First round-the-world solar flight departs from Gujarat

Ahmedabad, March 18 (ANI): The first round-the-world solar-powered plane, 'Solar Impulse 2', departed from Ahmedabad to land in holy Varanasi town for a pit stop on Wednesday morning (March 18). The Swiss-built plane landed in India on March 10, on the second leg of a 35,000 km journey, after a flight of about 15 hours over the Arabian Sea from Muscat in Oman. The zero fuel plane, took off from Ahmedabad after a week's stop-over. On Thursday (March 19), the plane will head to Myanmar from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. Chairman and pilot of 'Solar Impulse 2', Bertrand Piccard, said that the flight's take-off was delayed a bit due to inclement weather in the city. On its journey to Varanasi, Piccard and co-pilot Andre Borschberg will take turns at the controls to fly the zero-fuel airplane for over 1000 km for an estimated time of 12 hours. The plane generated quite an excitement among Ahmedabad citizens who queued up for long hours when the aircraft was put up for exhibit last week. After