This was the culmination of a fantastic week for the whole Solar Impulse team. Every one of the 85 team members were on site to watch this highlight: engineers, electricians, builders and logistics people, who are normally dotted between Lausanne, Payerne and Dubendorf.

Last night the whole team got together for a cruise on the river Seine. Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, moved almost to tears, thanked the team for all their hard work, the project would have been impossible without such a group effort and their incredible determination! A year ago, the HB-SIA had barely done more than a few test flights. To be present today at the Paris Air Show and exhibiting to the highest ranking officials in the aviation industry is quite simply amazing.

The flight...

The technical team was up early to prepare the aircraft and Markus Scherdel, the test pilot, was at Solar Impulse HQ by 08:00 and raring to go. His grin spoke a thousand words and he confessed to feeling as emotional about the flight as Bertrand and André were the night before on the Seine. "I never imagined that we would be here, with so much achieved within such a short timeframe. It is an extraordinary success," he said. Markus also told me that during the flight he wouldn't have much time to look down at the public and to feel the special atmosphere below. "I will be focussing 99% of my attention on the flight as I have a very specific route to fly and it won't be simple with the wind and the turbulence."

At 10:00...

Everyone held their breath. The propellors started turning and the plane was airbourne in less than 10 seconds...The public was stunned. There was thunderous applause. After a week of enjoying fabulous displays, sometimes spectacular, but always noisy and polluting, Solar Impulse suddenly offered an astonishing alternative solution. HB-SIA soared above their heads slowly, majesticly and silently.

Bertrand Piccard, who MC'ed the event, was as emotional as his audience. The HB-SIA flew its course perfectly. On its approach to land, it was buffeted slightly by turbulence, but Markus Scherdel managed the situation with a calm hand.

Touch down!

The ground crew guided the HB-SIA wings and it came to rest just metres from an Airbus A-380. Two symbols of the future of aviation. Emotions overflowed and people had tears pouring down their faces.