EADS, the Airbus people, gained a high degree of publicity with their four-motor Cri-Cri, as reported here previously, but a new contender has outraced it. Didier Esteyne flew the EADS plane for the press and showed it to good advantage. His mount was powered by four 15-horsepower electric motors, paired in pods on either side of the plane’s nose. The contra-rotating propellers gave a good performance judging from the in-flight video. EADS’ 60 total horsepower gave it a top speed of 141 miles per hour, but that was eclipsed by another electric Cri Cri, this one with a single 25-horsepower Electravia brushed motor on each stalk. Bigger motors swinging bigger propellers gave it a speed advantage and a world record of 262 kilometers per hour (162.44 miles per hour) , easily topping the Italian ENFICA-FC’s 135km/hr (83.7 mph) set earlier this year. Propellers were made by E-Helice, a part of Electravia, headed by Anne Lavrand, who also founded APAME, the French Association For the Promotion of Electric Aircraft. …