Pipistrel Taurus

{{Short description|Slovenian self-launched two-seat microlight glider}}  {{Infobox aircraft | name = Taurus | logo = | logo_size = | image = Pipistrel Taurus I-8599.jpg | alt = | caption = | long_caption = | other_names = | aircraft_type = Self-launching sailplane | aim = | outcome = | related = | national_origin = Slovenia | manufacturer = Pipistrel | design_group = | designer = | builder = | issuer = | status = In production | owners = | primary_user = | more_users = | service = | major_applications = | proposals = | prototypes = | number_built = | construction_number = | civil_registration = | military_serial = | radio_code = | requirement = | aircraft_carried = | flights = | total_hours = | total_distance = | construction_date = 2002-present | introduction = | retired = | first_flight = 2004<ref name="timeline">{{cite web |title=Pipistrel Timeline |url=https://www.pipistrel-aircraft.com/about-us/history/ |website=Pipistrel Aircraft |access-date=26 April 2020 |archive-date=6 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200406211346/https://www.pipistrel-aircraft.com/about-us/history/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> | initiated = | in_service = | last_flight = | expected = | developed_from = | variants = DLR HY4 | developed_into = | preservation = | fate = | predecessors = | successors = | concluded = }} The '''Pipistrel Taurus''' is a Slovenian self-launched two-seat microlight glider designed and built by Pipistrel.<ref name="leisure" /><ref name="KitplanesDec2011">Vandermeullen, Richard: ''2012 Kit Aircraft Buyer's Guide'', Kitplanes, Volume 28, Number 12, December 2011, page 65. Belvoir Publications. ISSN 0891-1851</ref><ref name="WDLA11">Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 136. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485X</ref>

The Taurus Electro was announced in 2007, and entered into service in 2011, becoming the first electric 2-seat aircraft in serial production available on the market.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pipistrel: The green sky |url=https://plugin-magazine.com/driving/pipistrel-the-green-skry/ |website=Plugin Magazine |access-date=27 April 2020}}</ref><ref name="AvWeb15Feb11" /><ref name="electroG2_first" /><ref name="ElectroHomeNew">{{cite web|url = https://www.pipistrel-aircraft.com/aircraft/electric-flight/taurus-electro/|title =Taurus Electro |access-date = 22 June 2020|author=Pipistrel|author-link=Pipistrel|work = pipistrel-aircraft.com|archive-url = https://archive.today/20200622131129/https://www.pipistrel-aircraft.com/aircraft/electric-flight/taurus-electro/|archive-date =22 June 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Development==

In June 2001, Pipistrel began the development of the Taurus as one of the first self-launched gliders in the microlight category.<ref name="timeline" /> The design used the wings of the Pipistrel Sinus with a new two-seat side-by-side fuselage.<ref name="leisure" /> To enable the Taurus to self-launch, a pop-out propeller is mounted on the rear fuselage driven by a Rotax 503 piston engine.<ref name="leisure" /> In 2007 the company developed the '''Taurus Electro''' with the piston engine replaced by a permanent magnet synchronous three-phase brushless motor.<ref name="KitplanesDec2011" /><ref name="electro" />

By 2011, Pipistrel had delivered 100 aircraft of the Taurus family.<ref name="timeline" />

==Operational history== In 2010, the Taurus Electro was awarded the gold medal at the Slovenian Biennale of Design (Bienale industrijskega oblikovanja) BIO 22 "due to its supreme beauty and advanced technologies (...) in a design where form truly follows function in the most aesthetically pleasing way".<ref name="bio22">{{cite web |title=BIO 22 Awards |url=http://www.bio.si/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=24&Itemid=120&lang=en |website=BIO |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101023083516/http://www.bio.si/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=24&Itemid=120&lang=en |archive-date=23 October 2010}}</ref>

In AERO Friedrichshafen 2011, the Taurus Electro received the Lindbergh Electric Aircraft Prize for "best electric aircraft". The prize recognized the Electro's “plug and play” electric power system, enhanced by solar panels on the aircraft trailer that allow the system to recharge using clean energy.<ref name="lindbergh">{{cite web |title=Lindbergh Prize Goes To Pipistrel |url=https://www.avweb.com/news/lindbergh-prize-goes-to-pipistrel/ |website=AvWeb}}</ref>

