Solar Impulse 2 completes Pacific leg of round-the-world flight - CNET

The experimental plane Solar Impulse 2 landed in Califoia late Saturday night, completing a three-day flight across the Pacific Ocean as part of its historic trek around the world.

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The solar-powered, zero-fuel airplane took off from Kalaeloa Airport in Hawaii on Thursday and touched down at Moffett Airfield in Mountain View, Califoia, just before midnight Pacific time. Before landing, Pilot Bertrand Piccard performed a flyby of the Golden Gate Bridge, giving spectators below a glimpse of narrow aircraft with huge wingspan.

The plane, which gathers energy from solar cells and stores it for oveight flying, will make three more stops in the US before crossing the Atlantic Ocean to Europe or Northe Africa.

The Solar Impulse 2's global tour began in March 2015 in Abu Dhabi. After finishing its eighth leg in July 2015 from Japan to Hawaii -- the longest leg so far in terms of distance (5,545 miles or 8,924 km) and time (about 5 days) -- the plane had to stay in Hawaii for a spell so crews could fix its overheated batteries.