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Solar-powered plane lands in Spain

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Pilots Bertrand Piccard, left and Andre Borschberg, right, celebrate the landing of the solar-powered plane at San Pablo airport in Seville, Spain on Thursday, June 23, 2016.

SEVILLE, Spain >> An experimental solar-powered airplane landed in Spain Thursday, completing an unprecedented three-day flight across the Atlantic in the latest leg of its globe-circling voyage.

The Solar Impulse 2 landed in Seville in southern Spain at 0540 GMT on Thursday, ending a 71-hour, 8-minute flight which began from New York City on Monday. It was the first time a solar-powered plane has made such a journey using zero fuel and zero emissions, organizers said.

A note on the plane’s official website said the aircraft had flown 6,765 kilometers (4,204 miles) at a maximum height of 8,534 meters (27,999 feet).

It was the 15th leg of a planned around-the-world flight which began in March 2015 from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

The wings of Solar Impulse 2, which stretch wider than those of a Boeing 747, are equipped with 17,000 solar cells that power propellers and charge batteries. The plane runs on stored energy at night.

The Aero-Club of Switzerland is responsible for validating records of the flight.

One response to “Solar-powered plane lands in Spain”

  1. cojef says:

    With the current state of art, solar powered flights are not economically feasible. Weight of batteries, weather conditions dictate take-offs/flight, power storage/generation and flight duration as demonstrated. Further research remains costly. A rich person’s pet project??

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