In September 2011, the Taurus G4 won the CAFE Foundation's Green Flight Challenge, covering 403.5 passenger miles per gallon gasoline equivalent with two people on board, and receiving the $1.35 million prize donated by NASA.<ref>{{cite journal |date=January 2012 |title=Those magnificent men in their green flying machines|journal=Pilot|page=28 }}</ref><ref name="wiredG4">{{cite web |title=Electric Airplane Wins $1.35 Million Prize From NASA |url=https://www.wired.com/2011/10/electric-airplane-wins-1-35-million-prize-from-nasa/ |website=Wired}}</ref><ref name="nasaG4">{{cite web |title=Green Flight Challenge |url=https://www.nasa.gov/offices/oct/early_stage_innovation/centennial_challenges/general_aviation/ |website=NASA |access-date=2020-04-27 |archive-date=2020-08-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810062635/https://www.nasa.gov/offices/oct/early_stage_innovation/centennial_challenges/general_aviation/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Variants== ;Taurus M (Taurus 503) :Original variant powered by a Rotax 503 pop-up internal combustion engine.<ref name="KitplanesDec2011" /><ref name="WDLA11" /> Since the discontinuation of the Rotax 503, the model has been marketed as Taurus M, but still equipped with the remaining original engines. ;Taurus PureGlider :Unpowered variant without engine fitted. It flew for the first time in 2006.<ref name="timeline" /> ;Taurus Electro :Variant with a Sinedon {{convert|40|hp|kW|0|abbr=on}} electric motor replacing the piston engine; first flown in December 2007.<ref name="KitplanesDec2011" /><ref name="WDLA11" /><ref name="electro" /> Pipistrel claims it was the first two-seat electric aircraft to have ever flown.<ref name="electro_announce">{{cite web |title=First {{sic|Annou|cement:|nolink=y}} Taurus ELECTRO |url=http://www.pipistrel.si/eng/news/725 |website=Pipistrel Aircraft |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081215053035/http://www.pipistrel.si/eng/news/725 |archive-date=15 December 2008 |date=21 December 2007}}</ref><ref name="electro" /> Two units were produced. ;Taurus Electro G2 :Updated version of the Electro for series production, introduced in 2011. Powered by a {{convert|40|kW|hp|0|abbr=on}} electric motor and lithium batteries.<ref name="electro" /> Powered endurance is 17 minutes, intending to allow for self-launching<ref name="AvWeb15Feb11">{{Cite news|url = https://www.avweb.com/news/pipistrel-launches-electric-motorglider/ |title = Pipistrel Launches Electric Motorglider|access-date = 17 February 2011|last = Grady|first = Mary|date=February 2011| work = AvWeb}}</ref> to an altitude of {{cvt|2000|m|ft}}, after which the engine is retracted and the aircraft then soars as a sailplane. It is the first two-seat electric aircraft to have achieved series production.<ref name="electroG2_first">{{cite web |title=Taurus Electro - Overview |url=http://www.pipistrel.si/plane/taurus-electro/overview |website=Pipistrel Aircraft |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110902225034/http://www.pipistrel.si/plane/taurus-electro/overview |archive-date=2 September 2011}}</ref><ref name="ElectroHomeNew"/><ref name="Arts_Electro-first">{{cite web |title=A journey through the history of electric aircraft – It is almost half a century since the first manned, electrically propelled flight |url=https://arts.eu/journey-through-the-history-of-electric-aircraft |website=Arts.eu |access-date=29 April 2020}}</ref> [[File:Pipistrel Taurus G4 take-off at 2011 Green Flight Challenge.jpg|thumb|The Taurus G4 taking off from the Sonoma County Airport in California]] ;Taurus G4 :One-off twin fuselage, four seat version, based on the Taurus Electro and acting as an engine development test bed for their forthcoming Panthera four seat hybrid. It has a {{convert|150|kW|hp|0|abbr=on}} motor mounted on the central wing section between the fuselages. ;Taurus HY4 : Within the EU-funded Hypstair program over three years till 2016 and followed by Mahepa project from 2017, EU-funded over four years, the dual-fuselage, four-seat, battery-powered G4 received a DLR hydrogen fuel cell powertrain to fly as the HY4 in September 2016, with hydrogen tanks and batteries in the fuselages, fuel cells and motor in the central nacelle. Partners are German motor and inverter developer Compact Dynamics, Ulm University, TU Delft, Politecnico di Milano and University of Maribor. In September 2023, the HY4, operated by DLR spinoff H2Fly, completed the world's first piloted flights of an electric plane powered by liquid hydrogen, with one flight lasting over three hours.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.msn.com/en-gb/travel/news/h2fly-s-hy4-completes-first-ever-piloted-flight-of-liquid-hydrogen-powered-electric-plane/vi-AA1gTiE0|title=H2FLY's HY4 Completes First-Ever Piloted Flight Of Liquid Hydrogen-Powered Electric Plane|date=19 September 2023|website=www.msn.com}}</ref>

