The FAI ratifies Solar Impulse's World Records

The FAI has officially recognised three World Records achieved during a Solar Impulse's flight.

On 7 July, the Solar Impulse prototype HB-SIA took off from the Payerne airbase (Switzerland). For more than 26 hours, André Borschberg expertly piloted the aircraft whose wingspan reaches 64 meters. The plane was up in the air for the whole day on 7 July, then through the entire night, flying solely on solar energy stored in the batteries during the day, and landed safely on 8 July.

Following this flight, which was the longest and highest in the history of solar aviation, Solar Impulse claimed the first World Records in the "Solar Powered Airplane" class.

Based on technical evidences controlled by the FAI Observers of the Aero Club de Suisse, the FAI has ratified the following Class CS (Solar-Powered Aeroplanes) World Records of Solar Impulse:
- Absolute altitude : 9235 m
- Gain of height : 8744 m
- Duration : 26 h 10 m 19 s

The FAI congratulates André Borschberg and the whole team involved in Solar Impulse on these splendid achievements.