First round-world solar flight stops in China

By TAN YINGZI in Chongqing (chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2015-03-31 09:43 Comments

Swiss 'Solar Impulse 2' pilot Bertrand Piccard (C) waves before he departs from the Mandalay International airport in Mandalay, Myanmar, March 30, 2015. [Photo/IC]

The pilots will fly roughly 250 hours each inside a narrow cockpit with no oxygen or temperature control. Temperatures outside will range between -40C to 40C. Both pilots will take 20-minute naps every two to four hours. They will practice yoga to deal with the physical discomfort of remaining confined to a seat for so many days at a time.

Piccard, who is a psychiatrist as well as being part of the team that in 1999 first circumnavigated the globe non-stop by balloon, has taught himself and Borschberg techniques of self-hypnosis and meditation to maintain concentration.

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