Tokyo: A solar-powered plane that got stuck in Japan during an attempt to fly around the world is fixed and ready to go - as soon as the weather gets better, a spokeswoman said today.
Solar Impulse 2 was diverted to the central city of Nagoya on its way between China and Hawaii because of a developing cold front over the Pacific that could have made its record-breaking journey too difficult.
The cockpit's eggshell is back into place: looks like #Si2 is ready for #Flight8! Stay tuned: http://t.co/JIj9tI1H8T pic.twitter.com/bSFrwUwhDf
— SOLAR IMPULSE (@solarimpulse) June 11, 2015After landing safely, the featherweight flying machine suffered some damage on the ground because of strong winds that lashed the airport while its crew were waiting to get it under shelter.
"The plane is ready," team spokeswoman Elke Neumann told AFP. She said repairs to the the left aileron - the moving hinge on the trailing edge of the wing that controls the plane's roll - were finished on Wednesday.
The oxygen bottles inside #Si2's cockpit are about to be filled in view of #Flight8! http://t.co/kZc17xbLWl pic.twitter.com/w0xeLqbAsJ
— SOLAR IMPULSE (@solarimpulse) June 11, 2015Pilot Andre Borschberg said shortly after last on Monday's unscheduled landing that it would take at least a week to fix the problem.
The flight to Hawaii will be the airplane's eighth and most ambitious leg of a record-breaking attempt to circumnavigate the globe using only the power of the sun.
#Si2 will take off for Hawaii as soon as a weather window opens! Stay tuned on http://t.co/JIj9tHK6hl #futureisclean pic.twitter.com/7GUU4xoj8g
— SOLAR IMPULSE (@solarimpulse) June 11, 2015The venture, which began in Abu Dhabi, is intended to showcase the potential of renewable energy.
"The oxygen bottles inside #Si2's cockpit are about to be filled in view of #Flight8," the team's @solarimpulse account tweeted today.