==Specifications (Taurus M) == {{Aircraft specs |ref=Manufacturer<ref name="taurus " /> |prime units?=met  |genhide=

|crew=one |capacity=two (crew plus one passenger) |length m=7.30 |length ft= |length in= |length note= |span m=14.97 |span ft= |span in= |span note= |height m=1.41 |height ft= |height in= |height note= (2.70 m, propeller extended) |wing area sqm=12.33 |wing area sqft= |wing area note= |aspect ratio=18.6 |airfoil= |empty weight kg=285 |empty weight lb= |empty weight note= |gross weight kg= |gross weight lb= |gross weight note= |max takeoff weight kg=472.5 or 550 |max takeoff weight lb= |max takeoff weight note= |fuel capacity={{convert|30|L}} |more general=  |eng1 number=1 |eng1 name=Rotax 503 |eng1 type=two-stroke, two-cylinder piston engine |eng1 kw= |eng1 hp=53

|max speed kmh=130 |max speed mph= |max speed kts= |max speed note=with flaps extended |cruise speed kmh= |cruise speed mph= |cruise speed kts= |cruise speed note= |stall speed kmh=63 |stall speed mph= |stall speed kts= |stall speed note=with flaps |never exceed speed kmh=225 |never exceed speed mph= |never exceed speed kts= |never exceed speed note= |range km= |range miles= |range nmi= |range note= |endurance= |ceiling m=3900 |ceiling ft= |ceiling note= |g limits=5.33, -2.65 |roll rate= |glide ratio=41:1 |climb rate ms=2.9 |climb rate ftmin= |climb rate note= |sink rate ms=0.7 |sink rate ftmin= |sink rate note= |lift to drag= |wing loading kg/m2= |wing loading lb/sqft= |wing loading note= |power/mass met= |power/mass imp= |power/mass note= |thrust/weight= |thrust/weight note= |more performance= |avionics= }}

==See also== {{aircontent  |see also= |related= |similar aircraft= |sequence= |lists= *List of sailplanes }}

==References==

===Notes=== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name="leisure">{{cite journal | title = World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2004/2005 |journal= World Directory of Light Aviation|publisher = Pagefast Ltd, England | year = 2004 | page=156 |issn = 1368-485X}}</ref> <ref name="electro">{{cite web | title=Pipistrel - Taurus Electro is flying | url=http://www.pipistrel.si/news/739| publisher=Pipistrel | access-date=2009-12-26|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090207062235/http://www.pipistrel.si/news/739|archive-date = 7 February 2009}}</ref> <ref name="taurus">{{cite web | title=Pipistrel Taurus - Technical Data | url=http://www.pipistrel.si/plane/taurus/technical-data | publisher=Pipistrel | access-date=2009-12-26|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110906015933/http://www.pipistrel.si/plane/taurus/technical-data|archive-date = 6 September 2011}}</ref> }}  {{refbegin}} {{refend}}

==External links== {{Commons category}} *{{official website|https://www.pipistrel-aircraft.com/aircraft/gliding/taurus-m/}} Taurus M *{{Official website|https://www.pipistrel-aircraft.com/aircraft/electric-flight/taurus-electro/}} Taurus Electro

Category:2000s Slovenian sailplanes Taurus Category:Motor gliders Category:Mid-wing aircraft Category:T-tail aircraft Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft Category:Single-engined piston aircraft Category:Aircraft with retractable bicycle landing gear