Textron has folded its eAviation division three years after acquiring Pipistrel and creating the new entity. In a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, Textron said it was collapsing that division as a reporting arm of the company and absorbing most of it, including Pipistrel, into its main aviation division. The company told the SEC that the move was intended to “enable the business to more effectively leverage the development, manufacturing and sales expertise at Textron Aviation.” Pipistrel will join Beechcraft and Cessna in the aviation division, but it’s not clear if it will be part of either of those brands or stand alone.
The $235 million deal to buy Slovenia-based Pipistrel in March of 2022 raised eyebrows at the time because the brash, free-wheeling style of product development at Pipistrel was in such sharp contrast to Textron’s conservative approach. What Pipistrel had was a certified electric airplane (the Velis Electro) and numerous projects on the go for electric and hybrid drones and aircraft. It’s not clear how the demise of the eAviation division and its assimilation into the main aviation division will affect those projects.
Most of the eAviation division was Pipistrel but a few parts of it will be distributed to other divisions. “Textron eAviation’s manned and unmanned products for military applications and related research and development activities will be included in the results of the Textron Systems reporting segment, which is best suited to provide more direct access to the targeted customer base for these products,” the filing said. “Finally, certain Textron eAviation research and development activities encompassing digital flight control and air vehicle management systems, which we expect will benefit several of our segments, will be reported within Corporate expenses.”
I think most people saw this coming when Textron announced their purchase.
In short, battery-powered aircraft are not in big demand. Why can’t they just state the obvious?
The only thing I see that is “short”, is the sight of those who fail to recognize the inherent advantages of electric propulsion. These days, everything that operates underwater or underground is overwhelmingly electric. Surface transportation is rapidly moving to electric. (Does anyone here not have, or know someone who has, a Prius?) IC aircraft engine development is rapidly approaching an asymptote, whereas electric propulsion (both in motor and battery) is showing continued development.
“Get a horse!” – G.Selden Misegades, 1894
“That contraption will never fly.” – Wilber O. Misgades, 1903
I hate to break this to you, Toots, but a Prius is a hybrid.
I only know one person who owns a Prius. I know a bunch of people who own a Tesla, or other electric car (including myself). But while electric cars are here to stay, the electric airplane is still waiting for that miracle battery breakthrough to truly compete with IC planes.
Rumor Central: I wonder if Textron bought Pipistrel in order to make them unavailable to Airbus, or some other entity.
Sad news. In the last ~15 years, this little pipsqueak company has created and brought to market more light GA innovations than Cessna/Beech/Piper has in the last 50. Watch Pipistrel prices double or more until until civilian sales fall to zero and Textron kills it off for being “unprofitable”.
I fervently hope that Jeff S is wrong. Please, Textron, let Pipistrel continue to design and produce truly great aircraft. Don’t do to them what you did to Lancair/Columbia.
Textron killed the Columbia line of aircraft. I’m not saying they were better/worse than the C182, but definitely more modern. I don’t know if it was impossible for them to compete with the Cirrus, but it feels like Textron didn’t even try. I fear that Textron will bury the Pipistrel line as well because it threatens their legacy aircraft.
I own a Virus SW and parts have almost doubled in price since Textron took over
Textron bought the Panthera. If anyone ever thought otherwise, they’re idiots.
Textron’s issue probably isn’t the engineering, it’s how they sized things up at the start. The C162, C300/400, and eAviation/Pipistrel all looked good on paper but stumbled on cost, timing, and corporate culture.
No big surprise; follow the money… Textron Corporation is run by a bunch of ex-General Electric executives who are all disciples of Jack (Hacksaw Jack) Reynolds. Their interest in aviation is corporate jets, where the “real” money is. GE is well known for buying up promising young companies, rather than innovating on their own. If they can’t see or justify a big profit margin from them, the products are shelved and forgotten. Their other idea is to make sales of replacement parts a profit center, which explains the eye-watering price of parts for legacy Cessna planes.