Solar Impulse takes off for six-day, six-night Pacific flight

Nanjing

THE revolutionary Solar Impulse 2 aircraft took off early Sunday for a six-day, six-night flight over the Pacific Ocean, the most ambitious leg of its quest to circumnavigate the globe powered only by the sun.

Pilot Andre Borschberg, 62, left the ground in Nanjing, in eastern China, heading for the US island of Hawaii, at about 2.40am (1840 GMT), after extended delays awaiting a suitable weather window over safety concerns.