Solar Impulse Flight #8 to Hawaii Halted on the Tarmac (Video)
Originally published on 1Sun4All.
Those of you who were watching the live takeoff coverage of Solar Impulse 2 (Si2) — the world’s first solar-powered plane able to fly day and night without a drop of fuel — from Nagoya, Japan, already know that the weather window closed as André Borschberg — CEO, cofounder, and pilot of Solar Impulse — was sitting in Si2 on the tarmac.
There was a lot of conversation at Monaco Control Center where the weather team studied the weather models to be certain Si2 and the pilot would be safe to take off for the demanding 5-day and 5-night journey. In the end, it was decided to postpone the flight due to worsening weather conditions.
The Si2 takeoff video below is just over 3 hours long and at around 2:48 you can see when the decision was taken to not go ahead with the flight to Hawaii in the United States.
Si2 cannot sit on the tarmac in Japan because as the sun comes up, so does the wind. Si2 weighs as much as a standard automobile and is vulnerable to the blustery weather.
Solar Impulse tweeted: “As the day rises, #Si2 heads back to its mobile hangar, which will have to be partly re-inflated!”
Bertrand Piccard said on Twitter: “An extreme adventure allows you to enter into a much more intimate and authentic relationship with yourself.”
Bertrand was visibly disappointed and tweeted: “Will the third attempt of the ocean crossing to Hawaii be the good one? Let’s wait for the next windows to answer.” He continued, “If we cannot cope with disappointment and frustration, we should do something else than exploration and adventure @solarimpulse.”
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I will be very happy when the Solar Impulse team waves bon voyage and watches André Borschberg fly off into the early morning rising sun, heading out over the Pacific Ocean to reach Hawaii, USA. Si2’s Round-the-World attempt is a mighty adventure and my support is fully behind this first-ever solar flight. —Amber Archangel
Photo, Video, and Cartoon Credit: Solar Impulse
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