Solar Impulse Passes Midway Islands

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

With the sun soon to rise in the Pacific, Solar Impulse 2 continues scooting at over 60 mph toward Honolulu as the third night comes to an end.  Significantly, Andre’ Borschberg and the 747-size plane have made it past the Midway Islands, once a stop-over for Pan-Am Boeing 314 “China Clippers.”  Even with their 3,500-mile range, those luxurious planes needed a fueling stop mid-way between Hawaii and China or Guam. The islands were important enough as a way station in the vast Pacific that one of the largest and most decisive battles of World War II took place near them.   In a battle terrible destructive to both sides, U. S. forces sank four Japanese carriers, essentially casting the fate of the remaining battles. The still-important role of the islands as emergency landing sites was reinforced in 2014 with the safe arrival of a Boeing 777 following “an odor” and failure of radar and other electronic systems. The idea of a …