Solar plane takes off on US trip

A SOLAR aircraft has taken off from California on its first attempt at a cross-country trip across the United States.

"Solar Impulse has successfully taken off from Moffett Air Field," a traffic control operator said as the plane left the runway in the morning sunrise on Friday, describing it as a "perfect takeoff".

Piloted by Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard, the plane is scheduled arrive in Phoenix, Arizona later on Friday night.

It will also stay over in Dallas, Texas and the US capital Washington, before arriving in New York in early July.

The journey allows for up to 10 days at each stop in order to showcase the plane's technology to the public.

The plane could make the flight nonstop - which would take approximately three days, travelling at the aircraft's cruising speed of around 70 kilometres per hour, its creators said.

But with space for only one pilot and the intensive task of navigating the ultra-light but ultra-long plane through turbulence, Solar Impulse decided, for safety reasons, to break the flight up into multiple stages.

That will allow two pilots - Piccard and his co-founder, Swiss engineer and ex-fighter pilot Andre Borschberg - to share duties and rest between legs.

The Solar Impulse plane has already made several trips, including a 26-hour flight in 2010, but this will mark its first trip across a continent.

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