Solar plane soars into Morocco, record books

The Solar Impulse glides in for a landing in Rabat.

The Solar Impulse soared over the Mediterranean Sea into Morocco to a hero's welcome.

"The flight over the Gibraltar Strait was a magical moment," said pilot Bertrand Piccard, Swiss psychiatrist, balloonist and adventurer, on the official website.

The Swiss airplane, which has four electric motors and looks a little like a dime-store balsa-wood model a child would assemble and throw, isn't meant to revolutionize the industry, its designers and backers say. Rather it is meant to draw attention to the potential of renewable energy.

“Our airplane is not designed to carry passengers, but to carry a message.” Piccard says.

Lightweight marvel

The plane itself is a marvel of lightweight engineering. Big as an Airbus A340 with a 207-foot wingspan, it features 12,000 solar cells in the wings and a carbon-fiber structure designed to resist the elements but weigh very little.

In fact, it weighs 3,527 pounds, or about 500 pounds less than the average U.S. car. Speed is hardly an attribute with an average of 43.5 mph and a takeoff speed of about 22 mph. Average maximum altitude is 27,900 feet. The Solar Impulse also is outfitted with lithium polymer batteries that account for about a quarter of its weight and enable it to fly in the dark.