In a precursor of their globe-circling quest, the two men completed a multi-flight crossing of the United States with an earlier version of the solar plane in 2013. The Swiss team flying the aircraft in a campaign to build support for clean energy technologies hopes eventually to complete its circumnavigation in Abu Dhabi, where the journey began in March 2015. Updated Sat, June 11th 2016 at 13:45 GMT +3A solar-powered airplane finished crossing the United States on Saturday, landing in New York City after flying over the Statue of Liberty during its historic bid to circle the globe, the project team said. Surplus power is stored in four batteries during the day, to keep the plane aloft on extreme long-distance flights. On April 24, Piccard landed in San Francisco, completing a trans-Pacific crossing after a nearly three-day trip that began in Hawaii.

Source: Standard Digital June 11, 2016 09:00 UTC