AeroInnovate would like to congratulate Team Pipistrel for its win at the Green Flight Challenge! The Google Green Flight Challenge Exposition hosted by NASA was held on Monday, October 3rd, 2011. At this year’s Green Flight Challenge, the largest prize to date of $1.35 million was given to Pipistrel for its ultra-efficient electric plane.
Pipistrel is a Slovenian aviation company that was founded in 1987. For starting out as making only hang-gliders, this private aircraft producer sure has made electric aviation dreams possible with its continued work and research that could change the future of flight forever.
Team Pipistrel flew its Taurus G4, which is the first fully electric 4-seat aircraft to take flight. To qualify for the challenge, each competitor needed to be able to fly 200 miles at 100mph in less than 2 hours while using less than 1 gallon of fuel per passenger during the flight.
The Taurus G4 not only succeeded, but exceeded expectations by completing the flight using only half of a gallon of fuel per passenger! The future of electronic aircraft is a bright one, and we look forward to seeing what else Pipistrel has in store.
