Solar plane in San Francisco - level 3

30-04-2013 14:00

A solar powered plane soars over San Francisco ahead of a cross-country flight planned for early May.

Weighing just 3,500 pounds (1 588 kilograms), Solar Impulse runs entirely through power drawn from the 12,000 cells on its 208 foot wingspan (63 metres).

And on its first big trip next month, the aircraft which reaches a top speed of 43 miles an hour, will travel from San Francisco to New York, stopping in Phoenix, Dallas and Atlanta, with its creators already planning a longer round-the-globe flight in 2015.

Interesting words: soar (fly), Solar Impulse (name of the plane), draw (take), cell (small part), wingspan (length of a wing).