SOLAR-PLANE/NEWS CONFERENCE Solar-powered plane grounded for a week due to plane damage - pilot

Record ID: 150045

  • Title: SOLAR-PLANE/NEWS CONFERENCE Solar-powered plane grounded for a week due to plane damage - pilot
  • Date: 3rd June 2015
  • Summary: NAGOYA, JAPAN (JUNE 3, 2015) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** HANGER ON TARMAC VARIOUS OF SOLAR IMPULSE 2 ANCHORED IN HANGER "SOLAR IMPULSE" LOGO ON AIRPLANE MECHANIC WORKING SOLAR IMPULSE 2 ANCHORED IN HANGER VARIOUS OF BORSCHBERG, AICHI PREFECTURE GOVERNOR, HIDEAKI OMURA, AND SWISS AMBASSADOR TO JAPAN, URS BUCHER, LINKING HANDS BEFORE AIRPLANE (SOUNDBIT
  • Embargoed: 18th June 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA5WQUZI5MKRNQ89BI6NDHX1W78
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The pilot of a solar-powered plane said on Wednesday (June 3) it would take a week to depart Japan due to minor damage to the plane after bad weather cut short the seventh leg of its round-the-world journey.
    The Solar Impulse 2 left Nanjing, China on Sunday to fly over the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii, but bad weather forced the plane to land at a small airport in Nagoya, Japan on Monday (June 1).
    "Not well… if you're talking about how I slept last night, not well. But I was tired because I had three nights before with little sleep, so yes, partly, but we were all concerned about protecting the airplane," said the pilot, 64-year-old Swiss Andre Borschberg.
    He said taking off from Japan will be at least a week later.
    "We also had a small damage on the airplane. It was yesterday (we found it) before this difficult night, and it will take about one week for us to repair this small damage, nothing major, but it will take a week in fact to bring some of the materials from Switzerland and to make the repair. Then we should be ready in fact to continue and hopefully to reach Hawaii for the next step," Borschberg said.
    A giant inflatable air-hanger was erected the night before to protect the plane, powered by more than 17,000 solar cells built into wings, from the rain.
    The plane's emergency landing caused hundreds of locals to flock to the observation deck of the Nagoya prefectural airport terminal over the last two days to catch a glimpse of it.
    The region's governor, on a visit to the hangar on Wednesday, thanked the unexpected guests.
    "It's a big and special guest for us. It's like a treasure fallen from the sky," Aichi Prefecture Governor, Hideaki Omura said.
    A spectator on the observation deck said he was disappointed by the giant hanger which covered up the plane.
    "It was big in the night sky with a lot of lights on it. I'm very disappointed now because I wanted to see it so much under the daylight," said 62-year-old local resident Yoshiko Suzuki.
    The plane is only as heavy as a family car (2,300 kg, 5,100 pounds) but has a wingspan as wide as the largest passenger airliner.
    Another spectator was amazed by the plane's technology.
    "It's amazing. It flies 8,000 kilometres relying only on solar power and batteries. It's unbelievable," said 67-year-old Hiroshi Gondo.
    Solar Impulse 2 took off from Abu Dhabi in March.
    Its journey was originally intended to span approximately 25 flight days broken up into 12 legs at speeds between 50 and 100 km (30 to 60 miles) per hour.
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