Solar Impulse 2 plane completes world journey

The Solar Impulse 2 plane has landed in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, more than a year after its initial take off, completing the first round-the-world flight to be powered solely by the sun’s energy, the Associated Press and other news organizations reported Monday night.

The pre-dawn landing Tuesday by pilot Bertrand Piccard marks the end of an epic 25,000-mile (40,000-kilometer) journey. The plane made 16 stops, including in Dayton, India, China, the U.S., Italy, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates — where it first took off.

The Swiss-engineered single-seater aircraft is powered by 17,248 solar cells and runs on battery power at night. Its average airspeed was 46 mph (75khm), though that increased during the day when the sun’s rays were strongest.

It took 70 hours for the plane to cross the Atlantic and 118 hours across the Pacific.

In May, Solar Impulse 2 landed at Dayton International Airport.

Sporting a wingspan longer than a Boeing 747 jumbo jet and weighing about what an SUV does, the plane landed May 21 in Dayton more than 15,000 miles into a global trek .

Piccard and Andre Borschberg took a behind-the-scenes tour at Carillon Historical Park and Hawthorn Hill, Orville Wright’s Oakwood mansion.

Days later, with Piccard in the cockpit, the plane took off the way it landed in Dayton, in darkness, on its way to Pennsylvania before heading to Europe and finally the Middle East.

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