Bad weather forces solar-powered plane to land in Japan

[June 01, 2015]  TOKYO (Reuters) - A solar-powered plane attempting a round-the-world flight will cut short the seventh leg of its 35,000-km global (22,000-mile) journey, landing in Nagoya, western Japan, due to bad weather.

The plane will land at a small airport in Nagoya around midnight local time, one of the project's organizers told Reuters.

The Solar Impulse 2, a solar powered plane, left Nanjing, China on Sunday to fly over the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii. The plane, which is covered in solar cells, took off from Abu Dhabi in March.

The journey across the Pacific Ocean was expected to be the most difficult stretch of the journey.

Overall, the trip was expected to span approximately 25 flight days broken up into 12 legs at speeds between 50 and 100 kph (30 to 60 mph).

(Reporting by Olivier Fabre; Writing by Mari Saito)

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