vialumi aerospace

Half the cost per flight hour. Same syllabus.

Vialumi Aerospace builds electric trainers for flight schools. Add a range extender when you need it.

Designed for Part 22 certification, for Part 61 and 141 training operations.

What your fleet could save

2,000-run Monte Carlo
6
700
$7.00
Estimated savings a year across 6 aircraft. Likely range
Piston
vialumi

$/hr direct operating cost, median. Brackets span the 10th to 90th percentile.

Your hours and fuel price are fixed. Extender use, fuel burn, engine and motor reserves, electricity price, battery life and inspection costs are drawn from ranges in vialumi's operating-cost model.

We'll rerun this with your airport's fuel price and your registered fleet. No newsletter.

How this is calculated

Each of 2,000 runs draws one value from every range below, prices a year of flying for a piston trainer and for a vialumi trainer, and divides by hours. The bars show the median run; brackets are the 10th and 90th percentile. Direct operating cost only: no insurance, hangar, or unscheduled maintenance on either side.

Average shaft power, both aircraft
67 to 100 kW
Piston fuel burn, BSFC
0.42 to 0.55 lb/hp/hr
Piston engine overhaul reserve
$10 to $40 /hr
Piston annual and 100-hour
$1,000 to $2,500 and $1,000 to $2,500
Electricity
$0.08 to $0.35 /kWh
Electric motor reserve
$5 to $15 /hr
Battery pack
80 to 120 kWh at $60 to $200 /kWh
Battery life, with recycling credit
400 to 2,000 cycles, -20 to 60%
vialumi annual and 100-hour
$500 to $1,250 and $400 to $600
Hours flown on the range extender
5 to 25%, on Jet-A
Range extender fuel burn and reserve
0.35 to 0.42 lb/hp/hr, $8 to $20 /hr
Jet-A
$5 to $9 /gal

Where the savings come from

Fuel

Electricity instead of avgas

A pattern hour on the battery costs a few dollars of grid power, charged on your ramp. The range extender burns fuel only on the hours you choose to fly with it.

Maintenance

Less to inspect, and designed to be inspected

The airframe is laid out so annuals and 100-hour inspections take fewer shop hours, with built-in diagnostics before the cowl comes off.

Dispatch

The next block goes out either way

Fast-charge 50 to 80 percent in ten minutes on the battery, or refuel the range extender. It comes in a Jet-A or diesel version and a 100LL or mogas version, so it burns what your ramp already stocks.

Electric first. Hybrid when you need it.

Propulsion is always electric. The range extender is a removable pod that can be installed in about ten minutes. With the pod fitted, the aircraft refuels between blocks like any other. Without it, pattern blocks run on the battery with a ten-minute charge between them. Either way, up to eight dispatches a day.

Electric endurance
4 hr
Range with extender
400 nm
Recharge
50 to 80% in 10 min
Extender install
about 10 min
Extender fuel
Jet-A or diesel, or 100LL or mogas
Dispatches
up to 8 a day

Standard on every aircraftAirframe parachute. Shoulder-harness airbags. Climate control. Advanced avionics. IFR capable.

Product family

Trainers for every stage of pilot development, from sport pilot through commercial.

Lead product4seat single-engine trainer
2seat single-engine trainer
4seat twin-engine trainer

Designed for FAA certification under 14 CFR Part 22, supporting Part 61 and Part 141 training operations. Recreational and utility variants to follow.

Want this for your fleet?

Tell us your home airport and we'll rerun the comparison with your local fuel price and your registered fleet, then send back a one-page version you can put in front of your partners, with a link to the simulation tool for any inputs you want to change.

Or write to hello@vialumi.com.