Solar plane completes first transcontinental flight sans fuel

A plane powered entirely by solar energy has successfully completed a flight from Spain to Morocco, the second leg of its journey, as it prepares for a trip around the world.  The carbon-fiber plane’s wingspan is about the size of an Airbus A340, yet it weighs only as much as a car. It’s powered by 12,000 solar cells which, altogether, turn four electrical motors.

This has been a long time coming — the project was first founded by Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg in 2003. It is estimated to have cost about $100 million to create. Today, it is supported by a handful of major corporations, including Deutsche Bank, Bayer, and Schindler.

It took off from Madrid-Barajas airport around 5:30 in the morning and then flew non-stop across the countryside and Mediterranean Sea before landing in Rabat, Morocco at the Rabat-Salé international airport at 11:30 in the evening.

That translates to 19 hours and 8 minutes of flight time, and a total distance traveled of 515 miles.

Particularly noteworthy is the fact that when the plane landed, it did so with a full set of batteries. “This is extraordinary, as it represents an increase in confidence in new technologies,” said Borschberg.

This flight marks the first time that the plane landed on another continent. It was also the first time that Piccard piloted the plane. “It was perhaps the most beautiful flight of my life. I have dreamed since I was a child of flying without using fuel,” said a very joyful Piccard, who comes from a family of adventurers, and who has already flown around the world in a balloon.