Solar Impulse 2, the first aircraft powered by the sun left Hawaii on April 21 to continue its solar-powered circumnavigation after arriving from Japan on July 3, 2015,. It landed in the San Francisco Bay Area three days later on April 23. Swiss pilots Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg chose to winter in Hawaii until the weather became sunny enough for flight, they said in a press release. The aircraft is fitted with solar panels and batteries to store energy.
1924: By airplane
A fleet of 4 biplanes left Seattle, Wash., and flew west. One crashed a few miles out, and the other three returned 175 days later, after flying around the world. Piloted by a U.S. Air Force crew, they stopped in 61 cities and spent 371 hours and 11 minutes in the air.
1933: Solo
American aviator Wiley Post flew east from Floyd Bennett Field in New York and, after stopping only 11 times, completed his circumnavigation in 7 days, 18 hours, and 49 minutes. He had to make an emergency landing in the Alaskan wilderness.
1949: Nonstop
A U.S. Air Force crew flew the Lucky Lady II from Fort Worth, Texas, and headed east. Their 94-hour, 1-minute flight was made possible by 4 mid-air refuelings.
1964: Solo by woman
Following the suggestion of her husband to relieve her boredom, recreational pilot and housewife Geraldine “Jerrie” Mock took 29.5 days and 158 flying hours to circle the globe and return to Ohio.
1986: Nonstop and non-refueling
Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager averaged 115.8 mph in their 939-pound Voyager airplane. They touched back down at Edward’s Air Force Base, California, after 9 days, 3 minutes, and 44 seconds of nonstop flying.
2000: Solo in microlight aircraft
British pilot Colin Bodill took off from Brooklands Airfield, Weybridge, Surrey, UK. His round-the-world flight took 99 days and is also the fastest such journey made in a microlight aircraft.