Do Electric Planes REALLY Work?! I tried one and here is what I think.

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A few weeks ago I had the chance to try out the Pipistrel Velis Electro at Green Flight Academy in Skellefteå, Sweden.
It was super interesting to actually try this technology for real and see how good it was.

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[wormyboot]

Your guest was honest and didn't sugar coat anything in a way I really appreciated.

[CommentLikeDescribe]

As an American aviation enthusiast, I really appreciate being able to listen to two Swedes speak in perfect English about this kinda technology. Thank you folks for creating such interesting content in a non-native language. Truly impressive.

[janhanchenmichelsen]

This is interesting to me as a Norwegian. Due to mountains, vast tundra plains and the many fjords, there is an extensive network of short runway airports with subsidized flights, especially up north. The flights are often very short, like the 55 nm flight from Lofoten to Bodø, but this is (in this example) the alternative to a long, very expensive ferry trip over open ocean or a 8-9 hour drive. Just to mention one example. The Norwegian Aviation Administration and a commercial airline company do explore the possibilities for electric aircrafts on such short routes, even more as the Dash 8 machines used today are often sparsely booked. Also, there is a project intending to develop seaplanes (floating hulls) on the route Bergen-Stavanger, from city centre to city centre. Passenger capacity around 10, one pilot. This is a short distance plane route, but a close to five hour drive with heavy road tolls. As the whole flight is close to water, any fjord or lake can serve as an emergency landing spot. Still, this is far in the future.

[h-j.k.]

I flew microlite for many years and this reminds me of the pioneering that went into such flight in the early years. To me it seems that battery power is ideal for the first few lessons where you don´t want to be overwhelmed by all sorts of tec-checks and can concentrate on actuell flying. Wish this would have been around 20 years ago.

[ChrisBigBad]

No leaded fuel, no mufflers omitted or needed. Very nice.
Thanks for going green Petter!

[rikschaaf]

It's a minor detail, but I really like how you stabilized the footage on the horizon for the main camera and on the cockpit for the pilot camera. This reduction in movement really helps prevent people get motion sick when watching the video! 👍

[mikezerker]

Excellent content Petter!! This is the first video I’ve seen of an electric plane actually in flight! Thank you for sharing and asking the questions that we all have!

[markosdelaportas]

As an electrical engineer I can't stretch enough how fascinating this is! As an avgeek I shouldn't even get started!!!

[xavierw.]

That was particularly interesting Petter. Green Flight Academy is very honest in its appreciation of how such an airplane fits within a training program > at this time its fillls the requisites of one stage, one only, but seems to do a great job at it.
I'd be interested to see other sustainability choices made elsewhere, so feel free to takes us along ! Thank you again Petter.

[alans]

Thank you. For me, that was one of your best ever videos. Im really interested i sustainable aviation (so that was fascinating) but to see you evaluating a new aircraft and hear your views on it was just great. And you didn't shy away from asking difficult questions about battery faults, life, complexity. Just great. I look forward to when you can work another such flight into your busy schedule.

[myth-n-myhem]

Seeing the enthusiasm Petter has when flying, especially when a new experience is awesome and keeps me following!

[rockandrollstevesteve]

Thank you for doing this. I wondered about how these flew and it's nice to get the input of a professional pilot

[SwedishVFR]

It’s incredible to see them flying above our city, you barely hear their electric planes. Such a difference compared to our 1984 piper pa28. That one you could defined hear!

[luischica]

I absolutely adore this video because it resonates deeply with my passion for aviation. Having worked as a helicopter mechanic for a remarkable 21 years, I've always harbored a burning desire to soar through the skies myself. Although I managed to accumulate a few hours of flight time in a Cessna 172, I recently decided to challenge myself by taking lessons on an ultralight aircraft. However, I must admit that transitioning to a stick control felt incredibly unfamiliar and I experienced a sense of forgetting everything I had learned. Nevertheless, your candid discussion about your own lack of stick flying experience served as a powerful motivator for me to persevere on this journey.

[benwittman]

As both a private pilot and someone who cares very much about the climate I deeply appreciate your video! The mantra from many in the aviation community is "electric airplanes will never work, let's keep burning the kerosine and avgas". Per your excellent and clear-eyed video, it's true that current battery density is only capable of sustaining short flights in small aircraft, yet here is a perfect example of what CAN be done. Yes, it's a beginning, but it's a cost effective climate friendly beginning, in a town that runs primarily(judging from your video) on green energy. Humanity has always been best served by people who look at a problem and figure out ways of moving forward, not by those who remain entrenched in the past.

[murlock]

Really enjoyed this! When it comes to Electric aviation, I cant think of anyone I'd rather have show me the tech and how it is improving over time. Thank you. You are a great ambassador for flying!

[jeremyscherbert]

You can see the joy in his eyes while flying this thing. Not useful for most uses, but you can tell he still wants one 😅

[thetowndrunk]

The joy in your face, after a good landing, is priceless, Petter. Awesome to see. Flying is the one thing that never gets old.

[alex]

I tried to fly one last year, it was very interesting. I remember that I was very surprised by how much it was gliding on final and it was pretty tricky to stay on the correct glide path. The VFE flaps 2 was very close to the approach speed too. But Overall a very interesting concept demonstrator. I hope that we will have more of these in the coming years for flyingclubs and flight schools.

[EricBishard]

Sweden is so beautiful. What a great video, and I'm so jealous of those who get to live and learn to fly in this area of the world. My first flight was however in the Bay area, I got to fly over Alcatraz and the Golden gate, so that was a great experience, but Sweden is just so pretty.