Video | Solar-powered plane's pilots to spend month in China preparing for risky, non-stop Pacific flight
The fuel-free airplane Solar Impulse 2 and its two Swiss daredevil pilots will have a month-long stopover in China before attempting a historic five-day non-stop flight across the Pacific.
The fuel-free Solar Impulse 2 aircraft and its two Swiss daredevil pilots will have a month-long stopover in China before attempting a historic five-day non-stop flight across the Pacific.
Andre Borschberg, who will pilot that leg, said the China stop would be "the most important" for their project to fly around the world using just solar power as they believed the country was well on the path to becoming the world leader in green technology.
"We're very excited to have made it to China. It is the most important stop for us," he told the from Chongqing , where the plane landed on Tuesday. That leg was piloted by project initiator Bertrand Piccard after a 20-hour flight from Mandalay, Myanmar.
WATCH: When Solar Impulse landed in China after 20-hour flight from Myanmar
Bad weather in Nanjing, the last stop before the Pacific, has kept the team in Chongqing. As it is 72 metres wide but weighs a mere 2,300kg, the single-seater plane can be rocked around by wind and rain before it gains altitude - up to 8,500 metres.