Solar Impulse aeroplane reaches Arizona

Solar Impulse 2, the solar powered aeroplane, has landed in Arizona after completing its first leg across the United States as part of its attempt to circumnavigate the globe.

The aeroplane took off from Mountain View, California, on Monday morning and landed 16 hours later in Phoenix, after the tenth leg of its round the world expedition.

Swiss pilot Andre Borschberg was flying the plane for the 1,113 km flight, having taken over from Bertrand Piccard who flew from Hawaii to California last week.

The Solar impulse team is aiming to arrive in New York in early June, before starting its attempt to cross the Atlantic Ocean.

Solar Impulse 2 began the circumnavigation in March 2015 in Abu Dhabi before flying over Oman, India, Myanmar, China and Japan, from where it made a 8,924km journey to Hawaii.

The plane is fully powered by the sun and has 17,000 photovoltaic cells on the top surface of the wings.