Circling the Globe in a Solar-Powered Plane | That’s Amazing

Some dreams are so fantastic, it takes an unprecedented bid for adventure and glory to see them blossom to fruition. Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, captivated by the spirit of great expeditions of the past, partnered to make the first flight across the world in a solar-powered plane that produces no pollution. Storing solar energy in batteries, the Solar Impulse is capable of staying aloft indefinitely. However, as Piccard and Borschberg learned, this didn't make the adventure easy — or require any less intrepid heroism from the co-pilots.

Tune in to "That's Amazing" every Sunday at 9 pm on The Weather Channel.

SUBSCRIBE: https://goo.gl/vR6Acb

Follow us behind the scenes on Instagram: http://goo.gl/2KABeX
Make our acquaintance on Facebook: http://goo.gl/Vn0XIZ
Give us a shout on Twitter: http://goo.gl/sY1GLY
Come hang with us on Vimeo: http://goo.gl/T0OzjV
Visit our world directly: http://www.greatbigstory.com

Great Big Story is a video network dedicated to the untold, overlooked & flat-out amazing. Humans are capable of incredible things & we're here to tell their stories. When a rocket lands in your backyard, you get in.

There are so many people in
life, they forget to dream,

because they're afraid of going
out of their comfort zone.

- [Narrator] 13 years ago,
two enterprising pilots

shared a dream to achieve the impossible.

Their goal?

To build the first solar-powered plane

to fly around the world,

ushering in an aviation future

free of fossil fuels and pollution.

- Our goal is to simply
demonstrate that it's feasible.

- Tango, x-ray.

- [Narrator] Their plan was ambitious,

to cross the globe in 17 legs
over the course of a year,

logging 25,000 miles.

Taking turns in the cockpit,

co-pilots Bertrand Piccard
and Andre Borschberg

knew that they would face

technical and operational challenges,

- We have to go back.

- [Narrator] while battling
weather and the elements

- It has been really a difficult moment.

- [Narrator] in an unprecedented bid

for adventure and glory.

- When I was a child,
all the people I knew

were explorers,
adventurers, and astronauts.

- You know, when I was a boy,

I read a lot of books about the
pilots who opened the lines,

basically discovered the
world through airplanes.

- [Announcer] He is determined
to succeed this time.

He's has spent--

- My grandfather was the first
man in the stratosphere,

inventing the pressurized capsule.

Then my father made the deepest dive ever,

touching the bottom of the Mariana Trench,

the deepest spot on Earth,

and showing that the deepest trenches

in the oceans had to be protected.

- And I was fascinating

by the people who tried something
new, something different.

- I thought exploration
was the only way to live!

I flew nonstop around
the world in a balloon.

We burned almost four tons of propane gas.

It was pollution.

I was thinking, how can
I do it with no fuel,

and this is how the dream
of Solar Impulse started.

Flying a solar-powered airplane

that produces its own
electricity with the sun,

store the electricity in batteries,

so you can fly through the night,

fly to the next sunrise forever.

- When I met Bertrand 13 years ago,

I immediately had the impression

that my life was crossing
something extremely important.

- I found that Andre was
the missing part of me,

and I was the missing part of him.

He's the engineer,
entrepreneur, jet fighter pilot.

I'm a medical doctor, I'm an explorer,

so I asked him if he would agree

to partner with me to do it,

and he accepted immediately.

Together, we could be
the complete human being.

(applause)

It's a very difficult airplane to fly,

maybe the most difficult
airplane in the world to fly,

because of its huge wingspan,

very lightweight, and
sensitivity to turbulence.

This you have to master completely.

- So at the beginning, you
would just overcontrol it,

it's a disaster.

Using the simulator, it allowed us

really to get the feeling

about the personality of this airplane,

to know how to handle it.

- I had the clearance from the tower,

and I could put full throttle.

No noise from the engines,
and the plane taking off,

and I'm just looking to stay in the air

for as long as I can, no limits.

(dreamy orchestral music)

When we travel, it takes three days to fly

where other people would fly

with a jet plane in eight hours.

But you know that you
can stay there forever.

And what is magical is to look at the sun,

to look at the propellers on both side,

to see them turning without
noise and without pollution,

and to think, I'm in the
film of science fiction!

It cannot be true!

But it is true!

(propellers hum)

So as soon as Andre can put

full power on the four electrical engines,

the around the world will start.

And I repeat, always, it's an attempt.

The around the world with Solar Impulse II

started in March 2015.

Andre and I, we took turns in the cockpit.

(tense music)

Prince Albert is next to me,

and he will give the official go,

and then the adventure will start.

- My friend, it's a great
pleasure to wish you all the best

for this fantastic
crossing of the Pacific,

so you are cleared to proceed
with the take-off procedures.

(applause)

- As soon as I took off for Japan,

one important equipment failed.

Immediately, the engineers told me

that I had to return to Japan to fix it.

But I looked at the cockpit
and it was the first time

that the weather was
improving over the Pacific.

- I would say we have to go
back, as we have the choice.

- The engineers never understood that,

they never understood why
I was taking this risk.

Some of them wanted to resign immediately,

and I decided to continue on.

- It's only so much we can do

to support you from here, from the ground.

You will be on your own.

- It has been really a difficult moment,

do we go, we don't go,

but the weather is good,
the plane flies well,

it's worth trying.

- [Andre] I did meditation,
I couldn't sleep.

Slowly at sunrise I could
throw this emotion overboard,

and I could go back to what
I've been dreaming about,

to enjoy these days I was
over the Pacific Ocean.

- I don't know how many
records we were setting

in this flight and it’s the most difficult flight

of the whole journey around
the world that we succeeded.

(applause)

- Exploration is not only
when you are successful

and you raise the flag of victory.

(cheers)

It's through all these moments where

you have the impression to lose control.

- The Solar Impulse II
mission started in Abu Dhabi,

with many stop overs.

Across Asia first, over the Pacific,

across the United States,

over the Atlantic, across
the Mediterranean Sea,

and to get back here in the Middle East.

- I crossed the finish
line over Abu Dhabi,

and I had one hour and a half in the air

waiting before landing.

I could be in the full
emotion of the success,

but still in the full
emotion of the adventure.

At that moment, I thought
everything is possible.

Everything is possible.

Why don't we dream more?

Why don't we try more?

(cheers)

A few hours ago, I had to
open the door of the cockpit,

I had to land, and this

flight around the world became memories.

(applause)

- What we did here was
true pioneering work,

and that's the story,

is understanding the potential
of these technologies.

In 10 years, we will
use electric airplanes,

maybe not solar, this will take more time,

but certainly electric.

- If you have an impossible goal,

the people who are going to
support you are pioneers.