This news item is an excerpt from one that previously appeared in the Daily Bulletin.
The Sustainable Aeronautics Summit at Waterloo Region International Airport heralded the call by leaders in industry, government, and academia to create innovative sustainable aeronautics futures on Wednesday, 5 October 2022.
Two days later, the University of Waterloo demonstrated its commitment toward the sustainable aviation goal with the arrival of the first Pipistrel Velis Electro in Canada.
The Velis Electro is the first, and currently only, type certified electric plane in the world with European Union (EASA) certification granted in 2020 and UK certification in 2022. Next, we want to see how it will perform under Canadian conditions. Principal Investigator, Paul Parker, and co-investigators, Suzanne Kearns and Mehrdad Pirnia, a faculty member in Management Sciences, share the desire of industry partner, Bob Connors from Waterloo Wellington Flight Centre, to bring a new generation of innovative technologies to aviation and successfully applied for Canadian Foundation for Innovation funding to acquire the Velis Electro for testing. The Region of Waterloo contributed toward the charger as they support lower carbon emissions from airport activities.
Working in cooperation with Transport Canada and Pipistrel, the team hopes to provide test results to gain Canadian certification for the eplane so that commercial electric aviation will become a reality in Canada. Following a successful research program and certification, industry could adopt small eplanes widely across the country. Waterloo Aviation students could be among the first to benefit, both from lower emissions during their programs and the advanced skills essential for sustainable aviation futures.
Read the full article here.