Veteran pilot tested to the limit of endurance on record-breaking solar-powered flight across the Pacific, on the eighth leg of round-the-world journey 
 
 A solar plane attempting the world’s first flight around the globe has landed in Hawaii, after breaking the record for the longest non-stop solo flight in history. 
 
 Solar Impulse 2, piloted by the Swiss pilot André Borschberg, took off from Nagoya in Japan at 3am on Monday, for the five-day crossing of the Pacific Ocean, the riskiest leg of its journey. 
 
 At 72 hours into the eighth leg of its 22,000-mile circumnavigation, Borschberg broke the endurance record for a solo flight. 
 
 “The next leg is what I call the moment of truth,” he told the Guardian before departing. “The first time we fly many days, many nights with a solar-powered airplane, the first time that we fly over the ocean, the first time that one pilot flies alone for so long. We are exploring new territories.” 
 
 Borschberg is sharing the round-the-world attempt, completing alternate legs with his co-pilot Bertrand Piccard, who will now fly the single-seater plane on a 100-hour leg to Phoenix, Arizona, in the US. 
 
 Saving power is key to the journey’s success, as the plane – fitted with 17,000 photovoltaic solar cells – must reach heights of 9,000 metres during the day so that it can glide through the night. At top speed, it reaches 87mph. 
 
 “There’s a lot of uncertainty at the end; we cannot know everything,” said Piccard, before the flight took off on Monday. 
 
 During the 5,079-mile leg, Borschberg has spent about four days, 21 hours and 51 minutes in the air and throughout the journey has only been able to rest in 20-minute intervals. 
 
 The 62-year-old veteran pilot and engineer has had to endure temperatures close to 37C (100F) in the cockpit. He said that yoga had been a “huge support” for sustaining a positive mindset and helped to keep him alert. Tweeting throughout the journey, Borschberg said on Thursday that the fourth day of this leg had been tough, after he “climbed the equivalent altitude of Mount Everest four times”. 
 
 The historic journey has been set back multiple times since first taking off from Abu Dhabi in March. 
 
 André Borschberg (@andreborschberg) During the fourth day I felt very tired, having climbed the equivalent altitude of Mount Everest four times pic.twitter.com/N6Wk1vi9ok 
 
 It had been stalled in Nagoya for weeks due to bad weather, waiting for a suitable five-day window of clear weather to complete the journey. The original flight was diverted from China in June. 
 
 On the most recent leg, there were concerns that Borschberg would have problems crossing a cold-weather front before Hawaii, ahead of the home straight over the Pacific archipelago. ||||| Tweet with a location 
 
 You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| CLOSE The Solar Impulse 2 landed in Hawaii Friday, successfully completing a world record-setting 4,000 mile solar powered flight. Jasper Colt, USA TODAY 
 
 The Solar Impulse 2, a sun-powered airplane, circles the Kalaeloa Airport, on July 3, 2015, in Kapolei, Hawaii. (Photo: Marco Garcia, AP) 
 
 The record-setting flight of the sun-powered Solar Impulse 2 landed in Hawaii on Friday after the longest, most dangerous leg of its around-the-world journey. 
 
 The plane landed around noon ET at Hawaii's Kalaeloa Airport after an arduous five-day, non-stop flight, according to Solar Impulse's website, which live streamed the event. 
 
 The completed 4,000-mile leg from Nagoya, Japan, to Hawaii was not only the world's longest solar-powered flight both by time and distance, it also set the record for longest solo flight by time. 
 
 "Just landed in #Hawaii with @solarimpulse! For @bertrandpiccard and I, it's a dream coming true," pilot André Borschberg upon his successful landing. 
 
 Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard have been alternating the long solo flights aboard the plane. The flight from Japan to Hawaii was the eighth of 13 legs. 
 
 Borschberg had been stuck in the cramped cockpit of the plane since taking off early Monday in Japan. He was unable to stand and his only rest was the occasional 20-minute nap. 
 
