Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard has taken a prototype of Switzerland’s Solar Impulse aircraft on its first test flight. In the trial, a test pilot took the aircraft up to take off speed, just one metre off the ground for a distance of 350 metres at the Dübendorf airfield near Zurich. But Piccard has big ambitions - he plans to fly the plane around the world.

Piccard said this marked the completion of the first phase of the project, confirming their choice of technical equipment. The next phase will be proper test flights in 2010. Solar panels have yet to be connected to the craft. “It’s a long way between these initial tests and a circumnavigation of the world,” said Piccard.