Pilot to fly solar plane across Pacific for 5 days, 5 nights

BEIJING (AP) — A pilot says that he is anxious but excited about flying a solar plane solo from China to Hawaii on the longest leg of the first attempt to fly around the world without a drop of fuel.

André Borschberg is due to fly over the Pacific Ocean for five days and five nights in the plane that has solar cells on its wings to power its motors and recharge its batteries for nighttime flying.

The Solar Impulse 2 set off from Abu Dhabi in March and has stopped in Oman, India and Myanmar. Borschberg and another Swiss pilot are taking turns flying the plane during a five-month journey to promote renewable energy use.

Borschberg said Sunday that the flight from Nanjing in eastern China to Hawaii is the most challenging.