Solar Impulse takes off on trial run

The plane is under the control of Swiss pilot Andre' Borshberg. The takeover had been scheduled for 6:45 but was delayed due to slight fog. The prototype is due to land in Madrid-Barajas in the early morning hours of Friday. The stop in the Spanish capital will allow for a change of pilots, with Borshberg's fellow countryman Bertrand Piccard taking over for the second leg of the trip to Rabat. The take-off is expected to happen a few days later. For the first time in the world, the ultra-lightweight carbon-fibre aircraft is to fly over 2,500 km without a single drop of fuel. The place - with a wingspan of an Airbus a340 (63.4 metres) and weighing the same as a family car (1,600 kg) - already conducted its first international flight last year to Paris and Brussels. The flight to Morocco is considered a trial run before the Solar Impulse's around-the-world flight in 2014, for which a new plane is being built. (ANSAmed).