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Video: In Nail-Biting Flight, Holder of Electric Bike Speed Record Sets Electric Plane Speed Record

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Key Takeaways:

  • Test pilot Chip Yates set a new world speed record for an all-electric airplane, reaching 202 MPH in his "Flight of the Century Long-EZ."
  • The record-breaking flight, only the plane's second, encountered a dramatic power loss, forcing a "dead-stick" landing.
  • Yates, an inexperienced pilot with only 58 hours of flight time, successfully managed the challenging emergency landing.
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Test pilot and speed freak Chip Yates, already a record-holder for the world’s fastest electric motorcycle, broke another one last week in his all-electric airplane. In only its second flight, his Flight of the Century Long-EZ took to the skies over Inyokern Airport in California and reached a top speed of 202 MPH.

The 16-minute flight was not without drama, after the aircraft lost power and forced a dead-stick landing. Yates earned his pilot’s license in two months, and had logged just 58 hours of flight time before this trip — a dead-stick landing, flying without power, is a heady test for an inexperienced aviator.

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