Older aeromodellers will be familiar with Fred Militky: the German engineer who designed the free-flying, electric-powered "Silentius" back in the late 1950s, and the "HI FLY" radio-controlled electric glider introduced by Graupner in 1973.

But Militky worked on manned flying too. On October 21, 1973, the first electric-powered manned aircraft - the MB-E1 (Militky-Brditschka Elektroflieger No. 1) – took to the skies in Wels, Austria.

"With the accomplishment of the MB-E1 project, it was possible to prove that an aircraft heavier than air can be flown while carrying electric energy,” Militky wrote at the time.

Find out more about the MB-E1, which has now been reconstructed, in the CIAM Flyer 02-2018 by Heimo Stadlbauer.

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• Current and past issues of the CIAM Flyer can be downloaded on the CIAM Flyer page.