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Solar Impulse reaches Arizona

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Update: 2016-05-03 02:49:03
Solar Impulse reaches Arizona Photo Courtesy: BBC

DHAKA: Solar Impulse, the zero-fuel aeroplane, has flown the first leg across the continental United States in its attempt to fly around the world.

It left Mountain View, California, at dawn on Monday and landed 16 hours later in Goodyear, a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona, reports the BBC.

It was the 10th leg of its round the world quest.

Swiss adventurer Andre Borschberg was at the controls, having taken over from Bertrand Piccard.

Piccard flew Solar Impulse to the West Coast of the US from Hawaii just over a week ago.

The latest stint was relatively short - 1,113 km.

Take-off from the famous Moffett Airfield occurred at 05:03 PDT (12:03 GMT) and the plane landed in Phoenix at 20:55 PDT.

The team has traversed America before, in 2013. That crossing was undertaken in the prototype predecessor to the current aircraft. But it does mean the weather conditions the Solar Impulse is likely to encounter will be well understood.

Piccard and Borschberg are aiming to get to New York by the start of June, to begin preparations for the big Atlantic crossing.

BDST: 1245 HRS, MAY 03, 2016
RR

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