Stretching a gallon

Pipistrel Alpha Trainer sips fuel

April 1, 2026 By Sarah Deener

It doesn’t take a lot of power, a lot of fuel, or a lot of airplane to learn to fly. The Alpha Trainer, Pipistrel’s 1,212-pound light sport aircraft, burns about 3 gph on 80 horsepower and can take a student pilot from zero hours through commercial training.

The Alpha Trainer has a retail price of 160,000 Euros, not including shipping, assembly, and other expenses such as tariffs. Photo by David Tulis

Production of the Alpha Trainer began in 2012, and Pipistrel says more than 500 are in use around the world. The company’s motorglider heritage is evident in the aircraft’s slim silhouette, 15-to-1 glide ratio, air brakes, gap seals, and expansive windows—and those design elements add up to efficient flight school operations. Pipistrel says the Alpha Trainer cruises at 100 KIAS knots indicated airspeed on 3.6 gph and consumes less than 2.5 gph performing pattern work.

Anthony Nicodemo, aircraft sales manager for Pipistrel Aircraft distributor Lincoln Park Aviation, took me on a demo flight in the Alpha Trainer at Brennand Airport in Wisconsin, 11 nautical miles north of Wittman Regional Airport (OSH), during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh to show how this little trainer can be used to teach stick-and-rudder skills.

The 80-horsepower Rotax 912 UL engine can run on 100LL or unleaded mogas, and a 13-gallon fuel tank in the fuselage gives the Alpha Trainer an endurance of three and a half hours plus reserves. Nicodemo said this airplane has about a 440-pound full fuel payload. The Alpha Trainer is aimed at the U.S. market under current light sport rules, but MOSAIC rules that go into effect in July will allow models with constant-speed propellers, such as the Velis Club and Explorer, to pursue certification in the United States as light sport aircraft category.

To enter, back into the seat and swing your leg over the center stick. Inside, this model has a Garmin G3X Touch primary flight display, multifunction display, GPS, two radios, a backup G5, and an autopilot, a suite of avionics that qualifies it as a technically advanced aircraft. TAAs may be used to meet the aeronautical experience requirements of the commercial certificate in lieu of complex or turbine time, and Nicodemo says this allows pilots to fly in the Alpha Trainer from initial training through the commercial certificate.

Taxiing is straightforward with the steerable nosewheel, and Beringer wheels and brakes are operated by a hand brake in the console. On takeoff, the Alpha Trainer rotates at 45 KIAS, and we stay in the pattern for landing circuits.

“Pretty much every landing is a power-off one-eighty,” Nicodemo says. The Alpha Trainer has two notches of manual flaps, with air brakes that can be set to deploy automatically when the second notch of flaps is lowered. Abeam the numbers, pull the power back and lower the first notch of flaps at 70 KIAS. At 60 KIAS, lower the second notch. Nicodemo says he teaches students to land without the air brakes to give them a good sense of energy management but deploying them will give the airplane an approach path comparable to a more conventional trainer.“Pretty much every landing is a power-off one-eighty.”—Anthony NicodemoFinal approach is between 50 and 55 KIAS. Energy management is especially important, as this aerodynamically efficient airframe is sensitive to any extra airspeed.

“This thing really floats,” Nicodemo says.

Leaving the pattern to the west, we perform a few training maneuvers. Full-span flaperons contribute to adverse yaw in turns, especially in slow flight, but it’s easily countered with light rudder pressure.

“What I like about this is it really emphasizes energy management to the students. And also, it really develops your stick and rudder skills,” Nicodemo says. “You have to use your feet in this aircraft, particularly at lower speeds.”

Like a glider, the Alpha Trainer uses spring type elevator trim instead of a trim tab, but the control forces are so light I find myself forgetting to use trim. During steep turns, I pull too hard on the stick anticipating heavier control forces and gain about 100 feet. During a power-off stall with flaps up, the stall horn chirps incessantly at 43 KIAS, but the stall doesn’t break.

After about an hour of typical training maneuvers—three takeoffs and landings, three low approaches, steep turns, slow flight, and a power-off stall—we land and taxi back to the hangar.

“So, after all that, how much fuel would you say we burned?” asks Nicodemo.

I lowball. “Three gallons?”

“About two,” Nicodemo says.

Pipistrel, which is now a part of Textron Aviation, has earned a reputation for innovation in electric propulsion. But the Slovenian company has been manufacturing motorgliders and ultralights since the 1990s, and its experience in weight savings and efficiency reaps benefits for combustion models, as well. Someday, we may all be flying electric airplanes, but in the meantime, 3 gph is pretty darn good.