Gallery: Flying The Pipistrel Velis Electro

The Velis is the first electric aircraft to receive certification from the world's major aviation regulators.

The aircraft has batteries fore and aft of the cockpit, with an electric motor powering its three-bladed propeller.
 

Fully charging the Velis takes around a couple of hours and costs approximately £5 ($X), giving roughly one hour's flying time. The equivalent fuel cost for a conventional two-seat trainer would likely be around £100, says 4Air's founder and president, Kennedy Ricci.

Your correspondent settles in to the Velis. The seat is fixed directly to the cabin floor: rudder and brake pedals are operated with straight legs. 

Although not marketed specifically as a STOL (short takeoff and landing) platform, the Velis requires very little runway to get airborne.

Adam Twidell, 4Air/Directional's director of future flight programs, with Aviation Week' correspondent Angus Batey over the outskirts of Cambridge.

A central display screen shows the state of charge of the two (F/R, front/rear) batteries and a secondary set of indicators shows the batteries' state of health. Both run from zero to 100%, "but when you get to zero, that doesn't mean there's no charge left in the battery," Twidell says. "It just means the company will replace the battery for you." He says that working out how optimize battery life by choosing in what circumstances to re-charge, and by how much, is one of the "fundamental lessons we are learning with this aircraft."
 

Due to its reduced noise footprint, the Velis is allowed to fly lower over populated areas than comparable conventional platforms.

The Velis's very basic nature makes it ideal for an ab initio trainer, Twidell argues. "Even though it's first-generation [electric], it is capable of doing two-thirds to three-quarters of a PPL [private pilot's license]," he says. "Its simplicity is great, because when you're learning to fly your mind is so maxed out that if you can take away engine management, measuring temperatures, pressures ... it's like teaching someone to drive in an electric car."