On Tuesday, Textron eAviation announced it will loan a Pipistrel Velis Electro to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., where it will be showcased for the next three years. Textron acquired Pipistrel and the Velis for $235 million in 2022.

“This contribution represents a major milestone in actively promoting sustainable aviation technology to educate the next generation of aviators, while also strengthening our position as leaders in reducing the industry’s impact on the environment,” said Kriya Shortt, president and CEO of Textron eAviation.

The Velis Electro, winner of the 2021 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Aircraft Design Award, will be a unique addition for the museum, which largely features aircraft that no longer fly.

It received European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) type certification in 2020, becoming the first electric aircraft in the world to reach the milestone. In March, it earned a light sport aircraft (LSA) exemption from the FAA, opening up flight training using electric aircraft in the U.S.

In 2021, flight school Florida Tech became the first in the country to own and fly (in the experimental category) an electric aircraft when it purchased the Velis. The following year, a student pilot flying the model became the first in the U.S. to earn a pilot private certificate in an electric airplane.

Even the U.S. military is interested in the aircraft—last year, AFWERX, the innovation arm of the Air Force, picked the Velis for its Agility Prime aircraft development and flight test program. The initiative seeks to uncover military applications for commercial designs that have yet to hit the market.

Soon, members of the public will have the opportunity to see the Velis Electro up close and personal at the National Air and Space Museum’s upcoming exhibition next year.

“As we endeavor to tell stories about innovations occurring right now in aerospace, Textron eAviation’s loan of a Pipistrel Velis Electro allows us to explore the topic of sustainability efforts in aviation,” said Roger Connor, a curator at the museum.

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Compare 1969, and the launch of Apollo 11 to 2020, and the successful docking of the crewed Dragon Endeavor with the International Space Station. Both milestones in the push that the United States made into space happened against similar backdrops of racial protest. The Smithsonian Institution has called upon its various member museums to delve more deeply into these connections, to provide context to the history. The National Air and Space Museum has joined this effort through several recent stories and blogs.

In doing so, the NASM invites a greater exploration into the diverse perspectives offered by those who approached aviation with passion and persistence—and against the backdrop of challenges driven solely by the color of their skin. These stories serve as lessons in perseverance and genius worth studying in their own right.

For just one example: Dive into the story behind aircraft designer and pilot Neal V. Loving, who also launched the first all-black Civil Air Patrol squadron, before building his first airplane, a tiny race plane called the WR-1. This special airplane would become Loving’s Love, famous to members of the Experimental Aircraft Association, as it hangs in the EAA Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Loving’s illustrious resumé puts him alongside Curtis Pitts and Frank Christensen—by way of Wayne State University and the Flight Dynamics Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

While the main National Air and Space Museum on the Mall in Washington, DC, and the Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles, Virginia, remain temporarily closed to in-person visits, a virtual visit through such stories can have its own rewards.

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