Florida Institute of Technology (Florida Tech), a private research university, has become the first American University to own and fly an electric airplane – the Pipistrel Velis Electro!

The plane has not yet received certification in the US and so is flying as an experimental craft!

The first flight was 22 minutes, using about a third of the aircraft’s battery capacity and creating an operating cost of only $1.03.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is in the process of awarding Florida Tech an $85,000 contract to provide data from the first 50 flight hours of the Velis Electro.

Ivo Boscarol, CEO and founder of Pipistrel, said: “Pipistrel will continue to work with the FAA to identify paths to recognize the EASA type-certification in the USA, to allow for commercial operations and pilot training with the Velis Electro – which is already possible in all EASA member states and countries where EASA validations are enabled.”

For more information, kindly contact Florida Institute of Technology.

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