Solar Impulse 2 arrives in Dayton, home of aviation heroes

If Orville and Wilbur Wright had caught a peek of Solar Impulse 2 taking a leisurely spin through the clouds, they’d be saying, “this is right, brother.”

The craft, attempting to to be first solar-powered plane to fly around the world, landed Saturday evening in Dayton, Ohio – the birthplace of the legendary aviation pioneers.

It’s the latest leg in a journey destined for the Middle East later this year.

The plane, built with a wingspan wider than a Boeing 747, took off from Tulsa, Oklahoma, at 4:22 a.m. local time and made a 17-hour jaunt over the American heartland before it landed in Dayton.

Solar Impulse 2, which moves about the speed of an average car, is not just any aircraft.

It doesn’t need fossil fuel and its four electric engines are powered by more than 17,000 solar cells built into its lightweight, super-strong carbon fiber wings. It could be the model for the next stage of aviation.

Pilots Andre Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard have been taking turns flying the craft since the mission began in Abu Dhabi in March 2015. Borschberg is piloting the latest leg.

Solar Impulse 2, seen above the Pyramids of Giza on its approach to Cairo, Egypt.

Solar Impulse 2 aircraft lands at Sevilla airport on June 23, 2016, after a 71-hour journey from New York powered only by sunlight.

The Spanish Air Force's Patrulla Aguila formation team performs past the sun-powered Solar Impulse 2 aircraft arriving few moments before landing at Sevilla airport on June 23, 2016.

Solar Impulse 2 sits on the runway at JFK international airport prior to departing to cross the Atlantic on June 20, 2016.

Solar Impulse 2 flies over the Golden Gate Bridge as part of a fly-by of the San Francisco Bay after flying for two and half days from Hawaii.

Solar Impulse 2 departs Hawaii for the two-and-a-half day flight to California, the 9th leg of its round-the-world trip.

Pilot Bertrand Piccard prepares to take off from Kalaeloa Airport, Hawaii on April 21st 2016, en route to California. The round-the-world solar flight will take 500 flight hours and cover 35,000 km.

The Solar Impulse 2 is seen at the Kalaeloa Airport in Kapolei, Hawaii, on Friday, July 3. The solar-powered plane, alternately piloted by Andre Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard, is attempting to fly around the world without fuel.

Borschberg approaches Honolulu Airport on July 3 after a record-breaking five-day journey across the Pacific Ocean from Japan.

Solar Impulse is seen at sunrise on Monday, June 29, shortly after taking off from the international airport in Nagoya, Japan. The aircraft's Japan-to-Hawaii trip was the most ambitious leg of its quest to circumnavigate the globe powered only by the sun.

The solar-powered plane prepares to take off from Nagoya on June 29.

A mobile hangar is opened on Tuesday, June 23, as the plane is prepared for a possible takeoff. The plane had been waiting in Japan for three weeks because of bad weather.

The mobile hangar at the Nagoya airport, as seen on Wednesday, June 3.

The Solar Impulse 2 touches down in Nagoya on Monday, June 1. The plane made an unscheduled stop after mission controllers decided the weather was not right for the plane to cross the Pacific Ocean.

People take pictures as the plane takes off from Nanjing, China, on Sunday, May 31.

Piccard sits in the cockpit right after landing in Chongqing, China, on Sunday, March 31. He had just completed the fifth leg of the global trip.

Borschberg and Piccard are welcomed by a crowd of reporters after landing in Chongqing.

The Solar Impulse 2 is rolled out of its inflatable mobile hangar before leaving Myanmar for Chongqing on Monday, March 30.

The plane is prepared on a tarmac in Ahmedabad, India, on Wednesday, March 18.

The Solar Impulse 2 flies over Muscat, Oman, after taking off on Tuesday, March 10.

The plane takes off from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Monday, March 9. Its flight to Oman was the first leg of its round-the-world flight.

The plane is the brainchild of Swiss pilots Piccard, right, and Borschberg.

The top surface of the Solar Impulse 2's wings is covered with 17,000 solar cells that supply four electric motors with renewable energy. Its batteries can store enough solar daytime energy to keep the plane moving throughout the night.

The plane's wings stretch for a massive 72 meters (236 feet).

The plane's cockpit has been designed to ensure that a pilot can live there for a week.

Solar Impulse 2 is the upgraded version of a prototype, pictured here, that made history in 2010 by becoming the first solar aircraft capable of flying overnight.

Solar Impulse 1, pictured here over Lake Geneva, broke several records, including the world's first fully solar-powered intercontinental flight in 2012.

Borschberg is an engineer who studied management science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The aviation enthusiast has been involved in several startups and technology projects over the years.

Piccard, who is also a doctor and a psychiatrist, is the first man to fly around the world non-stop in a balloon. He hails from a family of scientists and explorers.

Piccard's grandfather, Auguste Piccard, was a physics professor who helped pave the way for high-altitude navigation by inventing the pressurized cabin. He was also the first person to reach the stratosphere in a balloon.

Piccard's father, Jacques, was the first man to dive to the bottom of the Marianas Trench -- the deepest point of the world's oceans.

Solar Impulse 2's round-the-world journey

Prev Next

Solar Impulse 2 – a funky-looking, experimental, sun-powered plane that’s attracted a lot of attention – took off from a Phoenix airport toward Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The plane encountered a series of frustrating weather delays in China that slowed progress for weeks. That was followed by an unexpected diversion to Japan, where a storm damaged the aircraft on the tarmac.

The pilots and their team of more than 100 pushed onward, repairing the aircraft and preparing for what they called “the moment of truth” – the Pacific crossing to Hawaii from Japan.

Behind-the-scenes look at the Solar Impulse

04:59 - Source: CNN

For almost five days and nights, Borschberg piloted the plane wearing an oxygen mask as it climbed five miles (8,000 meters) high during the day, its solar cells soaking up enough energy to propel the aircraft through the night.

While Borschberg set a new record for the solo flight, clocking in at 117 hours and 52 minutes, a chain of events caused the batteries to overheat.

It was only after he landed that the team discovered how bad the damage was.

“We made a mistake with our batteries,” Piccard said after the plane touched down in July. “It was a human mistake.”

That error took more than nine months to fix.

Where does pilot go to the bathroom?

02:25 - Source: CNN

“The record breaking solo flight of 5 days and 5 nights without fuel from Nagoya to Hawaii gives a clear message: everybody could use the plane’s technologies on the ground to halve our world’s energy consumption, save natural resources and improve our quality of life,” The Solar Impulse website said.

The craft reached California from Hawaii last month in a nearly three-day trip. It then went to Phoenix and from Phoenix to Tulsa.

The pilots plan to fly to New York and then cross the Atlantic. The Solar Impulse 2 team eventually plans to return to the Middle East by late summer, completing a 27,000-mile (43,000-kilometer) trip around the world .

It would be the last leg in a historic flight but perhaps just the latest chapter in aviation innovation. And that would be right on, brother.

CNN’s Thom Patterson, David Molko and Euan McKirdy contributed to this report.