A pilot’s first solo flight is one of the most exciting milestones in their aviation training. Imagine achieving this with flight training using only an electric plane. Catherine Check made Canadian electric aviation history on 18 December 2024. She is the first person in Canada to complete her initial flight training, from initial lessons to her first solo flight, exclusively in an electric aircraft. Every entry in her logbook proudly records the Pipistrel Velis Electro as her aircraft of choice.
Catherine chose to learn to fly at Sealand Flight in Campbell River on Vancouver Island. Sealand developed the electric flight training program by adapting the Pipistrel training program to local conditions and received Transport Canada approval to train students from the first lesson to the solo stage in the Pipistrel Velis Electro. This training is part of a Transport Canada evaluation program that is considering approval of the Velis Electro for flight training across Canada. It builds on the experience that Waterloo Wellington Flight Centre (WWFC) and the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Aeronautics (WISA) gained in 2023 when five University of Waterloo aviation students did the conversion training for conventionally trained pilots to add e-plane skills and then flew over 100 Velis Electro flights.
At Sealand, Catherine progressed quickly as she went solo after just 9.7 hours of dual training in the Velis Electro. For comparison, the concentrated Air Cadets summer program aims to have pilots go solo after 14 hours of flight training, but some take longer. When student pilots train over several months, as Catherine did, they often require 20 hours to go solo.
Ian Lamont, Catherine’s flight instructor and the Chief Flight Instructor at Sealand Flight, remarked, “She certainly learned very quickly and retained the knowledge and skills.” Ian did his electric flight training in Slovenia, where the Velis Electro is manufactured. Since returning, he has trained other instructors to have electric aviation training skills and to build local electric training capacity.
Nancy Marshall, the General Manager at Sealand Flight, decided to purchase the Pipistrel Velis Electro to cut emissions from training and to offer new technology as an alternative to the conventional trainers used for pilot training across Canada.
“We have to prepare our students for the future and not keep training them with obsolete equipment. The principals of flight, and flight training won’t change, but the aircraft designs are changing daily; we don’t want Canadians to be left behind. Cessna 172s, the most popular training aircraft, were first produced before Catherine’s grandparents were born.”
The new technology may also reduce the cost of pilot training. The e-plane’s lower fuel and related costs enabled Sealand to offer an attractive Electric First Solo Course in 2024 for a one-time payment of $3404, before taxes. The course includes 16 hours of flight time at $100/hr and 22 hours of flight instruction (including flight time and ground briefing) at $82/hr. Pay-as-you-go options are available at a higher hourly rate. The package may appeal as an affordable entry into electric aviation that should take the student to the first solo experience.
Canada’s first electric solo symbolizes the great promise that the future holds both for Catherine and for electric flight training across the country.