The Solar-Powered aircraft – with wings extended than a Boeing 747 and a speed of around 28mph – took more than two days to enter California.
A #solarpoweredaircraft has finished a passage of the Pacific Ocean after a 62-hour non-stop flight.
Pilot Betrand Piccard piloted Solar Impulse 2 in Mountain View outdoor San Francisco after travelling from Hawaii on the latest stage of his voyage around the world.
The plane set off from Abu Dhabi in March last year and has made stops in Oman, Myanmar, China, and Japan.
But the Pacific leg was the most critical part of the journey because of the lack of sites to make a landing in an emergency.
Before landing, the aircraft completed a fly-by over the Golden Gate Bridge.
“I crossed the bridge. I am properly in America,” Mr. Piccard declared as he flew over the iconic span.
The plane ordinarily flies at around 28mph (45kph) but can reach double that speed when the sun’s beams are strongest.
The wings of the carbon-fibre aircraft expanded wider than those of a Boeing 747 and covered with 17,000 solar cells that power propellers and load batteries.
It runs on collected energy at night.
The Solar Impulse 2 appeared in Hawaii in July but was obliged to stay in the islands after the plane’s battery system maintained heat damage on its trip from Japan.
Solar-Powered Plane Traverses The Pacific
24/04/2016