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| Solar Impulse plane begins Pacific crossing | Solar Impulse plane begins Pacific crossing |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Swiss pilot Andre Borschberg has begun his bid to cross the Pacific, from China to Hawaii, in the zero-fuel Solar Impulse aeroplane. | Swiss pilot Andre Borschberg has begun his bid to cross the Pacific, from China to Hawaii, in the zero-fuel Solar Impulse aeroplane. |
| The experimental aircraft, which has a wingspan bigger than a jumbo but weighs little more than a large car, left Nanjing at about 02:40 (18:40 GMT). | The experimental aircraft, which has a wingspan bigger than a jumbo but weighs little more than a large car, left Nanjing at about 02:40 (18:40 GMT). |
| It is likely to take Mr Borschberg five to six days of continuous flight to reach his central Pacific destination. | It is likely to take Mr Borschberg five to six days of continuous flight to reach his central Pacific destination. |
| He will try to stay awake for much of that time, taking only short catnaps. | He will try to stay awake for much of that time, taking only short catnaps. |
| His progress will be monitored the entire way from a control room in Monaco. | His progress will be monitored the entire way from a control room in Monaco. |
| Meteorologists and flight strategists will constantly update him on the best route to follow. | Meteorologists and flight strategists will constantly update him on the best route to follow. |
| The journey is the seventh leg in the single-seat, propeller-driven aircraft's quest to circumnavigate the globe using just the energy of the Sun. | The journey is the seventh leg in the single-seat, propeller-driven aircraft's quest to circumnavigate the globe using just the energy of the Sun. |
| The project made steady progress after starting out from Abu Dhabi in March, but was held up for more than a month on China's east coast waiting for the right weather conditions over the ocean. | The project made steady progress after starting out from Abu Dhabi in March, but was held up for more than a month on China's east coast waiting for the right weather conditions over the ocean. |
| Solar Impulse needs not only favourable winds to help push it forward, but also clear skies to enable its 17,000 wing-mounted photovoltaic cells to achieve peak performance. | Solar Impulse needs not only favourable winds to help push it forward, but also clear skies to enable its 17,000 wing-mounted photovoltaic cells to achieve peak performance. |
| These cells must have the vehicle's lithium-ion batteries fully topped up at dusk to sustain flying through to dawn the next day. | These cells must have the vehicle's lithium-ion batteries fully topped up at dusk to sustain flying through to dawn the next day. |
| Tough ask | Tough ask |
| Mr Borschberg is a highly experienced pilot, and as a trained engineer is completely familiar with the plane's systems. | Mr Borschberg is a highly experienced pilot, and as a trained engineer is completely familiar with the plane's systems. |
| Nonetheless, he is in no doubt how tough the mission will be. | Nonetheless, he is in no doubt how tough the mission will be. |
| "It's more in the end about myself; it's going to be an inner voyage," he told the BBC before departure. | "It's more in the end about myself; it's going to be an inner voyage," he told the BBC before departure. |
| "It's going to be a discovery about how I feel and how I sustain myself during these five or six days in the air." | "It's going to be a discovery about how I feel and how I sustain myself during these five or six days in the air." |
| Bertrand Piccard - who has flown the Solar Impulse on other stages of the voyage - told the BBC: | |
| "There's one pilot at a time, so the pilot needs to do everything on his own. And it's a very large aeroplane, big wing spans, sensitive to turbulence, flying quite slow. | |
| "So sometimes it's difficult to handle when the air moves. But we have an auto-pilot, we have toilets on board, we have food for days, water reserves and everything, and we are well trained." | |
| The distance to Kalaeloa airport on Hawaii's O'ahu island is more than 8,000km (5,000 miles). | The distance to Kalaeloa airport on Hawaii's O'ahu island is more than 8,000km (5,000 miles). |
| If, early on in the flight, the weather turns bad or he encounters a serious technical problem, Mr Borschberg can always choose to turn around and head back to China or Japan. | If, early on in the flight, the weather turns bad or he encounters a serious technical problem, Mr Borschberg can always choose to turn around and head back to China or Japan. |
| But there will come a point where that option is denied to him, and Mr Borschberg and his support team have had to prepare for the possibility of ditching in the Pacific if something goes seriously wrong. | But there will come a point where that option is denied to him, and Mr Borschberg and his support team have had to prepare for the possibility of ditching in the Pacific if something goes seriously wrong. |
| The pilot himself would not go down with the plane because of the risk of electrocution once in the water. Instead, he would bail out with a dingy and wait for a ship to come and pick him up. | The pilot himself would not go down with the plane because of the risk of electrocution once in the water. Instead, he would bail out with a dingy and wait for a ship to come and pick him up. |
| If he succeeds in reaching Kalaeloa airport, he will set several aviation records - not least the longest-duration journey for a single-seater plane. | If he succeeds in reaching Kalaeloa airport, he will set several aviation records - not least the longest-duration journey for a single-seater plane. |
| LEG 1: 9 March. Abu Dhabi (UAE) to Muscat (Oman) - 441km; in 13 hours and 1 minute | LEG 1: 9 March. Abu Dhabi (UAE) to Muscat (Oman) - 441km; in 13 hours and 1 minute |
| LEG 2: 10 March. Muscat (Oman) to Ahmedabad (India) - 1,468km; in 15 hours and 20 minutes | LEG 2: 10 March. Muscat (Oman) to Ahmedabad (India) - 1,468km; in 15 hours and 20 minutes |
| LEG 3: 18 March. Ahmedabad (India) to Varanasi (India) - 1,215km; in 13 hours and 15 minutes | LEG 3: 18 March. Ahmedabad (India) to Varanasi (India) - 1,215km; in 13 hours and 15 minutes |
| LEG 4: 19 March. Varanasi (India) to Mandalay (Myanmar) - 1,398km; in 13 hours and 29 minutes | LEG 4: 19 March. Varanasi (India) to Mandalay (Myanmar) - 1,398km; in 13 hours and 29 minutes |
| LEG 5: 29 March. Mandalay (Myanmar) to Chongqing (China) - 1,459km; in 20 hours and 29 minutes | LEG 5: 29 March. Mandalay (Myanmar) to Chongqing (China) - 1,459km; in 20 hours and 29 minutes |
| LEG 6: 21 April. Chongqing (China) to Nanjing China - 1,241km; in 17 hours and 22 minutes | LEG 6: 21 April. Chongqing (China) to Nanjing China - 1,241km; in 17 hours and 22 minutes |