Gallery: Taking Flight In the Velis Electro

During a late afternoon on one lovely day in Wichita, Rob Scholl, president and CEO of Textron eAviation, heads to Textron Aviation’s Employee Flying Club at Beech Factory Field (KBEC). That is where Pipistrel’s Velis Electro electric aircraft is kept.

The aircraft is certified as a light sport aircraft in Europe, but because it has not received FAA approval to date, this one is flown under “Experimental” status. The Velis comes in two versions: the full electric version like this one and a traditional gas-powered version. The primary mission of the Velis Electro is as a training aircraft.    Credit: Molly McMillin

The aircraft is light enough to be manually pushed out of the hangar to the ramp. It's an easy preflight.

"In the startup procedure, there’s no oil to check. There’s no engine to inspect. It’s do the walk-around on the outside to check the battery status and you go. There’s no run-up procedure. It’s easy to get into the air.”  Credit: Molly McMillin

“Radio is on. Transponder is on. Let’s get the weather real quick,” says Rob Scholl as he prepares for taxi. 

Weather includes 3 deg. of wind at a heading of 270.

"Perfect,” Scholl says. “Beech Tower. Pipistrel 56RR at the Flying Club ready for departure with weather. OK. I’ll take Runway 1 at Echo.” 

Unlike traditional aircraft, there is no run-up time with leaning the mixture and checking the magnetos needed before takeoff. We turn onto the runway and take quickly to the air.   Credit: Molly McMillin

“My favorite thing about flying this?” Scholl says. “It’s fun. It’s simple to start. It’s simple to operate. It’s easy to handle.”    Credit: Molly McMillin

 The Velis Electro is powered by a 57.6kW electric engine with a three-blade, composite fixed-pitch propeller.

The aircraft has about a 50-min range with a 30-min. VFR reserve and a 90 kt. cruise speed.  Future generations of batteries will extend the range.   Credit: Molly McMillin

The instrument panel includes a 5.7 in. LCD EPSI 570C cockpit display. The system provides information about the operational status of the electric propulsion system, including how much power remains in the batteries and their health. 

Inside the Wichita hangar, the batteries will about three hrs. to fully charge using a 220 outlet. In Europe, Pipistrel has equipment in place that will charge the aircraft in about 50 min.

The batteries were built to last for 2,000 flight hours. At that time, the plan is to replace the cells within the batteries. In addition, if any issues arise, an operator can download the data from the aircraft onto a USB stick and submit it to Pipistrel. The Pipistrel team can then remotely diagnose the problem and see in great detail what is taking place occurring with the battery nodule.  Credit: Molly McMillin 
 

The extra-large window in the wide door provides a full view of the air and ground below.  Credit: Molly McMillin 

The large window and high wing provide an excellent view.   Credit: Molly McMillin 

The After Landing Checklist.              Credit: Molly McMillin 

After three touch-and-goes around the pattern, it's a smooth landing.

The $220,000 Velis Electro is being flown by a variety of flight schools and private operators in Europe. For the U.S., Textron Aviation’s biggest challenge is knowing when the FAA will classify the aircraft as a light sport aircraft. Currently, it is not possible to certify a light sport aircraft with an electric system. The FAA is developing a new set of standards called Mosaic, or Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certificates, for light sport and other aircraft.

Until then, “I’m hoping we can find a pathway prior to that to get some Velises in the hands of flight schools here in the U.S… I’d like to see what they think… because as you can imagine, at Textron, we’re going to come out with some more airplanes in the future. We need to learn as much as we can from the flight schools and the customers about what they want to see in the next generation.”