Solar powered plane finishes journey, lands in NYC
The aircraft soars to 30,000 feet while poking along at a top speed of 45 mph (72 kph). Most of the 11,000 solar cells are on the super-long wings that seem to stretch as far as a jumbo jet's. It weighs about the size of a small car, and soars with what is essentially the power of a small motorized scooter.
The Solar Impulse left San Francisco in early May and has made stopovers in Phoenix, Dallas-Fort Worth, St. Louis, Cincinnati and Dulles.
The cross-country flight is a tuneup for a planned 2015 flight around the globe with an up-graded version of the plane.
Solar Impulse's creators view themselves as green pioneers—promoting lighter materials, solar-powered batteries, and conservation as sexy and adventurous. Theirs is the high-flying equivalent of the Tesla electric sports car.
Europe saw the solar plane first with a test flight from Switzerland and Spain to Morocco last year.
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