<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div>Bob WB4APR wrote…<br></div><div><br></div><blockquote type="cite">The round the world trip has begun though it will be weeks? Before it gets to the USA…</blockquote><br><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Solar Impulse 2 (HB-SIB) began a </span><a href="file:///wiki/Circumnavigation" title="Circumnavigation" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; text-decoration: none;">circumnavigation</a><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">of the globe on March 9 2015, leaving from</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span><a href="file:///wiki/Abu_Dhabi" title="Abu Dhabi" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; text-decoration: none;">Abu Dhabi</a><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> in the United Arab Emirates and is scheduled to return there about five months later. It will make 12 stops in its 35,000 km journey. Three of the legs will involve flights of over 5 days each over the Pacific & Atlantic Oceans.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The wings and horizontal stabilizer are covered with 11,628 photovoltaic cells rated at 45 kW peak. The 4 electric motors each put out a maximum of 7.5 kW or 10 HP, but will average 6 kW. The 4</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> lithium-ion batteries are 21 kWh each. The take-off speed is 35 kph. The pilot will cat-nap 12 times a day for up to 20 minutes at a time, </span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><a href="http://www.solarimpulse.com/">http://www.solarimpulse.com/</a></div><div><br></div><div>If you have the time, watch the (very impressive!) videos. Like Bob, I think that SI2 is very important. If you can fly around the world on solar power, you can drive to the supermarket too. </div><div><br></div><div>On Twitter… @solarimpulse</div><div><br></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">--</span><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">73 Keith VE7GDH</span></div></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">UI-View32</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://www.ui-view.net">www.ui-view.net</a></span></div></body></html>