The team behind Solar Impulse 2, the solar-powered plane trying to circumnavigate the world, breathed a sigh of relief on Monday night after the aircraft took to the skies, bound for Hawaii.
On June 1, while trying to fly across the Pacific from Nanjing in China to Hawaii, co-pilot Andre Borschberg was forced to land in Nagoya, Japan, after hitting a storm front.
The Pacific crossing of 8,172 kilometres, the plane’s seventh leg, was to have been the world’s longest solar flight, in distance and duration.
But despite the setback, a new record was made.
On June 25, co-pilot Bertrand Piccard told Tribune de Geneve that the plane had only a short window of time in which to continue on its journey. If that window closed, it would have to spend the winter in a hangar.
Mr Piccard said that by early August the days would be too short for the solar-driven plane to cross the Pacific, and then the Atlantic Ocean, safely.
After making its unscheduled landing, the aircraft’s wings were damaged by wind and rain, issues that were promptly fixed.
An earlier attempt to continue the journey, on June 24, was dropped because of the weather.
Mr Borschberg, who flew for 44 hours on his way to Nagoya, again took control of the plane as it flew out of Japan about 10pm UAE time.
The Masdar-sponsored plane began its journey from Abu Dhabi on March 9.
newsdesk@thenational.ae
*with reporting by AFP
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Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
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What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.