Chip Yates One of Seven Record Setters Named to “Most Memorable Aviation Records of 2013” List by the National Aeronautic Association: 

TIME TO CLIMB TO 3,000 METERS: 5 minutes 32 seconds Record for airplanes (electric motor, weighing 1,102 < 2,205 lbs) 

“In a series of record attempts in the new electric motor classification, Chip Yates flew his lithium-ion battery powered Long-EZ from a standing start on Inyokern’s runway 15 to a height of 9,843 feet in 5 minutes, 32 seconds. His flight on November 24 broke his own record of 6 minutes, 28 seconds set earlier in the year.”    –National Aeronautic Association

The NAA will celebrate the most memorable aviation records and record-setters of 2013 at a special NAA Awards Ceremony in Arlington, VA, on March 18, 2014.  Click for a list of the seven records.

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As the official record keeper for United States aviation, the National Aeronautic Association tracks dozens of world and national record attempts each year. New U.S. records are certified and those qualifying as world records are then ratified with the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). At the end of each year, under the direction of the NAA Contest and Records Department, records certified for that year are reviewed and a list of the “most memorable” is created.

Photo: the Piper Charger that will carry the battery pack for in-flight recharging of the electric Long-ESA

Chip Yates has announced the winter-spring development and testing schedule for his groundbreaking world’s first mid-air recharge of an electric plane.

Yates’ now-famous Long-EZ (N89CY), popularly known as the all-electric world record setting Long-ESA (for “electric speed and altitude”), will be the flying testbed for UAV battery pack tethering, docking and shuttling technology and software development. The testing is the next step in Yates’ Lindbergh electric transatlantic flight planned for 2015-2016.

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“Flight testing begins this month, with the conversion of our newly purchased recharge plane – a heavy-lifting Piper Charger shown above- that will need to carry a 600volt EnerDelPowered pack we’ve selected for the recharge,” says Yates. “If all goes well, we plan the first mid-air recharge for an April/May timeframe.”

Yates says he has been building his team, including two new engineers, for this landmark electric aviation feat. Both the recharge plane and the electric Long-ESA are berthed at Inyokern in the Mojave Desert, where the conversion, installation and testing will take place. Inyokern has been the site of most of the 8 electric world records set by Yates and his team in the Long ESA.

Small photos: At left, 700 volts of EnerDelPowered Lithium packs going into the recharge plane.  At right, Piper Charger with batteries and view of e-plane in background.