Round-the-world plane suspends journey until 2016 after battery damage
A team trying to fly a solar-powered plane around the world said Wednesday it is suspending the journey in Hawaii after the plane suffered battery damage during its record-breaking flight to the islands. The Solar Impulse team said in a news release that it will continue the attempt to circumvent the globe, but irreversible damage caused by overheating batteries has grounded the flight until at least April. Ref. USAToday
Solar plane lands in Calif. After Pacific flight
An experimental plane flying around the world without a single drop of fuel landed in California yesterday after a two-and-a-half day flight across the Pacific. "It's a new era. It's not science fiction. It's today," said the Swiss pilot, explorer and psychiatrist Bertrand Piccard. Ref. Source 6u.