The Pipistrel Velis Electro - callsign MORAY 01 ELECTRIC - during its first training flight at RAF Lossiemouth
The Royal Air Force has taken a small but significant step closer to its ambitious goal to achieve Net Zero operations by 2040, as one of the UK's military flying clubs has begun operating training flights using an electric aircraft.
The Moray Flying Club (MFC), based at RAF Lossiemouth, has added a Pipistrel Velis Electro to its fleet, and operated the type on a training flight for the first time on March 24. The aircraft is leased from NEBOair, a startup working to establish a UK-wide network of electric aircraft charging stations and to promote sustainable flight training. NEBOair has also provided MFC with a virtual reality simulator for the Velis.
"This is a momentous occasion for us as a club and represents a big leap forward into a new world of sustainable aviation, helping Club students learn to fly in a cleaner, greener way," the club's commanding officer, Sqn Ldr David Taudevin, said, following the March 24 flight.
The club offers a range of private pilot license courses to its members, who are drawn from armed forces personnel, their partners and dependants, and defense ministry civilian staff. The MFC hopes to become the first organization of its type to offer "direct carbon emission-free initial pilot training" in the UK.
At the same time as adding the Velis to its fleet, the club has replaced two older aircraft with an Aero AT-3 and a Pipistrel Virus 121SW. Both aircraft use Rotax engines and are capable of flying on lower-leaded fuel than their predecessors, and produce less noise, the club says. MFC estimates that the combined effect of these initiatives will be to reduce emissions by approximately 30%.
"While these innovations are already helping our Club significantly reduce its environmental and noise impact, cutting our direct emissions is only the first step," Taudevin said. "We hope that by sharing our experience with other military and civilian flying clubs we can help drive the recreational flying sector towards Net Zero."
NEBOair was involved in a trial with the RAF in 2021, providing two Velis Electros for a four-month project run by Affinity Flight Training Services as part of a UK defense ministry Sustainable Aviation Pathfinder program. The company has also leased a Velis to Norwich Airport-based charter operator SaxonAir, which has been using the aircraft to try to understand barriers to adoption of electric aircraft. These are considerable. In September 2023, SaxonAir was forced to abandon a plan to fly the aircraft from Norwich to Oxford because they were unable to gain approvals from enough airports to permit recharging en route.
"Some of the airfields we were looking at wanted a risk assessment," SaxonAir CEO Alex Durand said at the time. "The infrastructure in the UK is just not there. There's no regulatory framework, there's no maintenance framework, there's no training framework."
The MFC prices Velis Electro training at £100 ($125) per hour, with hire of the aircraft available to club members at £80/hr. Prices for its conventionally powered aircraft are £170/hr for training, £140/hr for hire.
