Solar Impulse 2, the solar powered plane, leaves Varanasi and heads for Myanmar

#solarimpulse2 #varanasi #myanmar #BertrandPiccard Solar Impulse 2 (Si2), the solar powered aircraft which is currently on its maiden flight round the world has left Varanasi and is now headed for Mandalay in Myanmar as reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 19 March 2015.
The Si2 had landed in Varanasi on Wednesday evening and the next leg of the flight would be piloted by Bertrand Piccard.
Solar Impulse 2 does not carry any fuel and had landed in Ahmedabad on March 10 around midnight. It was stationed there for six days and had maintained a minimum altitude of around 5,200 metres on its flight to Varanasi.
The Si2, built to fly around the world without using a drop of fuel, has also been designed to showcase the effectiveness of clean technologies and the importance of sustainability.
The aircraft had taken off from Muscat on March 9, flew over Pakistan airspace before entering the Indian airspace over the Arabian Sea towards Gujarat. The Aditya Birla Group had hosted the flight in Ahmedabad.
It is fitted with a total of 17,248 solar cells and four lithium batteries, the weight of Si2 is 633 kg. The batteries supply the electric motors with enough renewable energy for a 24x7 flight, up to an altitude of 8,500 metres. This altitude is less than the height of Mount Everest which stands at 8,848 metres.

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Flying around the world without using a drop of fuel, thanks to the Sun

#AndreBorschberg #AbuDhabi #SolarImpulse2 #BertrandPiccard Jules Verne had penned the fabulous adventure of going around the world in 80 days and, thanks to science and technology, today it is possible to complete the same journey in a matter of a few hours. But, completing such a journey without using a single drop of fuel is a totally new concept. This has been reported in foxnews.com dated 9 March 2015.
Yes, a Swiss solar-powered plane has taken off took off from Abu Dhabi and it will go around the world by using solar power – the journey could take months to complete but, not a drop of fuel would be used.
The plane is being piloted by Solar Impulse founder Andre Borschberg. It took off from the Al Bateen Executive Airport in Abu Dhabi and he will trade off piloting with Solar Impulse co-founder Bertrand Piccard during stop-overs.
The complete journey is expected to run into months. Its first stop would be at Muscat where it should arrive after about 10 hours of flight.
The intention of the Swiss pilots is to create awareness about replacing "old polluting technologies with clean and efficient technologies."
Some legs of the trip, such as over the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, will mean five or six straight days of flying solo. Some details of the lightweight Solar Impulse 2 are – it has a 236-foot wingspan which is larger than that of the Boeing 747. However, it weighs around 5070 pounds – as much as a car!!
It is a larger version of a single-seat prototype that had flown for the first time some five years ago.
It is made of carbon fiber and has 17,248 solar cells which are built into the wing that supply the plane with renewable energy in the form of four lithium polymer batteries.