Solar Impulse Successfully Completes Epic Flight to Hawaii

At Banks Lyon, we have been following the ups and downs of the Solar Impulse project with great interest – not least because of the contributions to the project made by the team at Omega watches. Last month, we wrote about the unexpected grounding of the flight in Japan due to bad weather, so it is with some pleasure that we are now able to report on the successful completion of the most epic leg of their around-the-world flight.

In the original plans for the journey, the Solar Impulse 2 was to have flown directly from Nanjing in China to Hawaii, however poor weather resulted in the innovative solar-powered plane being grounded in Nagoya, Japan on the 1^st June.

Last week, weather conditions cleared up sufficiently to re-attempt the Pacific crossing, and so on the 28^th June, at 18:03 UTC, pilot Andre Borschberg took off.

The aim of the Solar Impulse project is to illustrate the capabilities of clean technologies; the plane has been built to use only solar power, storing up excess power during the day to power the plane at night, allowing the pilots to circumnavigate the world without a single drop of fuel. In order to achieve this, the plane has been designed to be as light as possible, carrying nothing that is unnecessary – which includes a co-pilot. The project’s two pilots, Andre Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard, must take turns to fly the plane solo for individual legs of the journey. Thus, for this extended flight of five days and five nights, Borschberg would be alone in the sky, piloting the plane both day and night over the emptiness of the Pacific Ocean.

Previously, the Solar Impulse and its pilot had not been tested to such extremes; the first six legs of the flight were all under 24 hours each, and the previous record had been set by the curtailed flight which landed in Nagoya after one day, 20 hours and 9 minutes.

This is where Omega’s contributions to the project were vital; not only did they provide Omega Speedmaster Skywalker X-33 watches for the pilots but they also created a range of cockpit technology and personal gadgetry to help the pilot maintain awareness. This included a system of alarms every twenty minutes during vital parts of the flight, and vibrating cuffs in the flight suits to alert the pilot to vital flight information.

This meant that Borschberg was able to rest during his epic flight, without fear of losing control.

Thus, on the 3^rd July at 15:55 UTC, Borschberg safely brought the Solar Impulse 2 down to the ground in Kalealoa in Hawaii, to a fantastic welcome from both his fellow pilot and – perhaps more importantly – his waiting family. He had been in the air for an astonishing 117 hours, 52 minutes – that’s 4 days, 21 hours and 52 minutes, crossing the international dateline in the process.

The next step is for Bertrand Piccard to take over the controls, taking the Solar Impulse approximately 4,707km to mainland USA, landing in Phoenix, Arizona. Although none of the following legs of the flight are as long as the flight to Hawaii, we will be watching the project’s progress with great interest and look forward to the eventual completion of the journey.

The limited edition Omega Speedmaster Skywalker X-33 Solar watch, created especially for the Solar Impulse project, is limited to just 1924 pieces but is currently in stock here at Banks Lyon, retailing at £3,720 or 36 monthly payments of £82,67 and a 20% deposit under our 0% finance terms. For more information on this, or any of our other Omega watches, you can contact us on 01524 384858 or visit our Lancaster store to speak to a member of our team.

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