An experimental solar-powered aircraft took off from a Swiss airbase here in a bid to make history by flying round the clock and through the night.

Solar Impulse whirred along the runway at Payerne in western Switzerland in the early hours of Wednesday, reaching 35 kilometres per hour as lone pilot Andre Borschberg gently lifted into clear skies at 0451 GMT on a scheduled 25 hour flight, "This should be a great day of all goes well," said team chief Bertrand Piccard, who made the first non-stop round-the-world flight in a balloon more than a decade ago.u00a0
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Solar-powerd aircraft. AFP PIC: Denis Balibouseu00a0u00a0