Yesterday at 11.28 pm Nanjing finally welcomed Solar Impulse 2. Pilot Bertrand Piccard flew the solar-powered airplane from Chongqing, a distance of 1,190km that took over 17 hours, thereby successfully completing the sixth leg of the world tour.
The plan was meant to leave chongqing three weeks prior, however due to the light material and design of the plane it is highly susceptible to winds, which caused the delay. The fact that the plane was able to leave Chongqing yesterday was a stroke of luck as Piccard posted on his Twitter account: “Today’s flight was like a miracle, because the weather was bad yesterday and will be bad tomorrow.”
Bertrand Piccard was the unintended pilot for this stretch since his co-pilot André Borschberg had to undergo medical check-ups in his home country Switzerland, having experienced bouts of migraine.
Solar Impulse 2 will spend at least ten days in Nanjing as the plane undergoes servicing. Reports on when it is due to leave Nanjing are conflicting.
Mission director Raymond Clerc said in a statement, ”We need to wait for a good weather window. That could be three days; we could have to wait three weeks – because this leg is really the most important and is very complex.”
Local media news outlet JSChina on the other hand suggested the pit stop was scheduled to take three weeks, closer to the one month stay that had been planned by the team before the unplanned stay in Chongqing.
No matter what official plans are, in the end it is again all down to the weather. While simulations done last year suggested the weather conditions would be acceptable rather quickly, the long and unforeseen stop in Chongqing shows that where weather is concerned, there are a lot of incalculable variables.
Once the plane leaves Nanjing, it is in for a long ride. The Pacific leg will be broken down into two stages, the first stop being Hawaii; the distance between Nanjing and the Aloha state is 8,000km. Since the plane cannot gather high speeds, it will take up to five days and nights to reach its next destination.
Aside from technical preparations, the pilot further needs to mentally prepare for the journey. In an interview with Nanjing Expat, Elke Neumann, press representative of the Solar Impulse 2 project, explained the mental preparation the pilot needs to undergo in order to make the long journey traversing the Pacific; including self-hypnosis tactics, yoga and meditation.
In the meantime, we hope Bertrand Piccard and his team will enjoy their stay in Nanjing. Though we are very curious to know what kind of food supplies will be going on the plane for the Pacific crossing. Will Piccard introduce the Hawaiians to Jinling Salted Duck?
Image Source: JSChina
