Ahmedabad school kids flock to see first round-the-world solar plane

Hundreds of school children flocked to the Ahmedabad Airport to see the 'Solar Impulse 2', a solar powered plane, which seeks to demonstrate that flying long distances is possible with renewable energy.

The first round-the-world solar-powered flight landed in India on March 10, on the second leg of a 35000-kilometer-long journey after a flight of about 15 hours over the Arabian Sea from Muscat in Oman.

"I am very excited to see the entire plane. Today, solar energy is the need of the day. This plane will really set an example and it will have a long and sustainable future ahead," said one of the students at the airport, Drishti.

The solar plane's next stop is Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, which is the constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"It is the first time I am seeing a solar plane. It is a new experience. Only today, I had heard of it and it is very different thing. It provides a new opportunity for the future," said another student, Kahan.

Pilot Bertrand and fellow pilot Andre Borschberg will take turns at the controls of Solar Impulse 2, which began its journey in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates on Monday, as it makes its way around the globe in about 25 flight days at speeds of between 50 and 100 kilometers per hour.

The aircraft is as heavy as a family car at 2,300 kilograms, but has a wingspan as wide as the largest airliner. The design and construction of the Solar Impulse took 12 years.

A first version of the craft rolled out in 2009 and broke records for height and distance travelled by a manned solar plane.

"The aim of their (solar plane team) is to garner support from the whole of the world for clean energy. They want to show that if plane can run on solar panel, why can't the houses, the cars and everything. Why can't we use the clean energy," asked Krishnagar Shah, a visitor after talking to a crew member.

After leaving India, the plane will make stopovers in Myanmar and China before crossing the Pacific Ocean and flying across the United States and southern Europe to arrive back in Abu Dhabi by late July.