One year after the Pacific crossing
It’s been a year already since André Borschberg completed the 5-day-and-night flight over the Pacific Ocean, something nobody had done before. It was the exploration leg, the moment of truth of our flight around the world: would our airplane be able to fly day and night with solar energy only, getting close to the notion of perpetual endurance? Would the pilot be as sustainable as the plane in terms of his own energy?
This flight was what the team had been preparing for for 13 years. Not only to prove that clean technologies can allow us to be so energy efficient than we can fly almost for ever with renewable energy, but also as a deep personal experience for André Borschberg.
“What I learned during this 117-hour adventure was that exploration is a question of mindset. Making myself believe that this 5-day flight was going to be too short to make it a fantastic experience allowed me to rid myself of the anxiety of being exhausted. It was critical for me to be conscious that all the plans and simulations I had done to prepare were not going to develop as planned, and that I had to be constantly ready for unpredictable situations. I also realized the importance of “coaching in calm weather and leading in storms” as I had to make some critical decisions against the recommendations of some of the team members, but which allowed us to make it from Japan to Hawaii and accomplish this first in aviation history.” André Borschberg
July 3rd: André lands in Kalaeloa, Hawaii, after a flight of 117 hours and 52 minutes
After 12 years of hard work, André Borschberg, together with his partner Bertrand Piccard, has proved that it’s possible to fly perpetually, relying only on the sun’s energy and on clean technologies. And if a solar airplane can fly for days and nights without a drop of fuel — breaking Steve Fossett’s 2006 record of the longest solo endurance flight — then the technologies inside it can be used on the ground to reduce our energy consumption. All we need now is political courage!
“I feel exhilarated by this extraordinary journey. I climbed the equivalent altitude of Mount Everest five times without much rest. The team at the Mission Control Center in Monaco was my eyes and my ears… The MCC was battling to give me the possibility to rest and recover, but also maximizing the aircraft’s energy levels and sending me trajectories and flight strategies simulated by computer.This flight successfully validates the vision that my partner Bertrand Piccard had after his round-the-world balloon flight to reach unlimited endurance in an airplane without fuel.” André Borschberg
“What André has achieved is extraordinary from the perspective of a pilot. But furthermore, he has also led the technical team during the construction of this revolutionary prototype. It is not only a historic first in aviation it is also a historic first for renewable energies.” Bertrand Piccard
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