Visit to the Pipistrel Factory

[provoshane]

My wife and I visited the Pipistrel factory in Slovenia in late August, 2012. We had ordered a Virus SW100 and wanted to tour the factory while ours was in manufacture. The staff is quite knowledgeable and easy to talk to. The factory is well laid out, and immaculate. The person providing us with the tour mentioned that the owner of the company, Ivo Boscarol, wanted the floors kept so clean that you could eat off them, and while I would not go so far as to trust that you could, there is no doubt that the whole place is as clean as an aircraft manufacture plant could possibly be.

Mr. Boscarol spent about half an hour with us personally, and it was a pleasure to meet him. This plant, a jewel that the small country of Slovenia clearly wants to show off, provides all of its electricity via solar arrays, and in fact, sells back its excess to the Slovenian government. It also provides its own heating and cooling via solar and thermal heating and cooling supplies.

We did get to see the prototype of the new Panthera aircraft, Pipistrel's foray into the 4 place, high performance piston aircraft arena. For obvious reasons, they would not allow pictures, but suffice it to say that I was briefly tempted to change my order and wait the several years before it will reach production

I had been flying a Virus Light Sport for over 6 months before touring the factory, so I was well familiar with Pipistrel's performance and reputation. Having visited this factory, I came away even more satisfied with my selection of aircraft. If you have the opportunity, I can say it was well worth the trip.