Electric vehicle pioneer Chip Yates is now the first person to ever fly an electric aircraft faster than 200 miles per hour. Yates made the flight today in his Long-ESA, a modified Long-EZ he is using as a development platform for his new electric aircraft systems he plans to fly across the Atlantic.
Yates already holds the world record for the fastest electric motorcycle after topping 196 mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats last year. He recently turned his attention to the skies and his first electric flight took place yesterday.
Today’s record-setting flight hit 202.6 mph in level flight, according to Yates, breaking the previous record of 175 mph held by the tiny electric Cri-Cri. Today’s record-breaking flight wasn’t without drama, after Yates was forced to make a dead-stick landing when “a dead cell killed propulsion following the record run.”
via Record-Setting Electric Airplane Breaks 200-MPH Barrier for First Time | Autopia | Wired.com.