Two weeks shy of the 106th anniversary of Wright Brothers first flight, the Solar Impulse aircraft left the ground and completed its first flight in Switzerland last week. Solar Impulse founder and president Bertrand Piccard says it was an unforgettable moment.
“For over ten years now, I have dreamt of a solar aircraft capable of flying day and night without fuel” he said in a press release. “Today, our plane took off and was airborne for the very first time.”
Following a time schedule that would make some of the larger airplane makers jealous, the Solar Impulse team followed up recent taxi tests with a short ‘flea hop’ over the runway at the Dübendorf Airfield where the program is based.
(READ MORE: w/ photos, in Wired)