The pilot of a solar-powered airplane on an aroundthe-world journey said Saturday that stopping in California’s Silicon Valley will help link the project to the pioneering spirit of the area.
Pilot Bertrand Piccard, who left Hawaii three days ago, said he hopes to fly over San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge before landing in Mountain View, Calif., on Saturday night.
“Can you imagine crossing the Golden Gate Bridge on a solar-powered plane just like ships did in past centuries? But the plane doesn’t make noise and doesn’t pollute,” Piccard said in a live video feed on the website documenting the journey.
“It’s a priority to link the project we have with the pioneering spirit in Silicon Valley,” he added.
The project’s website says the Solar Impulse 2 aircraft is two days and four hours into a three-day flight over the Pacific.
The aircraft started its around-the-world journey in March 2015 from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and made stops in Oman, Myanmar, China and Japan. It’s on the ninth leg of its circumnavigation.
On Friday, Piccard exchanged pleasantries with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who hailed Piccard’s pioneering spirit as “inspirational,” telling him he was making history.