The Solar Impulse 2 left Moffett Field in Mountain View early Monday morning before the sun came up following an extended stay in the Bay Area due to weather concerns. Scott Budman reports.
The Solar Impulse 2 will be leaving the Bay Area Monday morning following an extended stay in the Bay Area due to weather concerns.
The solar plane, which is in the midst of a trip around the world, will take off from Moffett field for a 16-hour flight headed to Phoenix, Arizona.
Crewmember Elke Neumann said crosswinds in Phoenix had been too high for the plane's expansive 236-ft wingspan to bear, giving the team cause to stay in the Bay Area a little longer than they had planned. The team was planning on taking off on Friday.
All told, the plane and its crew spent a week in the Bay Area after making a 3-day flight from Hawaii across the pacific. The pilot, Andre Borschberg, spent a whopping 62 hours straight inside the small cockpit during the journey.
Solar Impulse 2 will make three more stops in the U.S. before crossing the Atlantic Ocean to Europe or Northern Africa.
