First-ever solar-powered airplane takes off for flight across U.S.-Friday May 03,2013

A solar-powered airplane that developers hope to eventually pilot around the world took off early on Friday from San Francisco Bay on the first leg of an attempt to fly across the United States with no fuel but the sun's energy.

Solar Impulse, piloted by Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard, left the runway in northern California at 6:12 am (1842 IST) against the backdrop of a golden morning sunrise, in what a mission control operator called a "perfect takeoff."

Swiss pilots and co-founders of the project, Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, will take turns flying the plane, built with a single-seat cockpit, with Piccard at the controls for the first flight to Arizona.

 

Flying quietly and slowly at an average speed of about 30 miles (49 kilometers) per hour, the plane was scheduled to arrive in Phoenix, Arizona, early Saturday under cover of darkness(
tentatively scheduled to land in Phoenix at 1 a.m. local time on Saturday)
A dashboard showing the live speed, direction, battery status, solar generator and engine power, along with cockpit cameras of both Piccard and his view from the plane, were online at live.solarimpulse.com