PIPISTREL

Pipistrel is a Slovenian manufacturer of light aircraft, founded in 1989 by Ivo Boscarol, and based in Ajdovščina. The company’s facilities are located in the same town and also near the town of Gorizia, Italy. Pipistrel specializes in the manufacture of ultralight aircrafts, and by March 2019, the company had produced more than 2000 aircraft. In April 2022, the company was purchased by Textron. Pipistrel’s first aircraft was flown secretly in the mid-1980s due to legal restrictions imposed by the Yugoslavian government. The company produced only powered hang gliders initially, and then moved into ultralight aircraft resembling full-sized airplanes when composite materials became more widely used in the mid-1990s. In 2003, Pipistrel moved into a purpose-built facility next to Ajdovščina Airport, and in 2004 released the world’s first side-by-side 2-seat self-launching glider, the Pipistrel Taurus. In 2007 and 2008, Pipistrel claimed two consecutive victories at NASA Centennial Challenges.