Post date: Jun 04, 2013 1:15:42 AM
Solar Impulse faces weather challenges as it takes off from Dallas on the third part of its historic, "Flight Across America."
DALLAS, TEXAS, UNITED STATES (, 2013) (SOLAR IMPULSE) - The record setting solar-powered airplane "Impulse" took off from Dallas,Texas on Monday (June 03) for the third leg of its historic, cross-country journey.
The brainchild of swiss pilots Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, the plane is expected to make the flight from Dallas-to-St. Louis in 21 hours.The recent strong storms that struck the St. Louis area though have rendered inoperable Solar Impulse¹s hangar at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. As a result, the team will deploy a revolutionary inflatable structure for the first time in an effort to protect the plane.
The bad weather has been a concern, but postponing the flight was not an option, as the particularly difficult weather conditions in the region leave only very few flight possibilities between Dallas-Fort Worth and St. Louis, and it might be the only one this week.
The stopover in St. Louis during the crossing of the United States is symbolic forSolar Impulse. The city was chosen as the Midwest stopover to pay homage to the area's aviation legacy, which includes aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh and his "Spirit of St. Louis," the first airplane to fly from New York to Paris non-stop.
After St. Louis, Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg will continue to alternately pilot the solar airplane to reach Washington, D.C. and New York.
The aircraft runs on about the same power as a motor scooter, propelled by energy collected from 12,000 solar cells built into the wings that simultaneously recharge batteries with a storage capacity equivalent to a Tesla electric car.
It can climb up to 28,000 feet and flies at an average pace of 43 miles per hour.
Monday's flight is the third leg of a five-part expedition that will take Piccard and Borschberg from California to New York.
With the wingspan of a jumbo jet and the weight of a small car, the Solar Impulse is a test model for a more advanced aircraft the team plans to build to circumnavigate the globe in 2015.