In 2009, Solar Flight president Eric Raymond flew his Sunseeker II solar-electric plane over the Alps several times.
This August, he ventured on the same journey with his first two-seater Sunseeker Duo, which allowed him to take his wife Irena along as co-pilot.
The Raymonds departed from their base in Voghera, Italy on August 2 and began heading to Torino Aeritalia Airport. The next day, they flew to the Swiss mountain Mönch, then landed at Munster-Geschinen Airport in Switzerland.
On August 7, they took off again and flew back to Voghera via the Matterhorn and the city of Genoa.
The return trip took four hours, and the couple reached a maximum altitude of 4,545 meters. They say they could have flown higher if the plane had a dual oxygen system.
The solar aircraft has a wingspan of 22 meters and weighs 280 kilograms. On its wings it has 1,510 solar panels that collect the sun's energy and store it in a lithium battery located in the fuselage.
The aircraft engine has a maximum power of 25kW.
It was the first solar-electric aircraft to successfully fly with two people.
