A French pilot today claimed to have made aviation history with the first flight in a manned electric plane across the English Channel from land to land - but the stunt faced controversy following a claim to the record by a rival pilot.
More than 100 years after French aviation pioneer Louis Bleriot became the first person to fly across the Channel in a plane, Didier Esteyne flew in a battery-powered prototype.
But another French pilot, Hugues Duval, claimed to have upstaged Esteyne by flying his Cri-Cri electric plane across the Channel yesterday.
Controversy broke out, with Esteyne's Airbus team downplaying Duval 's claim to the cross-Channel record, saying he launched from another aircraft rather than taking off from land like their pilot.
Today's flight in Airbus Group's E-Fan 1.0 plane was in the reverse direction of Bleriot's landmark Channel crossing 106 years ago on July 25, 1909.
The twin-engine plane - whose batteries enable it to stay airborne for up to 50 minutes - flew from Lydd Airport in Kent to Calais.
After landing the aircraft shadowed by two helicopters, Esteyne said the flight was "almost perfect" but declined to be drawn on the upstaging of his attempt by rival Duval.
He told reporters: "I don't have to talk about that. We did something today. It's important to us and that's the most important thing."
On the flight, he added: "It was almost perfect and of course I feel good. We did it and now the journey is done.
"The most difficult part was during the climb because we had the safety part of the flight. It took about 14 minutes to be more secure."
Following his flight, Duval said he felt "relief" and added it was an "important moment" after years of developing the plane and flying it over land.
Airbus Group applauded Duval for his effort, with a spokesman saying: "We congratulate the intrepid aviator."
The two flights mirrored that carried out by French aviation pioneer Louis Bleriot more than 100 years ago when he became the first person to fly across the Channel in a plane.
Esteyne's flight in the E-Fan 1.0 plane was in the reverse direction of Bleriot's landmark Channel crossing 106 years ago on July 25, 1909.
The twin-engine plane - whose batteries enable it to stay airborne for up to 50 minutes - flew from Kent to Calais in around 40 minutes.
Final checks and preparations were carried out last night by its pilot and designer Esteyne, including a 20-minute test flight around Lydd Airport shadowed by a helicopter.
Describing the experience of flying the aircraft, Esteyne said: "It is closer to a glider because there is less noise than an aeroplane. Also, there is no vibration at all. It's smooth and very quiet."
The two-seat E-Fan has a 31ft wing-span, is two metres in height, with a total engine power of 60 kiloWatt and it operates on a 120-cell lithium polymer battery system.
With no fuel burden, the plane, which made its maiden flight in March last year, can be landed, its batteries unplugged and fly again after having a spare set fitted.
The E-Fan 1.0 has undergone 100 flights, and the project has taken 18 months from paper to its first flight.
Simon Bradley, head of global innovation network at Airbus Group, believes large aircraft powered by electric are decades, rather than single-digit years, away from being introduced widely in the industry.
"I can say that we are probably building a part of aviation but not all of it," said Esteyne.
"We are not able to say now what will happen in five, eight or 10 years but for sure it is an interesting development."