AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2016 - 46

PANTHERAS WILL have all-composite
construction with T-tails, winglets,
and gull-wing doors.

WE'RE TALKING ABOUT AN AIRPLANE THAT CHALLENGES THE
PERFORMANCE OF THE CESSNA TTX, CIRRUS SR22, AND BEECHCRAFT BONANZA
A36-USING A FOUR-CYLINDER ENGINE WITH 90 FEWER
HORSEPOWER, WHILE CONSUMING SEVEN OR SO FEWER GALLONS PER HOUR.
10 gph, the airplane tooled along at a very
respectable 182 KTAS. At this rate, with the
Panthera's 55-gallon-capacity tanks topped
off, it could easily cover some 800 nautical
miles with reserves in still air.
This should get everyone's attention.
What we're talking about is an airplane
that challenges the performance of the
Cessna TTx, Cirrus SR22, and Beechcraft
Bonanza A36-using a four-cylinder
engine with 90 fewer horsepower, while
consuming seven or so fewer gallons per
hour-and offering a full-fuel payload of
870 pounds. The unknown factor is price,
which Pipistrel has yet to determine for
this variant of the Panthera, which may be
marketed as an Experimental, amateurbuilt airplane beginning in 2016.
Slowing down the Panthera in preparation for landing requires a bit of work.
You have to really dial back the power to
reach the airplane's 105-knot VFE, and then
go to the first notch of flaps and lower the
46 | AOPA PILOT January 2016

landing gear. I had to add a shot of power
to maintain the recommended 90 knots for
the entry to base leg, and even more power
after going to flaps three (full flaps) to hold
80 knots down final. I was told to hold 80
knots to the threshold, go to idle over the
numbers, and flare as usual. Nothing fancy
about the touchdown-the trailing-link
landing gear made it easy.
It may have been my first-timer's
unfamiliarity with the airplane, but in
the tradeoff between low-airspeed handling and cruise performance, it certainly
seems as though the designers optimized
those wings for efficient cruising. However,
slow-deceleration stall behavior was
conventional, with no sharp breaks or tendencies to suddenly drop a wing.
The Panthera demonstrator is in high
demand, so after my flight Job Snel of iFly-
Pipistrel's dealership for Luxembourg,
Belgium, and the Netherlands-took it
away for a 10-day promotional tour.

Despite the prototype's rave reviews, its
future is cloudy. Lycoming has said it will
discontinue the IO-390, a mogas-capable
engine that Pipistrel originally was counting on for the Panthera. This has prompted
Pipistrel's famously busy and innovative
engineers-the company has won three
NASA Green Challenge awards-to come
up with no fewer than three other future
paths for the Panthera airframe.
The one of most interest to the U.S. market is a more powerful Panthera, propelled
by a 260-horsepower Lycoming IO-540
engine. It will be certified in 2017 under
FAR Part 23, Pipistrel says, and the price
is currently set at 460,000 euros (about
$493,000 as of mid-November 2015).
Although heavier and thirstier than the
IO-390, the -540 will turn in better climb
performance, as well as cruise speeds at
55-percent power that will match the
IO-390 airplane's advertised 187-knot
high-speed cruise. At 75-percent power
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2016
