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As Greg McDougall prepared to fly the world’s first all-electric commercial aircraft Tuesday morning, he said “nervous” wasn’t quite the word to describe how he was feeling.

The fact that the Harbour Air CEO would be the first person to take the modified de Havilland Beaver on a full test flight didn’t faze him, nor did knowledge of a charging glitch the night before.

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McDougall had gone for a dinner break Monday evening while a crew of designers and engineers stared at their computers with furrowed brows, and he returned later to find them smiling and laughing, crisis averted.

“The emotion isn’t necessarily excitement, it’s more sort of anticipation and focus,” he said.

Photo by DON MACKINNON / AFP via Getty Images

With the sun hanging low over the Fraser River in Richmond, McDougall shifted the throttle into gear and took off. After landing, he said it felt just like flying any other plane, only with more kick.

“For me, that flight was just like flying a Beaver but it was a Beaver on electric steroids,” he said, adding he had to throttle back in order to delay the takeoff to be in line with about a dozen cameras.