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Pipistrel Velis Electro: Certified Electric

Paul Bertorelli
Verified
On The Cover: That's the newly certified Pipistrel Velis Electro trainer. Last year, the Slovenian aircraft manufacturer promised it would deliver the first certified electric airplane and it succeeded. A standard category airplane certified to CS-LSA standards at the 1320-pound limit, it's a day VFR-only two-seater aimed square at the training market. Editor-at-large Paul Bertorelli put it through the wringer for the flight trial report that begins on page 12.

There’s so much buzz around the emergence of electric airplanes that it’s easy to forget what animates most of the enterprise is press releases. New airplane announcements fly fast and furious; the airplanes themselves, not so much. Cutting through this background noise is the innovative Slovenian company, Pipistrel. Last year, as it promised it would, it announced the first certified electric airplane, the Velis Electro. The word “certified” here shouldn’t be taken to suggest the Velis is a Part 23 airplane in the way that a Diamond DA20 or 40 or a Cirrus SR22 is. Yes, the Velis is a standard category airplane, but certified to CS-LSA at the 600-kg (1320-pound) limit. We would know this as an S-LSA in the U.S. with all the limitations that LSAs have, including day VFR-only approval and limited useful load.

Paul Bertorelli

Paul Bertorelli is Aviation Consumer’s Editor at Large. In addition to his valued contributions to Aviation Consumer, his in-depth video productions on sister publication AVweb cover a wide variety of topics that greatly contribute to safety, operation and aircraft ownership. When Paul isn’t writing or filming, he’s out flying his J3 Cub.