WE FLY: PIPISTREL PANTHERA
Flying|June - July 2021
PANTHERA: THE SCIENTIFIC NAME FOR THE CAT GENUS THAT INCLUDES TIGERS, LIONS, JAGUARS, COUGARS AND LEOPARDS.
ROB MARK
WE FLY: PIPISTREL PANTHERA

Automobiles with gull-wing doors are rare. For me, a Mercedes-Benz 300SL immediately comes to mind. Aircraft with gull-wing doors—such as the Cessna TTx and Socata Trinidad—are even rarer still, so when I first saw the Pipistrel Panthera from a distance at Chicago’s Waukegan National Airport (KUGN), I knew this airplane was something special. The company’s heritage of gliders and drones built for minimum drag and maximum glide capabilities deserves a nod.

As I gently pulled open the Panthera’s gull-wing door and slipped into the front seat, I also realized that pilots who buy one of these won’t simply climb into the cockpit as much as they’ll wear the Panthera like a sort of superhero suit. It’s formfitting but with comfort like that of a well-designed sports car. Aircraft control is handled via dual control sticks between the pilot’s and front passenger’s knees.

The Panthera’s main doors are hinged at the top of a 6-inch-wide bar that runs fore to aft over the center of the 47-inch-wide cockpit. There’s a separate center-hinged door on the left side for rear-seat passengers. Gently pull down the doors, and the view becomes truly impressive— because other than the center post, all the pilot sees is the great outside, from straight-ahead to nearly the tail feathers and even above. The nose is long when viewed through the raked windshield, which could be a problem for the most vertically challenged aviators to see over; the seats move very little fore and aft. Those seats are beautiful, though, with integrated headrests. The seats don’t recline, however, because they are already canted back.

Esta historia es de la edición June - July 2021 de Flying.

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Esta historia es de la edición June - July 2021 de Flying.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.