Gallery: In Pictures: Solar-Powered Plane Completes Epic Transcontinental Flight
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Solar Impulse co-founder and pilot André Borschberg prepares to touch down for the final time in HB-SIA at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. The final leg of the team's Across America flight lasted more than 18 hours, and almost ended in the Atlantic. *Photo: Jean Revillard for Rezo/Solar Impulse/Polaris*
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A massive tear resulted in a gaping hole, exposing the wing ribs and spar. *Photo: Fred Merz for Rezo/Solar Impulse/Polaris*
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André Borschberg gets a hand suiting up for the final leg of the journey, from Washington, D.C. to the Big Apple. *Photo: Niels Ackermann for Rezo/Solar Impulse/Polaris*
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Inspiration. *Photo: Niels Ackermann for Rezo/Solar Impulse/Polaris*
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A member of the Solar Impulse crew checks one of eight ailerons along the 208-foot wingspan. *Photo: Jean Revillard for Rezo/Solar Impulse/Polaris*
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A technician cleans the wing on HB-SIA -- which has roughly the same wingspan of a Boeing 747 and is covered with more than 12,000 photovoltaic cells -- during a stop in Cincinnati on the fourth leg of the transcontinental flight. The fourth leg was flown over two days because strong crosswinds and headwinds slowed the plane to such a degree that the flight could not be completed within 24 hours, the limit set for a single stint in the cramped aircraft. *Photo: Jean Revillard for Rezo/Solar Impulse/Polaris*
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The crew tends to the plane during a 14-hour layover in Cincinnati. HB-SIA features four 10-horsepower electric motors that generate just enough thrust to reach a top speed of 35 knots (40 mph). *Photo: Jean Revillard for Rezo/Solar Impulse/Polaris*
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Reviewing the flight plan for the flight to Washington, D.C. *Photo: Jean Revillard for Rezo/Solar Impulse/Polaris*
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HB-SIA makes a picture-perfect landing at Lunken airport in Cincinnati to complete the third leg of its transcontinental journey. *Photo: Solar Impulse/Polaris*
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The same sun that powers the Solar Impulse airplane can make for a warm office. A view from the cockpit with a space-blanket sun shield. *Photo: Jean Revillard/Rezo/Solar Impulse/Polaris*
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During each leg, the flight director keeps careful watch on HB-SIA and its systems from Solar Impulse headquarters in Switzerland. *Photo: Niels Ackermann for Rezo/Solar Impulse/Polaris*
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HB-SIA, with Bertrand Piccard at the controls, flying over the San Francisco Bay Area on the first leg of its transcontinental flight. *Photo: Fred Merz for Rezo/Solar Impulse/Polaris*
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Bertrand Piccard secures his helmet before making a final check of all systems ahead of his departure from San Francisco on the first leg of the flight. *Photo: Fred Merz for Rezo/Solar Impulse/Polaris*
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The crew unloads HB-SIA after it was flown to San Francisco from its home base in Switzerland aboard a Boeing 747. *Photo: Solar Impulse/Polaris*
