Switzerland wrote aviation history in New York City

Switzerland just wrote aviation history in New York City. Late night on Saturday, July 6, 2013, Solarimpulse successfully completed the last stage of Across America. In 2015 it is planned to fly around the world!

Bertrand Piccard started the Solarimpulse project right after his successful flight around the world in a balloon. In March 1999, Bertrand Piccard, together with Brian Jones, were the 1st to complete a non-stop balloon flight around the globe. They circled the globe in 20 days.

About Solarimpulse – Bertrand Piccard: “Our plane, Solarimpulse, was never designed to carry passengers, but to carry a message”. The plane has a huge wingspan equal to that of an Airbus A340, but weighs only like an average car. The aerodynamic features used on this plane however were never seen before.

Technical Datasheet & Five World Records. Wing span 208ft (63.4m), Weight 3527lbs (1600kg), Take Off Speed 27mph (44km/h), Monochristalline Silicon Solar Cells 11628. (more details here)

As a patron for the mission, I received an email late Wednesday July 3, 2013, that I was one of the lucky 50 people to watch the landing at JFK on the runway, together with Bertrand Piccard and his team. The estimated arrival time was set for 1AM on Sunday morning. We had to arrive at midnight. At about 9:30PM on Saturday evening I checked my mail on my iPhone and read:

New York City, July 7, 2013 – Solar Impulse – the solar-powered airplane of Swiss pioneers Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg – has encountered a technical problem on its way to New York John F. Kennedy Airport. The pilot, André Borschberg, is not in danger and the condition of the aircraft is currently stable. The Mission Team and the pilot have decided to shorten the flight. A tear of 2.5 meters / 8 feet has appeared on the fabric of the lower side of the left wing. After a first analysis from pictures taken from a helicopter, Solar Impulse engineers came to the conclusion that the damage would not worsen. Invitees have to be at the gate by 10PM

…… 10PM no way I could make it. Cindy let’s go NOW. We jumped into the car and sped to the airport. We drove so fast no police car was able to follow us :). Arriving in the JFK area we made our way through dark, deserted, bumpy roads. The GPS voice told me “turn left, turn right …… arrive at final destination”. Security saw me browsing down the service road, opened the gate and let us into the Hangar 19 at JFK. We parked the car, told them our names, went through a second security check, and then onto the bus. It felt like being in a movie. I ended up standing right next to Betrand Piccard whom I already met  once in New York during the ceremony of his successful flight with the balloon. It is a very special feeling to be so close to a man with such an incredible pioneering instinct and flair. Besides all that, he is incredibly sympathetic.

Click on picture for a short slideshow

The bus drove us all the way out to JFK’s  longest runway. We stepped out of the bus and were told to stay where we were until Solarimpulse would touch down. It was 11pm and the temperature was still in the mid 80F (30C). Looking around I was impressed with the size of the airport.  I was certainly seeing a different view of JFK.  JFK has over 25 miles (40 km) of taxiways to move aircraft in and around the airfield. The standard width of these taxiways is 75 feet (23 m), with 25-foot (7.6 m) heavy-duty shoulders and 25-foot (7.6 m) erosion control pavements on each side. The taxiways have centerline lights and are generally of asphalt concrete composition 15 to 18 inches (460 mm) thick. Planes landed and took off on different runways at the same time. In the far distance you could see the lights and skyline of Manhatten. The sound of jet planes all around us. Then it got quieter. I heard later that the tower had to redirect 39 incoming planes and 41 departing planes because of the early landing of Solarimpulse. I also heard that JFK did everything to host the plane and they did an incredible job indeed. You could hear the sound of Solarimpulse with its 4 propellers and the plane flew over us and then in the distance made a 180 degree turn and quietly landed very close where we were. A big applause broke the silence. Happy and proud faces all around.

We were able to get very close to the plane and witnessed when André stepped out of his very narrow cockpit. I interpreted Betrand’s and André’s faces as relaxed and very satisfied. They both had an honest big smile on their faces and you could feel that everybody was very proud of the achievement.

Into the early morning hour we spent some time inside the hangar and mingled with other spectators and crew members.

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Are you interested in reading more about Solarimpulse? Like to see some great videos which were taken during the Across America stages? Do you live in NY and would like to see the plane and meet the crew? Click here for Saturday July 13 or Sunday July 14, 2013 “Public Visit at JFK”. Free admission.