The Solar Impulse 2 (Si2) aircraft is getting ready to resume its around-the-world journey following a test flight over Hawaii, US.
During the 90min test flight, the solar-powered plane flew to 8,000ft over the Pacific Ocean.
The plane has been grounded since last July after a sudden battery damage, which forced its pilots to suspend their flight mid-way during the last leg of the journey from Nagoya, Japan, to Hawaii.
The lithium-ion battery system of the plane experienced a thermal failure due to overheating.
The repaired plane has now gone through a maintenance flight to check the newly installed systems, which include new batteries, and stabilisation and cooling systems. It is expected to resume flight next month, reported Digital Trends.
Flown in succession by Swiss pilots Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, the plane took off from Abu Dhabi, UAE, last March with an aim of flying around the world on solar power.
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By GlobalDataCited by Inhabitat, the pilot team said in a blog post: "Bertrand Piccard was following this long-awaited flight from the other side of the world and confessed that it was a true relief to see Si2 back in the Hawaiian sky after the past months of uncertainty."
Before experiencing battery issues seven months back, the mission successfully met a number of its major objectives, which include co-pilot Andre Borschberg’s aviation record when he completed 7,200km in 118 hours on a solar powered plane, a BBC report said.
In the upcoming leg of their journey, the pilots are planning to take off for a four-day long flight to Phoenix, US, and then make a few stops across the US, cross the Atlantic Ocean and return to the starting point of their flight in Abu Dhabi.
Image: Solar Impulse 2 flying over Switzerland during test flights in 2014. Photo: courtesy of Solar Impulse.
