BY THOMAS A. HORNE PERHAPS THE FIRST STIRRINGS OF THE ELECTRIC-AVIATION movement came in the early 2010s, when the Volocopter made its debut at Germany's Aero Friedrichshafen show. This was during the beginning of the fledgling industry's proliferation phase-a phase that triggered a staggering volume of diverse electrically powered aircraft. Some were designs that, for one reason or another, never progressed much beyond the paper-napkin phase. Even today, TransportUp, a news website that tracks everything from eVTOLs to electric hoverbikes, posts a " Hangar " that touts 117 new designs in the works. In the past five years a few ILLUSTRATION BY WEBB CREATIVE AOPA PILOT / September 2021 83