Shocks Away! RAF To Fly Electric Planes
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on The Times.
The RAF is evaluating the Slovenian-built Pipistrel Velis Electro for use as a training aircraft. I learned to fly in a Cessna 150 and the Pipistrel Velis Electro seems to be a modern reincanation of that and similar classic designs.
- It seats two normal people side-by-side.
- It has a high wing.
- It has a fixed tricycle undercarriage.
- It is built from composites, whereas the Cessna was aluminium.
- It seems to have been carefully designed.
- It has full certification.
I would love to have a flight in one.
As the Danish Air Force are already using the aircraft for pilot training, I suspect that it might suit the RAF.
But then there are quite a lot of battery-electric under development and there may be a better one.
But there is no denying that the Pipistrel Velis Electro is a good aircraft to start the procurement process.
A Flypast Over London
I took these pictures as the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight flew over the City of London today.
The fourth picture shows the area where I was standing on the walkway across the Barbican.
It is a good place to see any flypast that is going over Buckingham Palace, as the pilots use the three distinctive towers to line up for their trip across London. This Google Map shows Central London.
Flypast Route Over London
The Barbican is illustrated by the red arrow and Buckingham Palace is at the bottom left hand corner.
The procedure used by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight was explained, when one of the pilots was the guest of Test Match Special on BBC Radio.
When asked what you do if there is an engine failure, the pilot stated that there is only the Thames.
A Scot Gives His Reason To Say No!
On BBC Television this morning, a proud Scot said that he enjoyed the ceremony last night. For him, one of the uplifting moments was the Red Arrows.
He stated that if the Scots vote Yes, then there could be no more displays north of the border. See where their displays for 2014 are here. Two and last night’s performance are in Scotland.
The Anonymous Widower 