Video: In Nail-Biting Flight, Holder of Electric Bike Speed Record Sets Electric Plane Speed Record
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.
Rebecca BoyleWriter
Related Stories
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Get the latest FLYING stories delivered directly to your inbox