Airbus's hands-on approach to learning about electric aircraft took a new turn last February. Instead of following the battery-powered, English Channel-crossing success of the E-Fan 1.1, the company scrapped an original plan for a straightforward follow-on called the E-Fan 1.2. In its place, Airbus's Innovations organisation developed what was internally known as the E-Fan 1.3, with lithium-ion batteries supplemented with an avgas-powered generator to extend range and recharge the batteries in flight. Though technically the third iteration of the original all-electric E-Fan demonstrator, the latest version was confusingly marketed as the E-Fan 1.2 on display at the Experimental Aircraft Association's annual AirVenture fly-in in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
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