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SCIENCE: The Solar Impulse will fly to Morocco

 

The experimental aircraft Solar Impulse solar Swiss took off Thursday morning from Payerne airfield (west Switzerland) to join Morocco via a stopover in Madrid, a total distance of approximately 2000 km carried out without a drop of gas.

The prototype, the wingspan of an Airbus A340 (63.4 m) and weight of an average family car (1600 kg), left the runway at Payerne 8:24 (6:24 GMT) , found an AFP photographer.

Solar Impulse took off with almost two hours behind the scheduled time, due to persistent fog in Payerne.

For this first step, the pilot and co-founder of Project Andre Borschberg was flying the plane, whose wings are covered with 12,000 solar cells powering four electric motors with a power of 10 horses each. 

It will fly over the Jura first, then Pontarlier, the Massif Central, then Toulouse and then cross the Pyrenees at an altitude of 8500 m.

The landing will be done at the airport of Madrid-Barajas at 2:00 (0000 GMT) Friday morning. The organizers reserve the right to cancel the flight in weather conditions.

The flight stage is necessary because the device is not large enough to allow a longer trip. Step in Madrid will also carry out technical checks before departure for Morocco, which is expected no earlier than Monday.

The explorer and other co-founder of the project Bertrand Piccard will then relay to take the unit over the Strait of Gibraltar to its final destination, Rabat.

This flight, which will cross for the first time the Mediterranean, should serve as a "rehearsal for the final world tour in 2014," the organizers said. The tour will also allow the team to test the device as part of international air traffic and major airports.

Seven years of work went to a team of 70 people and 80 partners to build this airplane made of carbon fiber.

The construction of a second aircraft, which will be intended to sail around the world without fuel in 2014, has already begun.

The unit will be larger, have a roomier cockpit, but also new batteries and new engines. The aircraft must be ready in 2013 for a first test flight in the same year.