-day flight, Solar Impulse 2 pilot and co-founder Piccard said in a streamed YouTube video.
"There were clouds over the solar airplane on the fourth morning when we needed sun to be able to climb back to high altitude," Piccard said. "This is the worst thing that can happen to a solar airplane."
During the day, when the solar panels are generating power, the plane will climb to more than 27,000 feet. At night it will run on battery power and gradually drop to below 5,000 feet.
Borschberg, CEO of Solar Impulse 2 and the pilot chosen to man the plane alone for the five-day flight, said he was disappointed but trusts the delay was the best decision.
"I trust they made a good decision," Borschberg said. "I’m sure, despite the fact it is very hard, that’s the right way to go."
Borschberg will be piloting the plane for an estimated 115 hours. If successful, the flight would set a record for the first solar flight of that distance and for the longest time flown by a solo pilot.
Solar Impulse 2 was in the air for one day and 20 hours before the unexpected landing in Japan.
The flight from Nagoya to Hawaii will be the most difficult leg of the whole round-the-world mission, the Solar Impulse team said in a news release.
The plane departed March 9 from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, for the planned 25,000-mile trip around the world.
The pilots need to complete a total of 12 flights in the round-the-world venture.
After Hawaii, Solar Impulse 2 will fly to Phoenix, on to a yet-to-be-announced Midwestern city and then to New York.
Watch the full announcement from Piccard and Borschberg at www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-1I9hALdwA.
