Increased Sales and Investment Enkindle Broadened Ambitions

Over the 12-months since EAA AirVenture 2022, Elixir Aircraft has established itself as a leading manufacturers of flight-training aircraft. Sales orders, investment in the company, and hiring are all on the rise as global awareness of Elixir’s efficient, safe, and technologically-advanced aircraft offerings increases.

In 2023, the average age of conventional single-engine piston training aircraft is 49-years. Every passing day sees approximately three such aircraft scrapped as they senesce beyond practical maintenance and upkeep. What’s more, for every three scrapped, only one new legacy-model general aviation training aircraft is produced and registered. In short, the world’s need for pilots greatly exceeds the number of airworthy training aircraft.

Elixir co-founder Cyril Champenois set forth: “Elixir has seen monumental growth since last years’ EAA AirVenture. On the sales side, we have added dozens of aero clubs, flight schools, and private pilots to the Elixir family. There are too many to list all, but include the Airbus Flight Academy, Mermoz, and other Flight Training Organizations (FTOs) in countries like Luxembourg, Italy, and New Zealand, with many more to come.”

Mr. Champenois added: “In America, Sierra Charlie Aviation ordered more than one-hundred Elixir Full Glass Cockpit one-hundred-horsepower aircraft. Florida-based Cirrus Aviation also increased their order to ten aircraft. This is in addition to other pre-orders received from other Americans. Moreover, we are hoping to receive FAA Part 23 certification soon so we can start to deliver these aircraft to our U.S. customers.”

In addition to robust sales revenues, Elixir’s growth has been driven by numerous investments, the most recent of which was a €13-million grant deriving of a financing package totaling €40-million. The funds are being applied to Elixir’s industrialization.

Elixir co-founder and president Arthur Léopold-Léger remarked: “Elixir is focusing on production with a goal of producing more than three-hundred aircraft a year. This will be capable due to the soon-to-be-built highly energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly 150,000-square-foot factory at our current home of La Rochelle, France.”

Mr. Léopold-Léger expounded: “The plant is expected to employ over one-thousand people by 2033. In the United States, Elixir aims to operate a final assembly and maintenance facility at Sarasota Bradenton Airport (SRQ). The first hangar will be occupied in 2024, then adding the new neighboring hangar the year after. We need to hire hundreds of Americans for this facility over the coming months and years.”

The EASA CS-23 certified single-engine T-tail monoplane currently offered by Elixir is available in two iterations: a Rotax 912 iS-powered trainer, and a Rotax 915 iS-equipped traveler model. Both machines feature spin-resistant designs comprising variable main-wing angles of incidence which ensure the aircrafts’ wing-roots stall prior to their wing-tips—thereby affording Elixir pilots aileron authority even in conditions of aerodynamic stall.

Elixir further appoints its aircraft with explosion-resistant fuel tanks; reinforced oleo-pneumatic tricycle landing gear; double-slotted electric flaps; high-performance Beringer wheels fitted with hydraulic differential disc-brakes and armored hoses; flight-data recorders; and a GI260 Angle of Attack (AoA) indicator and Smart Glide—a system intended to aids pilots in loss-of-engine power emergencies by automating tasks, thereby reducing pilot workload. Specifically, Smart Glide recommends suitable landing airports within a distressed aircraft’s engine-out glide range—as estimated by GPS. Paired with avionics such as a GTN Xi series and a compatible autopilot, Smart Glide automatically engages autopilot pitch control to maintain best glide speed while simultaneously navigating the aircraft to the selected emergency airport.

In the event of catastrophic emergency, Elixir aircraft are fitted with Ballistic Parachute Recovery Systems (BPRS) deployable up to the two models’ respective Vne speeds.

Elixir Aircraft invites AirVenture 2023 attendees to visit the company’s displays at booth 356.

FMI: www.elixir-aircraft.com