Solar Impulse moves closer to take-off

Six months of hard work and patience from the Solar Impulse 2 team may be rewarded in the next fortnight. Solar Impulse / EPA

ABU DHABI// Solar Impulse 2 could take to the skies again in a fortnight to resume its attempt at a record-breaking flight around the world.

The Masdar-sponsored solar-powered plane took off from Abu Dhabi on March 9 last year but has been grounded in Hawaii for the last six months after suffering damage to its battery system.

Emirati Hasan Al Redaini, who works in group communications at Mubadala, has rejoined the international team on the US Pacific islands state.

He is likely to travel with the plane to several stops to spread the team’s message of zero-emissions technology in North America, Europe and North Africa before returning to the UAE capital.

A spokeswoman for Solar Impulse 2 said that, weather permitting, the plane will resume its flight on April 15.

“The first possible departure from Hawaii to reach the US west coast is on April 15,” she said.

However, the next stop on the US mainland was not confirmed.

The experimental aircraft was grounded last July when its solar-powered batteries developed problems half way through its 35,000-kilometre trip.

It took the crew several months to repair the damage caused by high tropical temperatures during the final Pacific stage flight.

A test flight in late February was a success.

The next leg of its voyage is expected to take four days and may end in the California cities of Los Angeles or San Francisco or in Phoenix, Arizona, the spokeswoman said.

“We know from experience that crossing the United States is challenging in terms of weather.”

The team aims to reach JFK Airport in New York before the trip across the Atlantic begins.

Since leaving Abu Dhabi last year, the plane has travelled more than 18,000km.

The aircraft’s wings are covered with more than 17,000 photovoltaic cells that charge the batteries when the sun is shining.

Pilots Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg are taking turns flying each stage because the aircraft can fit only one person at a time.