 The Solar Impulse 2 approaches Hawaii with Andre Borschberg at the controls, near Kalaeloa Airport, O'ahu, Hawaii, on July 3, 2015. (Photo: Solar Impulse) 
 
 
 
 "It is delicate to maintain a balance between my energy and the energy of the aircraft," pilot André Borschberg tweeted early Friday. His only rest the past five days has been occasional 20-minute naps. As the flight neared its destination, the Solar Impulse team tweeted images and videos of the plane over Hawaii. Earlier Friday, founder of Virgin Group Richard Branson congratulated the Solar Impulse team on Twitter for beating Virgin's record non-stop solo flight without refueling. In a tweet Thursday, Borschberg reported on the challenges of the flight. "I'm fighting, it's difficult. ... Managing energy level is not easy. I have to find a hole in the cold front." Unlike the first several legs of the flight, which were over land in Asia, this leg was more dangerous because there would be no place to land if something went wrong above the vast Pacific Ocean. Bad weather delayed the trip to Hawaii for weeks. The plane must find clear skies during the day to receive as much solar energy as possible. At night, running on batteries fueled during the day, the plane descends to a lower altitude and slows speed to conserve energy. Part of the plane's mission is to raise awareness about climate change, showcasing what can be done using nothing but renewable energy. "The most important thing isn't to make world records," Piccard told USA TODAY in an interview last month. "It's to show what we can do with clean technologies," he said, ones that could simultaneously reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and stimulate economic growth. "We will never improve the situation if we continue to speak of climate change as a big and expensive problem, or by asking people to reduce their lifestyle to protect nature," he said. The mission began March 9 with a flight from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, to Muscat, Oman. Pilots Borschberg and Piccard have alternated the legs of the journey. The plane's mission control is in Monaco, where a team of meteorologists, flight engineers and other experts closely track and monitor the weather and flight conditions. From Hawaii, the plane will continue the ocean crossing to Phoenix as weather permits. From there, Solar Impulse will land at a location in the Midwest, then in New York City. It will undertake two final flights over the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea before landing back at Abu Dhabi. Contributing: Doyle Rice 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1LZ4mxU ||||| Story highlights Solar Impulse 2 has touched down in Hawaii after a flight lasting nearly five days 
 
 The solar-powered aircraft had been in the air since taking off from Japan on Sunday 
 
 (CNN) After nearly 118 grueling, consecutive hours over the Pacific Ocean, the sun-powered Solar Impulse 2 is back on land -- and freshly stamped into aviation record books. 
 
 Pilot Andre Borschberg landed the plane on the Hawaiian island of Oahu on Friday morning, five days after he took off from Japan -- ending the longest and most dangerous leg in his team's attempt to fly around the world without a drop of fuel. 
 
 The leg -- the eighth of a planned 13 -- set a record for the world's longest nonstop solo flight in terms of time. It also was the longest flight in time and distance (more than 8,200 kilometers, or 5,100 miles) for a plane run only on solar power, organizers said. 
 
 After landing at Oahu's Kalaeloa Airport, Borschberg opened the cockpit door and waved to a cheering crowd. 
 
 Borschberg, having been off his feet for five straight days, didn't attempt to stand until another 50 minutes passed. Someone climbed up to the cabin to give him a leg massage before he finally stepped onto a platform. 
 
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– A solar plane made aviation history today, and its historic journey is nowhere near over. The Solar Impulse 2, controlled by Swiss pilot André Borschberg, landed in Hawaii after a five-day, 4,000-mile trip over the Pacific Ocean from Japan, reports USA Today. The feat is just one leg on a planned around-the-world trip, but the non-stop stretch over the Pacific was seen as the most difficult, and dangerous, part of the flight. It set the record for the longest solar-powered flight in terms of both time and distance. Waiting to greet Borschberg at the Kalaeloa Airport were his family and his co-pilot, Bertrand Piccard, who will now fly the plane on its next leg, a 100-hour trip to Phoenix. The 62-year-old Borschberg had to make do with 20-minute naps in the cramped cockpit over his five-day trip, and at times, he sweated through 100-degree temperatures, reports the Guardian. He tweeted along the way, crediting yoga for helping his mental and physical stamina, especially yesterday, when he “climbed the equivalent altitude of Mount Everest four times." CNN explains that the aircraft is covered in 17,000 solar cells, which collect the sun's rays during the day and allow the plane to fly through the night on battery power.