Solar-Powered Plane Lands In DFW

(credit: KTVT/KTXA)

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM/AP) - A solar-powered plane has landed in Texas, completing the second leg of a trip across the United States.

The Solar Impulse is making the first attempt by a solar airplane capable of flying day and night without fuel to fly across the U.S. The plane landed just after midnight on Thursday at DFW International Airport after taking off Wednesday from Phoenix. This was its longest journey so far.

The plane’s nighttime landing in North Texas was certainly a unique sight. Several people called CBS 11 News to report a UFO in the skies.

The plane flew its first leg from California in early May. From Dallas, it will fly to St. Louis, Dulles Airport near Washington, D.C. and New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport. Each flight leg takes 20 or so hours, with multi-day stops in each city.

The plane has a wingspan of more than 200 feet, but only weighs 3,500 pounds.

Pilot Andre Borschberg is one of the plane’s creators along with Bertrand Piccard. “This airplane now is the first ever in the history of aviation who could fly day or night with absolutely no fuel,” said Piccard. “But, of course, the backside of it is the sensitivity to the turbulence and the very slow speed.”

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