Solar Airplane Departs for First Transcontinental Flight

Airplanes may not have to worry about expensive fuel costs in the future if all goes well with an experimental solar-powered airplane. The solar-powered plane, which doesn't use a drop of fuel, took off today for its first transcontinental flight.

Pilot Andre Borschberg is starting the first leg of a flight leaving from Switzerland, with a final destination of North Africa. He will fly the jumbo jet-size Solar Impulse plane to Madrid, Spain by Friday. His fellow pilot Bertrand Piccard will take over for the final stretch to the Moroccan city of Rabat.

The flight took off today from Payerne, Switzerland after a two hour delay due to fog, showing how the aircraft is susceptible to adverse weather.

This trip coincides with the launch of construction on a massive solar energy plant at Ouarzazate in Morocco. King Mohammed VI of Morocco invited Solar Impulse's team to showcase the cutting edge of solar technology. Upon arrival, they will be welcomed by the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (MASEN)

This will be Solar Impulse's first intercontinental flight, and if successful, it will be its longest flight yet. In 2010 the Swiss plane flew 26 hours non-stop to demonstrate that the 12,000 solar cells attached to the aircraft can soak up enough sunlight to keep the plane airborne through the night. In 2011, the solar-powered plane made its first international flight to Belgium and France.

The high-tech aircraft has the wingspan of a large airliner at 208 ft. and weighs a relatively light 3,500 pounds. It is made of carbon fiber and is powered by four small motors that rely on sunlight. The aircraft only fits a single rider in a cramped cockpit.

Some of the challenges that the pilots might face are clouds, rain, and overcoming mountains. In the event that things go horribly wrong, Borschberg has a parachute inside his tiny cabin that he hopes never to use. "When you take an umbrella it never rains," he joked in a satellite call with The Associated Press.

This flight will serve as a practice run for a planned round-the-world flight that will include the United States in 2014. This project began in 2003 and is estimated to cost about $100 million over 10 years.