This morning, your editor entered the press release and a photo of the PC Aero Elektra One in flight, noting that the landing gear was probably retracted to allow the low energy use reported by Calin Gologan, the plane’s designer. The video and its accompanying text belie that assumption, and promise even better performance when the airplane is reconfigured in the near future. “Elektra One performed the first flight on 19 Mar. 2011 at the Augsburg Airport in Germany. Jon Karkow, a well known test pilot and aircraft engineer performed the first flight. Flight characteristics and engne parameter were tested. The test pilot was very satisfied with the results. Three flights were performed. The climbing rate was 400 ft/min. A new 30 min. flight was performed on 23 Mar. Only about 3kW from the total on board of 6kWh energy was used. In the next two weeks the new variable pitch propeller and the retractable landing gear will be installed.” …