AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 63

Pipistrel delivers Textron something no
one else has: a real-life, bona fide, certified
electric aircraft logging flight hours
around the world. It's a proving ground
for foundational eVTOL technologies-
but it also demonstrates the distance
battery technology has to go to achieve
the utility of an avgas-burning airplane.
Textron eAviation officials tout the
Velis Electro as a cost-effective trainer
for pattern work and local maneuvers,
paired with a conventional gas-powered
airplane for cross-country work.
For that purpose, it's a fun little airplane.
Just don't plan on going far.
Power up
Preflight for the Velis Electro trades
fuel sumps and oil dipsticks for battery
and coolant checks. The powertrain,
which was all developed and certified
by Pipistrel, comprises an electric motor,
batteries, and an inverter, and the whole
system is liquid cooled. The E-811 motor
produces 57.6 kW maximum takeoff
power, equivalent to about 77 horsepower.
Two 150-pound battery packs are
housed in the nose and behind the seats,
each with its own cooling system. Check
coolant levels in a sight gauge and verify
no air bubbles are in the lines; feeling
thermal patches confirms there are no
signs of a thermal runaway. Turn on the
master switch and you'll hear the coolant
pump, along with four pulses of the haptic
stall warning.
Startup is anticlimactic, without the
suspense of a cranking starter. Flip four
toggle switches and the propeller is hot; a
nudge of the throttle lever dials up the rpm
like a dimmer switch. Pull back to idle and
the propeller stops.
A digital engine instrument displays
the batteries' state of health as 99 percent,
and at full charge, we're ready to
go. (Takeoff is prohibited at less than 50
percent charge.) The Velis Electro has a
battery endurance of up to 50 minutes
plus reserves, so this flight will be typical
of a Velis Electro training flight: three
landings, a few maneuvers, and back to
the field, planning for 30 percent state of
charge at landing.
Taking off from Runway 1, the Velis
Electro leaps off the ground with light
back-pressure at 50 knots and starts the
climb close to 1,000 fpm at full power.
Demo pilot Kirby Ortega advises me to
pull the power back to the top of the
green, 48 kilowatts, and we fly downwind
at 30 kilowatts and 90 knots. First
notch of flaperons at 81 knots, and we
turn final and extend the second notch
The Velis Electro exists somewhere between the legacy airframes of Cessna and
Beechcraft and the futuristic Nuuva and Nexus advanced air mobility designs.
AOPA PILOT / January 2024
63

AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024

AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - Intro
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - Cover1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - Cover2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 4
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 5
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 6
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 7
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 8
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 9
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 10
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 11
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 12
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 13
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 14
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 15
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 16
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 17
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 18
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 19
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 20
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 21
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 22
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 23
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 24
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 25
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 26
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 27
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 28
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 29
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 30
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 31
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 32
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 33
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 34
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 35
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 36
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 37
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 38
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 39
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 40
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 41
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 42
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 43
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 44
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 45
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 46
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 47
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 48
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - R1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - R2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - R3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - R4
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 49
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 50
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 51
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 52
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 53
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 54
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 55
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 56
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 57
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 58
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 59
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 60
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 61
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 62
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 63
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 64
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 65
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 66
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 67
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 68
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 69
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 70
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 71
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 72
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 73
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 74
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 75
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 76
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 77
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 78
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 79
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 80
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 81
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 82
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 83
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 84
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 85
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 86
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 87
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 88
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 89
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 90
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 91
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 92
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 93
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 94
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 95
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 96
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 97
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 98
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 99
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 100
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 101
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 102
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 103
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 104
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 105
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 106
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 109
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 110
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 111
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 112
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - 113
AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2024 - Cover4
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