The journey to a sustainable future does not finish here
Tuesday, 2am, Al Bateen Airport, Abu Dhabi. Hundreds of guests, team members and journalists begin to arrive in the specially set up tent for the arrival of Solar Impulse 2 (Si2). Over a year ago, on March 9, 2015, this was the exact same spot where the first aircraft to fly around the world without a drop of fossil fuel took off for the first time.
After some 40,000 kilometres and 510 hours of flying, Si2 finally landed, exactly one year later than scheduled. A battery overheating problem delayed the airplane last spring, which then had to wait for the winter to pass before continuing its historic journey.
After crossing Oman, India, Myanmar, China, the Pacific, the United States, the Atlantic, Europe and North Africa, the lights of Si2 were spotted above Abu Dhabi sky once again about 3am.
Negotiating dangerous cross winds and high temperatures, Bertrand Piccard, the pilot who brought Si2 “home”, landed it on Al Bateen’s runway at 4.05am amidst the cheers of the crowd.
Despite 48 hours of flying from Cairo, Piccard looked full of energy when he finally opened the door of his small, just 3.8 cubic metres, one seat, un-pressurised cabin. He was greeted by André Borschberg, co-founder of Solar Impulse and also a pilot of Si2, who shared the flying around the world.
Since Borschberg was the first to fly out Si2 on its first leg to Muscat, Piccard was the one to pilot the last flight.
“We flew 40,000 kilometres without fuel. Now we hand it over to you, to take it further,” said Piccard.
The two Swiss pilots were welcomed back to Abu Dhabi by Prince Albert II of Monaco, Doris Leuthard, Vice-President of Switzerland and Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and CEO of Masdar. Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company Masdar was the host partner of Si2.
A VIP welcome
Since the Solar Impulse project began 13 years ago, over 90 companies worldwide “subscribed” to the vision of Piccard and Borschberg to cross both the Atlantic and the Pacific in an airplane solely powered by solar energy.
Political leaders encouraged the two pilots to pursue their dream.
“What an incredible adventure it has been! We will remember this day, which will remain the day of great victory for solar aviation, and also the day when we were given the proof that we can move towards a low-carbon economy,” said Prince Albert II of Monaco.
An emotional day
Moments after landing the solar plane, Piccard had to wipe off a few tears before being able to open the door of his cockpit. Borschberg , who arrived in Abu Dhabi earlier on Monday evening, was the first to reach the aircraft on the runway.
As Piccard reached down from his cabin, Borschberg’s arm reached up, the two holding hands in silence for a moment, before hugs, flowers and congratulations were shared in a ceremony right after arrival.
“One of the best moments of the entire roundthe-world flying was this morning. As I circled for one-and-a-half hours over Abu Dhabi, I knew I crossed the line that Andre did, in opposite direction, when he flew the plane out for the first time. It was a moment of grace... I was happy and sad in the same time.,” said Piccard.
Flying five days at a time, alone in the cabin, keeping awake was one of the trickiest challenges the pilots had, only squeezing around 12 naps of 20 minutes each in every 24 hours of flying over unpopulated areas. “We used techniques of self hypnosis and meditation to manage to stay awake,” Piccard told Khaleej Times.
To keep focused, they had a tailor-made autopilot capable of alerting the pilot of any turbulence through vibrations on their arms.