Pipistrel Virus

what is it?

The Pipistrel Virus is a two-seat, single engine light aircraft manufactured by Pipistrel in Slovenia and Italy and sold as an ultralight, homebuilt kit, glider, or light-sport aircraft. Introduced in 1999 and based on the design of the Pipistrel Sinus, the Virus has been produced in a number of variants with different engines, wingspans, and undercarriage configurations. It can be equipped with a full airframe emergency recovery parachute system.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 engine · 10.7 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 283 km/htop speed
• range 1,450 kmwithout refuelling
• size 600 kgmax take-off weight
• built 1,000made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 27 years ago, in 1999.
• 🏎️Top speed is 2.2× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 10.7 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🌍Range of 1,450 km: 8× Amsterdam to Brussels.

spec sheet

first flight

1999

introduced

1999

status

in production

number built

1,000

role

general aviation aircraft

origin

🇸🇮 Slovenia

makers

Pipistrel

engines

1× Rotax 912 ULS

length

6.5 m

wingspan

10.7 m

height

1.9 m

max take-off weight

600 kg

top speed

283 km/h

cruise speed

273 km/h

range

1,450 km

ceiling

6,800 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.