First solar-powered plane enters Pakistan

Radio Pakistan reports it will fly through Pakistan for six hours

In a first attempt to fly around the world in a plane using only solar power, the solar-powered aircraft, Solar Impulse 2 (Si2), entered Pakistani air space on Tuesday.

It will fly through Pakistan for six hours, Radio Pakistan reported.

Later, the plane will land in the Indian city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat state, according to the Business Standard.

The solar power plane was launched Monday in Abu Dhabi in a landmark journey aimed at promoting green energy that will test its pilots’ endurance to the limits.

The Solar Impulse 2, piloted by Andre Borschberg of Switzerland, took off at 7:12 am local time from Al-Bateen airport and headed to Muscat, the capital of Oman, where it is expected to land later Monday after the first leg of the journey.

Read: Solar-powered plane takes off in first round-the-world attempt

The aircraft, which took off from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday, touched down in Muscat following a trouble-free 12-hour flight.

Capable of flying over oceans for several days and nights in a row, Si2 will travel 35,000 km around the world in 25 days over the course of roughly five months. It will pass over the Arabian Sea, India, Myanmar, China and the Pacific Ocean.

There will be 12 stops en route, which include stops at the Indian cities of Ahmedabad and Varanasi.

The takeoff, which was originally scheduled for Saturday but delayed due to high winds, capped 13 years of research and testing by Borschberg and fellow Swiss pilot Bertrand Piccard.

Shortly before take-off, the 63-year-old pilot tweeted that the “challenge to come is real for me & the airplane”.

“This project is a human project, it is a human challenge,” Borschberg, co-founder and chief executive of the Solar Impulse project, told reporters on Sunday.

The wingspan of the one-seater plane, known as the Si2, is slightly bigger than that of a jumbo jet, but its weight is around that of a family car.

The pilots have undergone intensive training in preparation for the trip, including in yoga and self-hypnosis, allowing them to sleep for periods as short as 20 minutes but awaken feeling refreshed.