Solar Impulse 2 takes off – direction of Tulsa, Oklahoma

Solar Impulse 2 (Si2), with Swiss pioneer Bertrand Piccard in the cockpit, took off from Phoenix Goodyear Airport, Arizona, at 12:05 CET (10:05 UCT, 03:05 Local Time) towards Tulsa International Airport, Oklahoma, in order to continue the crossing of the central US landmass. The 11th leg is expected to last about 17,5 hours.

The planned take-off had a slight delay caused by technical problems with the telemetry system, which is especially important during the take-off time for the communication process. It was also a bit tricky for the Solar Impulse Team to find the right window for this leg as there were still thunderstorms in the morning. Co-Founder André Borschberg mentioned right before the take-off that this flight to Tulsa would be a special one as there are a lot of mountains and desert at the same time, so it is very hard to predict what will happen.

This leg is part of the attempt to achieve the first ever Round-The-World Solar Flight in order to demonstrate how modern clean technologies can achieve the impossible. As soon as possible, weather permitting, Bertrand Piccard will pilot Si2 to the next stop-over and continue the crossing of the United States.

Follow the flight live on solarimpulse.com.

Photo Credit: Solar Impulse