solar-impulse

Solar Impulse founder and Swiss pilot André Borschberg has broken the record for the longest ever solo flight, beating Steve Fossett who has held the record since 2005.

Borschberg is currently flying the Solar (Si2) zero-fuel aircraft over the Pacific Ocean en route to Hawaii, as part of a round-the-world flight. The solar-powered aircraft took-off from Nagoya Airfield in Japan on 28 June.

The latest record was confirmed by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), the World Air Sports Federation.

Borschberg completed the solo feat by spending longer than 74h 56min 5sec flying across the Pacific Ocean.

"Borschberg completed the solo feat by spending longer than 74h 56min 5sec flying across the Pacific Ocean."

FAI said that Steve Fossett was the first person to fly solo around the world on-board the Virgin Atlantic un-refuelled ‘Global Flyer’ aircraft in March 2005.

The Si2 started its 35,000km global journey in Abu Dhabi on 9 March, and has so far successfully completed seven stages.

After reaching Hawaii, Solar Impulse co-founder Bertrand Piccard will take the controls of the flight for the next crossing to the US mainland.

The aircraft will then continue across North America, passing Phoenix, mid-US and New York, before flying to Europe, and finally on to Abu Dhabi.

Si2 is the upgraded version of the solar-powered prototype Solar Impulse 1 and has a wingspan of 72m. It is powered by more than 17,000 solar cells on its wings.

Image: Si2 zero-fuel aircraft flying in round-the-world flight. Photo: courtesy of Solar Impulse SA.