A new “record” for an electric aircraft flight probably won’t make the books, but was a great sales opportunity for the off-grid charging system that accompanied it. 21 electric airplane records exist in the list of Federation Aeronautique Internationale-recognized achievements. At least one was set in 2012 by Jean-Luc Soullier in his Colomban MC-30 Luciole (Firefly) – 189.87 kilometers per hour (117.98 mph) over a 15 kilometer closed course using a Lynch-type brushed motor. It topped his record in February of the same year of 136.4 kph (84.76 mph). For a while, Soullier held records for altitude and distance, but these were eclipsed by others. At the time, your editor encouraged beating these records, since they were early efforts in a field that should have shown greater progress that it has. Batteries are not that much improved in some respects. Recent flights in Australia, Europe, and America required a mobile infrastructure to charge those batteries. Cars, trucks and airplanes carried …
