Solar Impulse 2 (Si2) is about to resume its flight around the world. The solar airplane, dependent on weather conditions, is set to fly from Hawaii to North America.
The plane landed in Hawaii after a record-breaking five-day flight from Japan. During the Japan to Hawaii leg of the journey the Si2 suffered battery damage due to overheating. The issue with the batteries left the team with an extended stop in Hawaii to replace the batteries as it was going to take the team more time to replace the batteries than the remaining time left before the end of the season with long enough days, and short enough nights, to continue the flight.
Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg are the pioneers behind the Si2 and its journey. The team will identify the first favorable window for Piccard to resume the flight.
“As we experienced many times with Solar Impulse, obstacles often turn out to be opportunities for improvement,” explained André Borschberg, CEO and Co-Founder. “Ultimately, this time was used to recreate the strong mindset within the team to continue our adventure. It takes sometimes more time to build up the right spirit then to develop new technologies.”
The Si2 has been sheltering at the Kalaeloa airport, thanks to the University of Hawaii, the Honolulu Community College and the Department of Transportation, and received valuable support from many people and institutions, such as the Governor of Hawaii, the authorities of Kalaeloa and Honolulu airports, and the Swiss Consulate.
The team is examining four potential destinations: Phoenix, the San Francisco area, Los Angeles and Vancouver. Based on the learnings from the flights in 2015, the decision was made to expand the range of potential destinations to leave a maximum flexibility for route planning. The final landing place will be chosen a couple of days before departure depending on the weather conditions. The mission will then continue onward to New York, Europe or North Africa and finally Abu Dhabi where it all started.