As usual, a google on
panthera vh-bel
digs out interesting stuff, like at this URL (how did google find it, given that that server has directory listing privileges correctly disabled? – it must have appeared somewhere else, like here) is the Australian CofA and this
So it went to Australia, it seems, at one point, anyway.
My guess would be that it’s never left the Slovenian factory, but prior to delivery the owner was able to wangle an Australian Experimental Exhibition C of A without it actually being there, for planned use in Europe where it could not readily be registered. Now S per the advert the owner has moved “to another continent” (presumably Asia) which is an unsuitable area for operation and needs to abandon the purchase. Who knows for sure.
The operating limitations do not on the face of it look onerous, although it would be interesting to see what if any generic limits “Experimental Exhibition CASR 21.91 (d)” may add that aren’t explicitly spelled out in the Annex to the C of A.
Seems to me regardless that the only market would be sale for export to Australia. It could probably also be put in Experimental Exhibition in the US like the one that’s already been imported.
There are two now for sale on Planecheck.
The Australian one and I believe one with Slovenian registration, possibly a factory demonstrator?. Both are experimental.
I wonder if the Australian one is up for sale as the perspective owner got caught up in the Covid situation.
It’s good to see two of these having left the factory.
Either Pipistrel are building them for real, or they have dropped the aircraft totally and have decided to raise 1M or so by selling the two prototypes. Does anyone know?
I suppose Australia is a bit like the US in the sense that 99+ % of GA never needs to leave the country, and in the case of Australia probably doesn’t want to due to all the water 
Mooney_Driver wrote:
I wonder if the Australian one is up for sale as the perspective owner got caught up in the Covid situation
That’s another possibility. The sellers website shows that he’s trying to ‘condo-ize’ an island vacation resort in the Philippines, selling it off room by room, which would imply that tourism to the resort stopped. The website also says that he will fly you to the resort to have a look – which would have been interesting if he was planning on using an aircraft in Experimental Exhibition for that purpose. A photo of a Panthera is shown, my guess in reality he uses a C182 or similar.
I found the video by Paul Bertorelli linked above very nice. I really love the Panthera for many reasons, such as aesthetics, engineering and design refinement, top build quality and its apparently excellent manners ( I mean handling, stalls, landing)
Pipistrel deserve credit for showing the world the ultimate limit of drag reduction for a 4 seater airplane. This is the yardstick…
Despite 260 HP, it does not do 200 knots, ever, it will not carry 4 people and luggage 1000 NM – in fact its performance is on par with what a Cirrus SR22 would most probably achieve if they would make an RG version (12 knots faster as it stands now). The Cirrus is bigger, has 20% more horsepower but it also has TKS on the leading edges and a very very robust engine cooling setup… so no matter how you twist it – same league.
From this perspective it is a sobering finding – the science of propeller aircraft hitting a hard wall… No amount of CFD or clever carbon fiber curves helps break the laws of physics.
In my opinion, the Panthera has all of the boxes ticked to make a big dent in Cirrus’ domination once it is FIKI certified.
It simply looks great and it will stand out on a ramp far more than any of the new colour schemes from Cirrus.
It will appeal to the younger, because its cockpit is not as accessible and comfy, but definitely more stylish.
If Cirrus is the BMW then the Panthera is the Aston-Martin… Maybe James could fly a gunmetal-metallic one one inverted at 10 ft above a villain Hummer ?
If I were Pipistrel, I would pitch the certified version at the same price as a comparable NA SR22 and use the margin to boost customer experience.
If they only sell say 20 planes per year in the US initially and make 100K extra per plane, they can inject $2M in two VIP delivery centers.
I am genuinely grateful to Pipistrel. These people are truly making aviation advance…
but I will keep my Extra 400!
Am I the only one wondering what this aircraft could’ve been if it instead had been designed around the Rotax 915 iS. Sort of like a Sling TSi but with super slick aerodynamics. It would of course need to drag along an even lighter airframe as well as less fuel and payload, but the engine alone accounts for almost 115 kg less weight and I expect an airframe built to mount a radically smaller engine would also be lighter in other ways, such as a lighter engine mount and other structures being lighter due to the rest being overall lighter, ie. the engine causing a weight-shedding spinn-off effect. Of course being limited by keeping it a realistic 3,5-4 place aircraft. Also, with the 915 one could get away with maybe a 120 litre fuel capacity?
I’m dreaming of something like 160+ KTAS at 30-35 litres per hour (8-9 GPH) with 3 adults or two adults and 1-2 kids and light weekend bags. Reading the reports of what the Sling TSi already achieves with an obviously not quite as slick design and fixed gear, this doesn’t sound all that crazy…? Wouldn’t this be sufficient for most cruising as well as being so efficient as to almost make any messing with alternate propulsion tech redundant?
Am I the only one wondering what this aircraft could’ve been if it instead had been designed around the Rotax 915 iS. Sort of like a Sling TSi but with super slick aerodynamics. It would of course need to drag along an even lighter airframe as well as less fuel and payload, but the engine alone accounts for almost 115 kg less weight and I expect an airframe built to mount a radically smaller engine would also be lighter in other ways, such as a lighter engine mount and other structures being lighter due to the rest being overall lighter, ie. the engine causing a weight-shedding spinn-off effect. Of course being limited by keeping it a realistic 3,5-4 place aircraft. Also, with the 915 one could get away with maybe a 120 litre fuel capacity?
I’m dreaming of something like 160+ KTAS at 30-35 litres per hour (8-9 GPH) with 3 adults or two adults and 1-2 kids and light weekend bags. Reading the reports of what the Sling TSi already achieves with an obviously not quite as slick design and fixed gear, this doesn’t sound all that crazy…? Wouldn’t this be sufficient for most cruising as well as being so efficient as to almost make any messing with alternate propulsion tech redundant?
The Panthera has made it on the cover of this month’s AOPA mag with a flight review and an 8-page inside spread. Apparently the airplane is offered in the US in the Experimental Exhibition category at a base price of around $ 600k. There is at present only one dealer, in Florida.
P2006T? :)
Almost there… 34 l/h, 150kts
