The Swiss-built Solar Impulse 2 airplane continued its fuel-free, round-the-world odyssey early today with what’s expected to be an 18-hour flight from Oklahoma to Ohio.

Takeoff from Tulsa International Airport came at 4:23 a.m. CT (2:23 a.m. PT). The solar-powered plane is due to pass over a wide swath of America’s heartland during the day, ending up after dark in Dayton.

Today’s flight marks the 12th leg of a 22,000-mile journey that began in March 2015 in Abu Dhabi, and has included stops in Oman, India, Myanmar, China and Japan. Solar Impulse 2 made the five-day flight from Japan to Hawaii last July, but the plane’s batteries overheated. As a result, the eastward trek had to be put on hold for nine months while repairs were made and plans were relaid.

The odyssey resumed in April with a 2.5-day flight to California’s Silicon Valley, followed by stopovers in Phoenix and Tulsa.

Solar Impulse was founded by Swiss psychiatrist-adventurer Bertrand Piccard and businessman Andre Borschberg, and is funded by an estimated $ 150 million in corporate contributions. The effort is designed to demonstrate advanced aerospace technologies ranging from lightweight composite materials to solar energy.

In 2013, Piccard and Borschberg flew their first Solar Impulse plane from coast to coast across America. That set the stage for the current project.

Solar Impulse 2’s 236-foot wingspan is wider than that of a Boeing 747 jet, but it weighs only 5,000 pounds – about as much as an SUV. The plane is covered with more than 17,000 solar cells, generating enough electricity to power its four scooter-type electric motors throughout the night.

The drawback is that Solar Impulse 2’s cruising speed is only about 40 mph. Borschberg, who took the controls in the plane’s solo cockpit today, could have easily driven to Dayton faster.

Weather is a key consideration for Solar Impulse’s flight schedule: Forecasters determined that today provided a good opportunity to avoid clouds and rain, which would pose dangerous difficulties for the lightweight solar-powered plane.

In a blog posting, the Solar Impulse team explained why the crossing from California to New York was broken up into several legs.

“Breaking the journey into parts makes weather conditions a lot easier to manage,” the team said. “We only need to deal with one weather obstacle at a time within the limits of reliable weather forecasts. This also allows us to find a flight window that satisfies Air Traffic Control considerations, such as keeping safe distances from congested airspaces and military zones.”

Piccard noted that more than a century ago, Dayton was the base of operations for Orville and Wilbur Wright, who ushered in the age of heavier-than-air flying machines. In a similar way, Piccard hopes that he and Borschberg will help usher in an age of super-efficient solar power.

“It’s fun to have the ‘Solar Brothers’ arriving at the city of the Wright Brothers,” he said.

Solar Impulse’s final U.S. destination is New York, which will set the stage for a climactic Atlantic crossing to Europe and the eventual return to Abu Dhabi.

GeekWire

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