NATION : Solar Pilot Skips Kitty Hawk Leg
The pilot of the first aircraft to cross the country using sunshine for power today called off his attempt to complete the last 8 miles of the trip to an airstrip near the Wright Brothers Memorial.
Northeast winds in excess of 20 m.p.h. forced Eric Raymond to cancel plans to fly the remaining miles from a turf farm, where he landed on Monday, to the First Flight Airport adjacent to the memorial. After announcing his plans, Raymond and his wife, Aida, went windsurfing.
“It’s really windy. The weather forecast is to be this way tomorrow. He made it to the coast,” said Nancy McWilliams of Kitty Hawk Kites, which has been the headquarters for the final portion of the trip. “Tomorrow, he’ll set up the plane for anybody who wants to see it and then head home to California.”
Eric Raymond first took off July 16 from Desert Center, Calif., about 200 miles east of Los Angeles.
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