SolarImpulse Destination Morocco patch.
June 22. 2012
Solar Impulse landed smoothly Friday at 1:25 (Swiss time) in Ouarzazate, a city in southern Morocco, after traveling 683 km.
Landing in Ouarzazate, the aircraft was piloted by André Borschberg
The solar unit has traveled 683 kilometers after leaving Rabat at 8:05. He had to turn around a week ago due to high winds.
The plane was piloted by Andre Borschberg who suffered the first hot then cold during this flight. For this second test, the aircraft followed a slightly different route, flying over the coast at low altitude - 600 meters - from 10:00 to off Casablanca.
SolarImpulse landing in Ouarzazate
The aircraft climbed to 9000 meters to cross the Atlas. His average speed was 64.8 km / h. The pilot, who has extracted 30 minutes later the cabin, was enthusiastically welcomed by the entire team of Solar Impulse, a Moroccan official delegation and folk groups.
Symbolic
"This is a fantastic event to be here in Ouarzazate, the result of many months of preparation," said Andre Borschberg on arrival. This flight lasting over 17 hours is symbolic in more ways than one, since it happened the first day of summer, coinciding with the Rio conference on sustainable development, he said.
"Unfortunately, the fact that many heads of state are not gone there shows that the environmental issue is still not taken seriously," he noted. Bertrand Piccard has meanwhile welcomed the implementation of technical concerns until now leave room for "the human adventure."
André Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard enthusiastically welcomed by the entire team of SolarImpulse
Last Wednesday, the prototype had to turn around mid-afternoon due to strong winds at high altitudes which were treading water. Solar Impulse is left at the end of May in Payerne (Switzerland) for its first intercontinental flight, before a world tour planned for 2014. The aircraft designed to fly day and night without fuel or polluting emissions stopped in Madrid, then won Rabat on June 6
Back in stages
Return to Switzerland will also be staged in Rabat and Madrid, as in the first leg. Bertrand Piccard, who was flying the route Madrid-Rabat, should again fly the aircraft for flight-Ouarzazate Rabat Rabat or step-Madrid.
The carbon fiber aircraft is powered by four electric motors, a power of ten horsepower each, powered by 12,000 photocells covering its huge wing. Energy is stored during the day in batteries, allowing the aircraft to fly at night. The wingspan of an Airbus A340, it weighs only 1.6 tons, or the weight of an average car.
Seven years of work were needed to build the device. The project was launched in 2003.
For more information on SolarImpulse: http://solarimpulse.com/en/home/
Images, Video, Text, Credits: SolarImpulse / AFP / ATS / Newsnet.
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