First electric helicopter
Who
Pascal Chretien
What
first
Where
France (Venelles)
When
On 4 August 2011, the first authenticated, manned flight of a helicopter powered by an electric motor took place at Venelles, France. The aircraft was flown by Pascal Chretien (France) and hovered about 50 cm (19 in) above the ground for 2 min 10 sec. The first flight was tethered, but the machine later made its first free flight on 12 August 2011. In July and August 2011, the aircraft flew for a total of 99.5 minutes in 29 flights, some of which extended for 6 minutes.