John Fife hey thanks merry Xmas!

Merry christmas Jim!

Daniel Helc cheers thanks! Same to you

My empty weight is 357kg. Really depends on what you put in the aircraft, as you said brs, hydraulic prop will add weight, as does avionics, my survey holes added a fair bit of weight as they reinforce significantly around the holes, and I have aux alternator for powering survey gear etc etc, this all adds weight.

@@DarrylZubot Thanks!

Great to hear your interest in the plane. Yeah it is very economical plane to fly. Once you get over the cost of the plane it is cheap to fly. 15L/hr fuel burn, so about $20/hr in cruise. I fly my plane a lot so this does help reduce the hourly cost to run, and airplanes are always happier when they fly more often, you will find higher maintenance costs if you fly less often, seals, hoses will degrade quicker. So I’ve been flying pipistrels for 5 years and in those years I’ve never had a day where I couldn’t fly because of a part I need. Nothing on the pipistrel has failed to stop me from flying, for example, my current pipistrel has cracks forming in the windshield. I just watch them and have a new one on order. You are completely right though pipistrel support in North America is pathetic, the Canadian dealer is awesome but he can only do so much. Getting answers from pipistrel is very slow, unless you directly call them, this is what I do now instead of wait months for a reply, most times they will never reply if you email them. They have a form on their website to report issues or ask for help, you will be waiting half a year for a response if you go that way, best to call them. They are amazing airplanes, just wish their support matched it. You can fit two large bags in the cargo bay, or two paragliders plus sleeping gear :). I flew to Oshkosh with my dad for 7 days camping and we were able to pack two bags each all camping gear needed, plus I had the brs parachute. Sorry if I missed any question you can email me at zairservices@gmail.com

Hey Ondrej sure can answer your questions. I can also tell you that pipistrel north american support is terrible no matter where you live here, it's just as bad in canada. You will wait months for replies from the headquarters, most cases I end up directly calling them because they just don't answer otherwise. The canadian dealer is great however, and the airplane is quite amazing, the hourly rate will vary greatly depending how well you take care of plane, ie preventative maintenance, cleaning/waxing etc. Also will vary depending on your hangar rental fees, insurance costs or how much you chose to cover. But basically I burn $20/hr fuel and the rest is incorporating my expenses. Since I also fly a lot, my hourly rate is lower per hour as well. 1) not a concern, I've flown pipistrel for 5 years now and have never not been able to fly because i'm waiting on parts. I do order stuff in advance which helps. But to give you an example, my door opened up in flight last year and ripped off. I had a new door in one week, and just used plastic to cover the hole until it arrived, it was perfect fit, just bolted it back on. 2) You can fit 2 large paragliders in the cargo bay plus camping gear. I took my dad to oshkosh camping for one week with tent sleeping bags clothes, cabin cover for aircraft (and I have the ballistic chute in my cargo bay). 3) It really depends on the economy, aircrafts typically don't go down much in value unless they are in accident or have high time on the engine. 4)912iS is very powerful on this airplane especially with the constant speed prop you have lots of power even at higher altitudes, power has never been an issue for me even climbing over mountains to 16,000'. At times it would be nice to have turbo above 10,000' for faster climbing. 5) I cruise at 120knots with larger tires on and about 130 with small tires/wheel pants. My plane is a bit slower as it is heavy due to all the mods for survey work.

You can get thicker seats from pipistrel

Robin Cole thanks! Blue Wednesday from iTunes

I have never had to replace but I think it's about $1500 and recommended at 7 years, not by hours by years. I have heard though they changed it now to 10 years repack.

@@DarrylZubot Thanks for the reply! I am debating getting that exact same plane in a partnership with one other person. But was debating between that or an older cessna or a Cirrus. I would assume the cost per hour is much better. If you were a new pilot starting out - would this be one you would recommend?

Think Kindness I guess that depends where you are at in life. If your young and lacking funds then I’d say yes get a Cessna or something cheaper. But if you want to experience what flight is really all about then get a pipistrel. It’s like comparing a tank to a Tesla in relation to how these two different aircraft fly.

Think Kindness the cost per hour is very difficult to figure out. First you have to see how much each aircraft costs up front then what is depreciation of both. Then are you hangaring or not. All of these factors plus much more affect hourly rate. Are you doing maintenance yourself or paying mechanic etc etc etc

these are rich man toys. Budget flying still exists, but this ain't it. (over 200K to buy one new). You can get a decent old C150 with decent times in the $20K range, burns 4.5 gallons per hour... that's poor man flying, cheaper than most hobbies.

hey thanks, my hourly costs are around $40/hr that includes all my expenses and fuel.

@@DarrylZubot I'm surprised your variable expenses are that high... shouldn't burn much fuel. I suspect the vast majority of your expenses are "fixed", regardless of the number of hours you fly? Things like hangar, insurance, annual inspection, and actually purchasing the bird (depreciation). I also suspect your fixed expenses are an aweful lot more than 40 per hour... don't get me wrong, I LOVE this plane. WANT one bad... but my 30K cessna will have to suffice unless I win a lottery

@@MrZrryan2 Hourly costs really varies depending on how many hours you fly the plane in a year. Every hour you fly reduces the hourly cost of the aircraft since hangar fees are fixed as is insurance etc. So in 2018 I flew around 350 hours. $5000 for annual hangar rental, $3000 insurance, $150 for every 100 hr annual, $15-20/hr fuel costs per hour, averaging around $40-45/hr to fly the plane. Although you will run into unexpected costs, such as AD's to replace batteries ($1000 unexpected cost). So when someone asks what the hourly cost of the plane is it's hard for me to say, My cost might be this but for someone else they may have had to replace landing gear prematurely etc which really brings up the hourly cost to fly. Because I use the plane for work I bill accordingly to pay for any unexpected maintenance, ie my windshield now needs replacing at only 3 years old as it's cracking around the rivets, another $1000 bill for me I didn't expect. But I owned a cessna150 before this and found it worse then this aircraft. mainly because you need certified mechanic to do anything on the plane and certified parts. I had a brace that broke which holds the two mufflers together, this part should've cost $50, it cost me over $1200, you'll run into unexpected costs in any aircraft you buy

Darryl Zubot I appreciate how open you are about the costs. I’ve also been looking at planes like the kitfox for low price aircraft but I must admit that the higher speeds of these aircraft would make longer distance travel much nicer. In the end I’m still a long ways away from anything so I’ll just continue with flight sims and wave at you when I see you flying overhead!

Robin Cole if you hit the arrow below video it drops down into. Here it is though www.z-air.ca/store/beautiful-2015-pipistrel-virus-sw-912is-100hp-only-150-hrs-ttsn

@@DarrylZubot I presume since the link above is dead (page can't be found) that the aircraft has been sold. Correct?

I do agree since I’ve used it to save my life

Aircraft sold for $180kCanadian

Hey yes this one is still for sale it’s dropped in price. It’s listed in my website www.z-air.ca

@@DarrylZubot Checking it out on your Website! Keep up the Vids and Stay Safe!

@@DarrylZubot I did not see your airplane for sale on your website. I am curious how much a well equipped 5 year old Virus like yours would sell for? Thank you.

Fred Flintstone sorry! Had to do it haha. Thanks for watching, nope still a pipistrel fan despite the issues.

Hard to blame Pipistrel for an issue thats with Rotax really anyway isn't it? Loving the content still!

I'm not, did you watch the video? It's my friends.