Solar-powered plane leaves Spain for Egypt in final leg of around-the-world trip - Action News
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Science

Solar-powered plane leaves Spain for Egypt in final leg of around-the-world trip

An experimental solar-powered airplane has left Spain for Egypt in the penultimate leg of its globe-circling voyage.

The flight is expected to last 50 hours and 30 minutes

Solar Impulse 2 takeoff

8 years ago
Duration 1:06
Solar-powered plane to make final 50-hour trip to complete journey around globe

An experimental solar-powered airplane has left Spain for Egypt in the penultimate leg of its globe-circling voyage.

Organizers said the Solar Impulse 2 flew out of Seville airport Monday and was heading for Cairo.

The flight, piloted by Swiss man Andre Borschberg, is expected to last 50 hours and 30 minutes.

The around-the-world voyage began in March 2015 in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates and is due to finish there too.

Pilot Bertrand Piccard takes a selfie prior to landing in Seville in Spain on Thursday June 23. The around-the-world voyage began in March 2015 in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates and is due to finish there, too. (Jean Revillard/Solar Impulse 2/Associated Press)

The plane arrived in Seville on June 23 after an unprecedented three-day flight across the Atlantic that leg of the trip was piloted byBertrand Piccard. The two men have been taking turns piloting the aircraft.

The wings of Solar Impulse 2, which stretch wider than those of a Boeing 747, are equipped with 17,000 solar cells that power propellers and charge batteries. The plane runs on stored energy at night.