PIPISTREL PANTHERA
African Pilot|March 2024
My first encounter with the Pipistrel Panthera was when visited AERO Friedrichshafen about four years ago where the first prototype was on display. Whilst admiring the sleek shape of the Panthera, my thoughts were that this aircraft is fast very fast, even whilst it was standing on its undercarriage legs on display.
PIPISTREL PANTHERA

The good folks at Pipistrel allowed me to climb into and settle down in the left front seat so that I could obtain an idea about how this unique ‘sports car like’ amazing high-performance single engine cruiser would fly.

Unique four-seat cruiser with an attractive design and efficient  performance

Imagine an aircraft that can fully take advantage of small, short-runway airfields that bring you closer than ever to your destination or fly around the world and open a whole new world of opportunities. Panthera is an airplane that is carefully designed to keep you safe, comfortable, being at the same time quiet and friendly to the environment. It is an innovative airplane, which instantly catches attention. Panthera has been designed from the very beginning to be available with either electric engine, hybrid propulsion or petrol engine. In this case, Pipistrel decided for Mogas fuel due to lower price and availability in several parts of the world when compared to Avgas. (Utilising the Lycoming IO-540V-V4A5 engine for both Mogas or Avgas consumption).

Innovation 

Panthera is designed by applying the most modern design and construction techniques, on top of 30 years of knowledge, experience and excellence in building aircraft. Panthera’s organic curves are a product of optimisation through advanced, in-house developed computer tools, where each detail is designed to ensure minimum drag and maximum efficiency.

This story is from the March 2024 edition of African Pilot.

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This story is from the March 2024 edition of African Pilot.

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