Story highlights Solar Impulse completes first leg of its round-the-world flight, from Abu Dhabi to Oman

Pilot Andre Borschberg was at the controls; Bertrand Piccard will tackle the second journey

After pit stop in Muscat, Oman, the solar-powered plane will travel on to India, Myanmar and China

(CNN) Solar Impulse 2 has landed safely in Oman on the first leg of its quest to be the first plane to fly around the world fueled only by the sun's rays.

The solar-powered plane took off from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates early on Monday with pilot Andre Borschberg at the controls for the 400-kilometer (250 mile) flight.

The journey was expected to take about 12 hours, but high winds of up to 11 knots delayed its landing, forcing Borschberg to fly in a holding pattern above Muscat until they dropped to safe levels.

Once safely on the ground, Borschberg said he was "extremely happy" and "looking forward to the rest of [the] adventure."

Extremely happy to have landed safely in #Oman! Looking forward to the rest of our adventure @bertrandpiccard #RTW pic.twitter.com/Rq2YxTZuOH — André Borschberg (@andreborschberg) March 9, 2015

Solar Impulse 2's visit to Oman is a short pit-stop on its marathon 35,000-kilometer, five month journey across the globe, via India, Myanmar, China and the U.S.