Solar-powered plane lands in New York

NEW YORK — The solar-powered airplane on a globe-circling voyage that began more than a year ago in the United Arab Emirates reached a milestone Saturday, completing a trip across the United States with a Statue of Liberty fly-by before landing in New York.

The Swiss-made Solar Impulse 2 landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport at 4 a.m. after a 4-hour-41-minute flight of about 165 miles from Lehigh Valley International Airport in Pennsylvania. Its trip across the U.S. mainland began April 24, when Solar Impulse landed in San Francisco from Hawaii.

“Si2 is now safe in New York, JFK airport ... Our new home is Hangar 19 in John F. Kennedy International Airport!” the pilots’ logbook read.

Pilots Andre Borschberg, who flew the plane to New York, and Bertrand Piccard, who will start the next leg of the journey, expect to leave soon to cross the Atlantic Ocean for Europe or South Africa on their way to completing an aviation engineering feat to advance environmentallycompatible technology.

Across the U.S., they stopped in Phoenix; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Dayton, Ohio, home of aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright; and Allentown, Pennsylvania.

The Solar Impulse 2’s wings are equipped with 17,000 solar cells that power propellers and charge batteries. The plane runs on stored energy at night. Ideal flight speed is about 28 mph, although that can double during the day when the sun’s rays are strongest.

The trip began in March 2015 from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and made stops in Oman, Myanmar, China and Japan.