#flight 2

[116sameteam]

New Song! Uzuhan - Real Ones ft. Joey Jewish & nobigdyl.

[116sameteam]

Uzuhan's (f.k.a. J Han) 'Flight 2' is out now!!

[solarimpulse2]

Flight 2 from Muscat to Ahmedabad - Bertrand Piccard

In March 2015, Solar Impulse 2 took off for the first Round-the-World Solar Flight. The ambition of Bertrand Piccard, initiator, chairman, and pilot and André Borschberg, CEO, co-founder, and pilot, was to cover 35,000 km in 12 legs, using only the power of the sun. An ambitious and pioneering adventure, both on the scientific and human level, to demonstrate the power of clean and energy-efficient technologies! On March 10th 2015, the plane took off from Muscat, Oman and arrived in Ahmedabad, India 15 hours later, with Bertrand at the commands, breaking the world record of flight distance with a solar airplane!

To follow the rest of the adventure which will begin again in April, subscribe here.

After the first flight of the Round-The-World journey from Abu Dhabi to Muscat, Solar Impulse 2 made a pit-stop in Muscat, Oman before taking off again the next morning to reach the city of Ahmedabad in India. What’s a pit stop? A stop of a few hours which allows the pilots to take turns flying, and the plane to take advantage of good weather windows. The second leg of the solar adventure was achieved by Bertrand Piccard, who’d been waiting for this flight for a big part of his life. Indeed, the idea of flying around the world with no fuel came to him in 1999, after he achieved a Round-The-World balloon flight, and he launched Solar Impulse four years later. You can thus understand why his first flight of the RTW adventure would be such an important moment for him, as well as the opportunity to go spread the SI message to a new country.

A few minutes after touchdown, André Borschberg got out of the cockpit to go celebrate his successful flight from Abu Dhabi, and the plane was left to the expert hands of the ground crew for post-flight checks. Its wings were for instance cleaned to make sure the 17,248 solar cells would be able to use as much of the sun’s energy as possible.

Our Solar team then got some well-deserved rest under the plane’s wings, with only 5 hours left before takeoff to Ahmedabad. But most of them were so excited to be out of Abu Dhabi and finally living the adventure that they didn’t close their eyes and looked up at the stars, trying to imagine what the rest of the RTW flight would look like.

Meanwhile, at the Mission Control Center (MCC) in Monaco, the meteorologists were confirming good weather conditions for an immediate departure to India. Next door, Raymond Clerc, our flight director, explained live on Solar Impulse TV that there were two possible routes the plane could take, depending on delays, weather and traffic.

After having been equipped with his special clothing and oxygen system, and securing his parachute in case of an emergency, Bertrand Piccard stepped into the cockpit, ready to for his first leg of the RTW flight.

“I’m really impressed by the work of the Solar team who are making today's flight possible, and really happy to fly!” he announced with his usual optimistic smile.

Michèle Piccard and André Borschberg were of course present to see him off. “I wish you an amazing flight, and, as you did for me yesterday, I will be waiting for you at the landing!” André encouraged his partner.

As the takeoff approached, tension started to build up in the MCC. HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, was here for the second day in a row, and very happy to be with us to live the experience from the inside. Branded with the Solar clothes, he declared pilot communication to now be his new job!

Bertrand was not aware that his friend the Prince would be at the MCC… surprise! “I’m very touched that you’re here again this morning, really living the adventure with us!” he thanked him through the plane’s communication system. After speaking a few minutes, Albert of Monaco was able to give Bertrand the “Go”, at 6.35 am local time.

With Si2 pointing towards Ahmedabad, Bertrand was expected to break the maximum distance travelled by a solar-powered airplane. After reaching an altitude of 5000 feet, he took his breakfast, developed especially for the RTW flight by Nestlé Research, and did some stretching exercises to prevent muscle atrophy. 

As he continued climbing above the Arabian sea, soon reaching 27,000 feet, he put on another layer to protect himself against the -5°C in the cockpit, resulting from an exterior temperature of -27°C. Short fights like this one were also used to train for the ocean crossings to come, by testing routines, exercises, communication etc. Bertrand thus always had something to do or someone to talk to - most of the time Capcom, which stand for “Capsule Communication’ and was coined by the Nasa.

After a short 20-minute nap under auto-hypnosis, a technique he learned to help him sleep during his Round-The-World balloon flight in 1999, Bertrand took some beautiful pictures of the river meanders in the wildlife reserve down below. Si2 flew on, passing over Pakistan, and then entering the Indian airspace.

On the ground, our Solar team bid a grateful goodbye to their Omani hosts, without forgetting to perform the Solar dance before boarding the chase plane. They were able to rest during the 3-hour flight, and landed in a clear-sky Ahmedabad where they hopped on a bus to get to the tent hosting Si2 from its arrival on. Not time for a break… The plane arrived above Ahmedabad shortly after, awaiting clearance to land. Its LED light system, developed by Omega, allowed us to see it in the pitch black night.

N.B: The specific outline of the plane at night led Bertrand to call one of his books “A signature in the sky”.

Approach was slightly delayed, but our Air Traffic Control team kept Bertrand in safe airspace as he performed holding patterns in the sky. With her husband just over her head, Michèle Piccard answered questions from the journalists. She explained that the pilots had embarked on this adventure to promote clean technologies and energy efficiency, and that if a plane could fly around the world with no fuel, then there was no doubt its technologies could help us tackle climate change on Earth. Meanwhile the tent, set up by our host partner Aditya Birla Group for the landing event, filled up with more and more people.

At 11:25 pm local time, Bertrand landed in Ahmedabad, and received an amazing welcome from the huge crowd waiting for him. Among them, many media and representatives of the Gujarat Government were there to welcome the pilots to India.

“Welcome back to the ground Bertrand! You did an amazing flight, I could not be happier!” André warmly congratulated his partner.

Not only was it the first time a solar aircraft landed in Asia, but this flight was also a record-breaking flight in terms of distance flown with a solar plane: 1593 km in 15 hours and 20 minutes. An amazing opportunity to spread the #futureisclean message and discuss the importance of clean technologies and pioneering spirit with the Indians. Let us note that the state of Gujarat leads India in terms of solar installations and contributes approximately 15% to the country’s renewable energy basket. The perfect place to be for Solar Impulse!

After spending so long in the 3.8 m3 cockpit, Bertrand enjoyed a relaxing yoga session - definitely the right country for this! - by Sanjeev Bhanot, André’s yogi. Si2 also cooled down as our ground crew brought it to its hangar and began post-flight checks. And then, it was time to get back to business: we held our first press conference in India, which was moreover one of the largest ever Solar Impulse press conferences. But it was not the first time Bertrand set foot in this country.

“My experience with India is also as a goodwill ambassador for the UN, working with the government to empower women.” Bertrand Piccard

In 1998, he had moreover flown over India with the Breitling Orbiter 2 hot air balloon during his second attempt to fly around the world.

Next step will be Varanasi, still in India, after spending a few days in Ahmedabad organizing events and public visits to welcome the local population inside our hangar!

[dailydragons]

Flight 2 by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law (website | DeviantArt)