From Michael Coates Pipistrel Aircraft Dealer, Aviation Enthusiast and Supporter.
Könnte sofort über den Kanal und zurück fliegen, darf aber nicht, weil Siemens augenscheinlich einen anderen Hersteller bevorzugt. |
© Pipistrel |
Dear Sirs, today, the seventh day of July 2015 could have been a very historic day for world aviation with Slovenian light aircraft manufacturer Pipistrel planning to be the first aircraft powered with an electric motor to cross the English Channel in both directions without recharging. This achievement would cement the very real practicality of electric aircraft flight.
It pains me to write this email to you but I am so disappointed by the bad sportsmanship displayed by Siemens and Airbus that I have no other alternative than to let you know what is happening behind the scenes to stop the Pipistrel's French dealer Finesse Max's historic attempt and aviation adventure.
As you may be aware, the Pipistrel ALPHA Electro aircraft has been in development for more than two years with the aircraft recently receiving certification and is available for sale to aviation markets around the world. The Pipistrel ALPHA Electro is more than a proof of concept aircraft it is an aircraft that has proven already to be the first, real, practical training aircraft in the market and Pipistrel has already received a number of orders from our first excited customers.
The plan today was to make the English Channel flight after the French Pipistrel dealer obtained all the permits and demonstrated the aircraft endurance to the French authorities by testing in France. The Pipistrel ALPHA Electro flew the same course distance overland demonstrating the endurance to cross the English Channel in both directions. Our testing overland demonstrated that we can take off from France, land in England and return to France and still have a remaining 25% battery capacity which validated the safety of this event
It is unfortunate that Airbus managed to flex their muscle with Siemens who are supplying motors to Pipistrel and have the Pipistrel motor agreement immediately terminated. Airbus managed to have this longstanding agreement terminated within hours of finding out about Pipistrel's cross channel plans which had been months in the planning. Siemens in turn requested the immediate seizure of the engine before the channel crossing attempt could be attempted by Pipistrel. It is also interesting to note that whilst the air bus E-Fan project does not use Siemens motors it does have Siemens stickers over the side of their aircraft and it also disturbs me that I have now found out it's the intention of Airbus to fly the E-Fan over the English Channel on Friday making Airbus the first electric powered aircraft to cross the English Channel and receive the notoriety and recognition that comes from this achievement and its important to note, they are only going one way and not a return trip on the same charge!
Obviously this backhanded attempt by Airbus to pressure Siemens to immediately withdraw the engine agreement and stop the Pipistrel attempt can only be seen globally as very bad sportsmanship. It has been mentioned to the Pipistrel dealer in France that Airbus have already invested 500,000 Euro in the Friday event and they cannot take the risk that any other company could be the first and this is why they flexed their muscle with Siemens.
It seems the agreement between Pipistrel and Siemens for using their electric motors in the Pipistrel ALPHA Electro aircraft has been squashed by an aviation giant which in my opinion is straight out bad sportsmanship from a company with very deep pockets and a desire to be first, first, first at any cost. I also feel extremely disappointed for the Pipistrel French distributor and his team who have invested many months preparation into this event only to be hobbled at the very last moment.
Michael Coates.
