Solar Impulse pilot Bertrand Piccard is congratulated by his fellow flier, Andre Borschberg, after the solar-powered plane's landing at Washington's Dulles International Airport early Sunday. Piccard and Borschberg have been taking turns in the cockpit during Solar Impulse's cross-country odyssey. The Swiss-made Solar Impulse plane made a smooth landing in Washington early Sunday, leaving just one more solar-powered hop to go in its cross-continent odyssey. The 208-foot-wide (63-meter-wide) aircraft set down at Dulles International Airport at 12:15 a.m. ET, with Solar Impulse chairman Bertrand Piccard at the controls. The trip from Cincinnati Lunken Municipal Airport took more than 10 hours – an hour and a half longer than it would have taken to drive. But speed isn't the point. Rather, Solar Impulse is designed to demonstrate how solar power alone can take a plane across the country, and eventually around the world.
Although this trip didn't set any speed records, it did include a first-ever overnight "pit stop." Cincinnati was added to the itinerary just a few days ago when flight planners determined that cross winds and head winds would slow down the plane's progress too much to make it from St. Louis to Washington in one long stretch. Andre Borschberg, Solar Impulse's CEO, flew the first leg of the trip – and then let Piccard take the second leg. "The mobile hangar wasn't deployed during this short 11-hour pit stop – an unprecedented tactic in the history of the project – because it would have required too much time to set it up and take it back down," the Solar Impulse team said. "For the first time, the solar airplane was able to enjoy a starry night under the watchful eyes of its bodyguard, the ground crew."
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