Solar Impulse .... ETA 7 July 2013

[teriyakisoz]

It looks like it's a go ....

Flight Washington KIAD - New-York KJFK

Pilot: André Borschberg, Co-Founder and CEO
Take off expected: July 6th 04:45AM EDT (UTC-4)
Landing expected: July 7th 02:00 AM EDT (UTC-4)

Website: http://www.solarimpulse.com/

[megatop412]

2am ETA???

Hope it'll be possible to get some daylight shots of it- what altitude is thing thing going to be at?

And nice link to the spotter map here!

[Landing Lights]

Cruising altitude looks have ranged from 10,000 feet to 27,000 feet on the Across America flights. I have reached out to them looking for an expected cruising altitude. They are planning a flyby of "NYC Landmarks" including the Statue of Liberty beginning at Midnight Sunday morning which I am sure will be at a lower altitude. I'll post here if I find out more.

[yankees368]

While not the landing itself, sign up to to see Solar Impulse up close and personal at JFK- http://solarimpulseatnyconsunday.eventbrite.com/

[moose135]

They are planning a flyby of "NYC Landmarks" including the Statue of Liberty beginning at Midnight Sunday morning...

That will certainly make for a great photo op...

[Landing Lights]

Ok, some further information from their press release:
After departure from IAD, they will head over the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays crossing Atlantic City around 9:15 AM. Planned altitude is 8,000 feet. after passing Atlantic City, they will hold offshore south east of Toms River until approximately 9:00 PM at which point they will begin heading North again. They will enter the Lower Bay at about 11:40 PM at a planned altitude of 1,500 feet, followed by a crossing over the Verrazano Bridge at around Midnight. They will then fly towards the Statue of Liberty and over the Upper Bay until about 1:15 AM before heading off to JFK for the scheduled 2:00 AM landing.

[yankees368]

Will it be on ADS-B? lol

[Landing Lights]

Will it be on ADS-B? lol

On previous flights it has not been trackable through Planefinder or Flightradar24, however they do have their own real-time tracking map on solarimpulse.com.

[megatop412]

I guess it takes off and lands so late to take advantage of when winds are typically the weakest? I wish it would be flying more of a direct route over NJ so I could catch it in the air instead of it being offshore

[Landing Lights]

There are a few considerations that I am aware of in regards to takeoff/landing times. First off, the aircraft needs to be towed on/off the runway, closing it to other traffic for a period of time. Also, due to the low speed limitations of the aircraft, operating in times of cooler, more dense air is a benefit for taking off and landing.

[megatop412]

He just passed Atlantic City and they're streaming a live feed from the cockpit- very cool

[Gerard]

http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/so...id=msnhp&pos=3

Some drama in the sky with the Solar Impulse caused it to make an earlier landing than scheduled!!