Solar powered plane tries first flight across the Mediterranean In an attempt to make the first cross-Mediterranean flight of its kind, a solar powered plane has taken off from Madrid. The aircraft is a Solar Impulse prototype. It left Spanish soil on Tuesday. The plane was flown from Switzerland to Madrid by Andre Borschberg, and now Solar Impulse founder Bertrand Piccard is in the cockpit. I've been dreaming about it for 10 years. Because ten years ago I was in the US talking to Paul Macready, the pioneer of solar flying, and Fred Militky, a specialist, about fuel cells and solar energy, and trying to imagine how we could achieve an intercontinental flight using solar power - and here we are," said Piccard. The aircraft was a 10-year project costing 90 million euros. It is expected to land in the Moroccan capital of Rabat after flying an average of 70 kilometres per hour using absolutely no fuel and with zero emissions. Last June saw the first Solar Impulse international flight, with the aircraft successfully making the journey between Paris and Brussels. More about: Airship, Research, Solar energy