A piloted solar-powered plane landed Thursday morning in western Switzerland after staying in the air for 26 hours straight, thereby successfully completing its first night flight, dpa reported. "We are at the gates of perpetual flight," Bertrand Piccard, the Swiss entrepreneur behind the project, declared after the plane landed at about 9 am local time (0700 GMT). Pilot Andre Borschberg, who stayed awake for the duration of the flight, was tired "but happy" on exiting the plane and achieving the world's first manned solar-powered, all-night trip. The aircraft, named Solar Impulse, gathered enough solar energy at high altitudes during the daylight hours to power it through the night, according to the news agency SDA. Borschberg took the light plane - which has solar panels covering its expansive wingspan of 63.4 metres - up to 8,500 metres during the day before descending to 1,500 metres for the night. According to early reports, the batteries still had power left in them when Borschberg landed the plane, implying that he could have kept going. The data gathered during and after the flight will be further analyzed. Borschberg landed at the same airfield he used for takeoff near Payerne, in western Switzerland. In April, the plane had successfully completed its first daytime test flight in the same area. -- SPA
