The solar-powered airplane, Solar Impulse 2 is scheduled to land late tonight in Tulsa, enroute from Phoenix, Arizona on an18-hour flight.
Tulsa was picked at the last minute as a landing site because of clear weather. Those behind the round-the-world flight attempt that started in March 2015 in the United Arab Emirates must be careful in choosing flight ways that offer plenty of sunshine to power the four-engine plane and its solar panels.
“We are all very excited to land in Tulsa,” said pilot Bertrand Piccard in an interview with News on 6 on Thursday. “It was a surprise for us. We had to change our plans yesterday morning because of the weather.”
The plane is fitted with solar panels on top of its wings and tail, explained Piccard.
“This project illustrates that we can do incredible things with clean technology and renewable energy. I’m flying day and night with no fuel so this airplane can stay in the air forever.”
While the aircraft does not have the capability of great speeds, it can fly for great distances as long as it has sunshine to power the engines.
“We have no fuel on board, just the store energy with the power to fly during the day. We spend the night on the batteries and catch the sunlight the next day,” continued Piccard, an obvious fan of renewable energy.
“This is a new market. Clean technology can create jobs and at the same time, it can protect the environment—-so win, win win.”
Listen to New on 6 reporters interview Piccard in the midst of his flight.
