Pipistrel Says Milestone Is A Testament To The Airplane's Toughness

While there are those who say that LSA aircraft are built too lightly and cannot handle the strain of the training environment, Pipistrel reports that one of their ALPHA trainer aircraft now has 4000 hours as a flight training aircraft.

Located in New Caledonia the aircraft is only 500 feet from the ocean, it's a humid tropical climate and this is where composite aircraft excel in durability compared with their metal cousins.

Flight School "Hibiscus" in New Caledonia got their first Alpha Trainer in July 2014. Immediately they started to offer flight training and sight-seeing flights. The weather and the landscape in New Caledonia are so incredible that it is possible to fly intensely all year round. The Alpha reached 2100 flight hours in just 2 years. We were very happy that during the engine overhaul, the aircraft turned up to be in an excellent condition, despite warm and moist air, salty atmosphere and course flight training lessons with many rough landings.

Hibiscus currently operates 2 Virus SW planes and an Alpha Trainer (which has just passed the 4000 hours mark). In 2017 they upgraded their aircraft with an instrument panel upgrade (installing a Skyview) and continued to fly approx. 1000 flight hours per year in the flight school. Pipistrel says they plan to expand their fleet by another Alpha Trainer in the coming weeks.

(Images provided with Pipistrel media release)

FMI: www.pipistrel.si