Solar Plane Passes New Test Ahead Of Planned World Tour

Bertrand Piccard lands the solar-powered plane Solar Impluse 2 at the Al-Bateen airport in Emirati capital Abu Dhabi on March 2, 2015
� AFP Marwan Naamani




Abu Dhabi (AFP) - A solar-powered plane made a third successful test flight in the United Arab Emirates on Monday ahead of a planned round-the-world myanmar cycling tour to promote alternative energy.

Organisers hope that Solar Impulse 2 may head off around the globe as early as Saturday but caution that the launch is dependent on the weather, even in the relatively cloudless Gulf.

myanmar adventure tours The hour-long test flight was the plane's third from the UAE capital Abu Dhabi's small Al-Bateen airport, but the first for Solar Impulse chairman Bertrand Piccard, the descendant of a family of Swiss scientist-adventurers.

The pilot reported no problems, mission chiefs said.

The project is the fruit of 13 years of research and testing by Piccard and Andre Borschberg, two Swiss Myanmar Adventure Tours pilots whose idea was initially ridiculed by the aviation industry.