Fantasy time: A shadow flashes across you as you walk toward the airport cafe. You look up. A plane cruises overhead, its prop whirring smoothly. A faint chirping whine reaches your ears. Ah...it's an electric. The elegant craft powers up and climbs away, still unnaturally quiet. Later it lands, rolls to a stop...and four people get out! In truth, although electric-aircraft projects are popping up like mushrooms at airfields around the globe, a viable four-seat battery-powered cruiser, cut from the mold of a general aviation-style Cirrus SR22 or Cessna Corvalis, has yet to make an airport appearance. That's about to change. On a cold, gray day in Germany last spring, a sleek, super-lightweight composite aircraft lifted off from the runway on its first test flight, and flew 30 minutes. The PC-Aero Elektra One is the first in a line of electric-powered aircraft that includes a commercially produced fourseater—the Elektra Four. The One stands out for its "normal" airplane appearance. This is no big-span motorized sailplane, exotic 200-foot solar-powered project or one-hour endurance hang-glider trike.
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