Sitting at the end of the runway, with just seconds before getting clearance for take-off, the spinning propeller of the plane I am in sitting in unexpectedly judders to a quick, and ominous, halt.
Sitting next to me, pilot and instructor Adam Twidell, senses my nerves.
“It’s just another thing that is so great about electric planes” he grins. “Unlike a conventional plane which would sit idling and burning fossil fuels, an electric plane just stops and we conserve energy.”
And with that, the propeller starts to whirr once again and we charge down the runway and up into the skies over Surrey.
With just two seats, the Pipistrel Velis Electro is an all-electric powered aircraft designed for pilot training and short hops.
Jonathan Samuels and pilot Adam Twidell
It is the first zero emissions aircraft certified for normal operations. In fact, its only emissions are generated during its construction, maintenance, eventual end-of-life disposal and from the electricity used for charging.
On board it feels remarkably smooth, it is quieter because there is no combustion engine and there are fewer vibrations.
Fairoaks Airport in Surrey now has the UK’s first fossil fuel free flying school.
Student pilot Cameron Taylor is taking the first steps towards his generation flying in a complete fossil fuel free sky.
Cameron believes fossil fuel free flying is the future
Sitting inside the Pipistrel Velis Electro he is being trained to fly, he explains that it is much simpler to control than regular aircraft.
“Regular aircraft have a lot more moving parts, there is a lot more that you have to think about, but with this aircraft there are only four switches that control…
