As we were all getting ready for bed, we could already imagine Bertrand in Madrid, cheering to the Spanish victory of the Euro Cup with chalices full of vino tinto. But the image was suddenly disrupted by an urgent message received by all of us: flight postponed. It was a hard one to swallow but we already knew who the culprit was, playing another joke on us.

An unexpected degradation of the meteorological conditions occurred exactly when the Mission team met for their final debriefing before tomorrow’s scheduled flight. The results of the weather forecasts certainly didn’t make the Flight Director happy: medium and high winds gaining speed, exceeding what has been predefined as safe for the HB-SIA prototype. In fact, given the aircraft’s specificities, it must remain within a certain wind speed and turbulence limit to avoid complications during the flight. The Flight Director has taken the difficult decision to defer, reminding the entire Solar Impulse team that safety comes first.

But who knows, maybe HB-SIA is having secretive negotiations with the Moroccan skies hoping it can establish residency in this hot and sunny country? I guess that in that case we wouldn’t need to worry about its batteries being full!

But jokes aside: don’t forget to stay tuned for any new developments. We will keep the website up-to-date with the latest information for the completion of Bertrand’s flight to the Iberian Peninsula.