Solar Impulse 2 passes two-thirds point in trans-Pacific flight

The aircraft, which began its journey in Abu Dhabi in March, had traveled 67 per cent of the way to Hawaii by 1am on Thursday UAE time, having flown 5,199 kilometres with 2,536 kilometres to go. EPA /Show more

Solar Impulse 2, the aircraft flying between Japan and Hawaii as part of a round-the-world attempt at solar flight, passed the two-thirds point of the perilous Pacific Ocean crossing and was under 40 hours from landing, organisers said.

The aircraft, which began its journey in Abu Dhabi in March, had traveled 67 per cent of the way to Hawaii by 1am on Thursday UAE time, having flown 5,199 kilometres with 2,536 kilometres to go.

By that time the plane and its veteran Swiss pilot Andre Borschberg had logged nearly 75 hours of continuous flight – having already bettered the previous record of 44 hours they had set between China and Japan.

“Just doing some #yoga exercises on a #solar airplane after 74 hours of flight. That’s all. Regular day at the office,” organisers tweeted with a picture of Borschberg apparently upside-down in his cockpit.

The Swiss aviator is napping for only 20 minutes at a time to maintain control of the pioneering plane. He is equipped with a parachute and life raft, in case he needs to ditch in the Pacific.

In its latest update, organisers estimated that the aircraft had about 40 hours until arriving in Hawaii, if all goes well.

Earlier the plane, on the eighth leg of the global circumnavigation billed as the most difficult part of the adventure, had crossed a potentially problematic cold front, the project said.

The experimental solar-powered aircraft left Japan about 10pm UAE time on Sunday, after spending a month in Nagoya in central Japan.

The propeller-driven plane was scheduled to fly directly from Nanjing in China to Hawaii, but bad weather along the way forced a diversion to Japan that stretched to a month.

Mr Borschberg is entirely self-reliant in the 3.8-cubic metre unpressurised cockpit.

Travelling at altitudes of more than 9,000 metres, he has to use oxygen tanks to breathe, and experiences huge swings in temperature throughout the day.

He rests for only 20 minutes at a time and cannot move from his seat, which has a built-in toilet, as well as a parachute and a life raft attached.

The Masdar-sponsored Solar Impulse 2 set off from Abu Dhabi on March 9 in a multi-leg attempt to fly around the world without a single drop of fuel.

It has 17,000 solar cells and on-board rechargeable lithium batteries, allowing it to fly through the night. Its wingspan is longer than a jumbo jet’s but it has the weight of a car – only 2.3 tonnes.

* Agence France-Presse