Solar-Powered Plane Lands in China on Round-The-World Flight

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BEIJING — A groundbreaking solar-powered plane successfully flew from Myanmar to central China early Tuesday as part of an historic round-the-world journey promoting renewable energy use.

The organizers of the Solar Impulse 2 flight wrote in a statement that the plane landed in Chongqing, China, at 1:35 a.m. Tuesday, after leaving Mandalay, Myanmar, more than 20 hours earlier.

Two Swiss pilots, Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, are flying the state-of-the-art plane, which is powered by more than 17,000 solar cells on its wings. They are attempting the first ever round-the-world flight by a completely solar-powered plane.

The statement said the pilots had to make a steep climb to cross mountainous terrain in southern China. The pilots wore oxygen masks in the unpressurized cockpit, where temperatures dropped to 20 degrees below zero Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit).

The Solar Impulse 2 started its journey from Abu Dhabi on March 9 and made four stops before arriving in China. It flies next to the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing before heading to Hawaii on its five-month trip.

太陽能飛機 環球行降落重慶

由瑞士飛行員皮卡德駕駛的全太陽能無燃料飛機單座「太陽驅動2號」螺旋槳飛機，完成環球飛行的第五段行程，於今天（31日）淩晨0點30分降落在中國重慶江北國際機場。

「太陽驅動2號」的這次行程從緬甸曼德勒起飛，經過大約20個小時的飛行抵達重慶。

按照最初的計劃，「太陽驅動」將在重慶短暫停留，然後飛往中國東部城市南京。

但是，由於天氣的原因，上述計畫被迫延後。

行動小組現在決定將在重慶繼續停留，在未來幾天等待中國東海岸地區出現好的飛行機會，然後再飛往南京。

到達南京之後，「太陽驅動2號」將準備投入首次跨越大洋的飛行，經過五天五夜的時間到達美國夏威夷。

從緬甸曼德勒飛往中國重慶的第五段行程對飛行員皮卡德來說並不輕鬆，他需要飛行1375公里，並且在抵達重慶江北國際機場時遇到困難的氣流。

此外，由於當地機場受到商業飛行壓力，空中交通管制人員曾要求他推遲降落時間。

「太陽驅動2號」三周前從阿布達比出發，計畫經過12段航程，在數月內完成環球飛行。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/03/30/world/asia/ap-as-china-solar-plane.html

紐約時報中文版翻譯：
http://cn.nytimes.com/technology/20150331/c31solar/zh-hant/

2015-03-31．聯合晚報．A6．國際焦點．國際新聞組