Solar Impulse 2 touches down after record leg

The Solar Impulse 2, which has smashed an array of aviation records in its most recent leg, landed safely in Hawaii on Friday, 106 hours after setting off from Japan in an airplane with a wingspan larger than a Boeing 747 but which weighs less than a small passenger car.

In the cockpit, by himself, was Andre Borschberg. The Swiss pilot, along with his partner Bertrand Piccard, is hoping to complete the very first round-the-world trip for a solar plane. The two trade off flying each segment of the journey, which began in Abu Dhabi earlier this year.

Borschberg broke both the distance record with 5,663 kilometers (3,518 miles) for non-stop solar-powered flight on Thursday - and also the time record for non-stop aviation without refuelling by any means. The previous record holder was American aviator Steve Fossett, who was airborne for 76 hours in 2006 in a plane with a single jet engine.

The trip from Japan had a number of false starts, as bad weather conditions delayed takeoff by nearly two months. Originally hoping to fly from China to Hawaii, Borschberg had to divert and land in Japan where he remained stranded for weeks waiting for a long enough window of good weather to complete the journey.

After departing from Japan on Sunday, however, it was relatively smooth sailing for Borschberg - who only reported one night of turbulence too violent to allow him to get any rest.

Borschberg was ectastic about his "dream coming true."

Piccard will now take over from Borschberg, and fly Solar Impulse 2 to the US city of Phoenix, Arizona.