First round-the-world solar plane to take off next month

A Swiss-made, solar-powered plane is set to attempt an unprecedented flight around the world next month, the project's founders said, seeking to prove that flying is possible without using fossil fuel.

The lightweight Solar Impulse 2, a larger version of a single-seat prototype that first flew five years ago, is aiming to become the first plane ever to circumnavigate the globe using only the power of the sun to drive its four propellers.

Project founders and pilots Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg plan to start and finish their round-the-world bid from Abu Dhabi, the oil-rich capital of the United Arab Emirates, over the course of about five months.

They laid out their planned route for the first time Tuesday at a private jet airport in Abu Dhabi, where the plane is being housed.

Solar Impulse 2 is set to make stopovers in India, Myanmar and China before crossing the Pacific Ocean and flying across the United States and southern Europe on its way back to Abu Dhabi.

Some legs of the 22,000-mile journey, such as the flights over the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, could mean five or six straight days of flying.

"Miracles can be achieved with renewables such as solar power. We want to show we can fly day and night in an aircraft without a drop of fuel," Piccard told reporters on the sidelines of the World Future Energy summit currently underway in Abu Dhabi.

There is only one seat in the plane, so the layovers will give the Swiss pilots a chance to swap places and engage with local communities along the way.

"It's a little difficult to switch in the air, which means we will make some stopovers," Piccard quipped.

Borschberg predicted the plane would begin its journey from Abu Dhabi around February 27 to March 1.

Feasibility studies, design and construction have taken 12 years, he said.

The Emirates, one of OPEC's largest oil exporters, has invested heavily in recent years in green energy projects and is home to the International Renewable Energy Agency. It is building an environmentally sustainable model city on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi and is developing large-scale solar projects to tap the power of the Arabian sun.

Masdar, the Abu Dhabi government's clean-energy company, is one of the sponsors of the Solar Impulse 2 project.

Piccard said the company is "generous" and is providing various services to the crew but is not paying them outright. "They don't give us money to be here. They don't buy us," he said.

The Emirates minister of state and Masdar chairman, Sultan al-Jaber, would not say how much the Emirates is contributing to the project. He described his country's role as a science and technology partner that can tap its relationships around the world to help make the journey a success.

"It is a very clear demonstration of our common vision, our shared interests and our commitment to helping advance such promising, sophisticated new technologies," he told The Associated Press.

The Solar Impulse 2 was unveiled in April last year. Its backers say it theoretically can stay airborne indefinitely by soaking up sunlight using some 17,200 solar cells arrayed on wings that span 236 feet.

It made a 2 hour and 17 minute inaugural flight above western Switzerland in June.

Wire services