Abu Dhabi -- The 35,000km global flight route of Solar Impulse 2 (Si2) – the world’s first entirely solar-powered plane – has been announced.
Project partner firm Bayer MaterialScience contributed to the aircraft – which will be piloted by its Swiss creators Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg – to demonstrate the potential of clean technology, the pair said in a press release.
As utech-polyurethane.com previously reported, BMS’ contribution includes the cockpit’s lightweight foam insulation, the craft’s rigid polyurethane foam shell as well as adhesives and coating.
Si2 will take-off from Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, in late February or early March and return by late July or early August 2015.
The route includes stops in Muscat, Oman; Ahmedabad and Varanasi, India; Mandalay, Myanmar; and Chongqing and Nanjing, China then crossing the Pacific Ocean via Hawaii, it will fly across the US stopping in Phoenix and New York City at JFK and another US location yet to be decided.
After crossing the Atlantic, the final legs include a stop-over in Southern Europe or North Africa before arriving back in Abu Dhabi.
