Aviation, as with many other sectors, is struggling to transition to net zero. But it has found a new champion: a 10-year-old Australian girl taking to the skies in an all electric trainer plane.
Amy Spicer says she knew from an early age she wanted to fly – and she’s still not yet in high school.
“I was 2-and-a-half when I first said I wanted to. I was seven when I had a first flight, and I think I was eight in a glider and I took lessons when I was about eight turning nine,” she said.
The young aviator was at Jandakot Airport in Perth, Western Australia, for a flying lesson in a Pipistrel Alpha Electro, an all-electric two seater training aircraft, making her possibly the world’s youngest pilot of an all-electric aircraft.
“Today I flew the Pipistrel Electric which, like in the name, it is one of the few electric planes that I know,” Amy said.
“It (Australia) doesn’t have many airports with a charge point at the moment but there are going to be more built. And I’m very proud to be able to help the future of aviation by lessening carbon emissions and flying electric,” she said.
The aircraft is the operated by FlyOnE, who teach pilots and are campaigning for emissions-free flight in Australia.
“The electric aircraft of now are modest on range but that doesn’t make them unusable. They’re flying for up to an hour and certain air spaces, under certain conditions, which means that we can do quite a lot of pilot training in electric aircraft now and second and third generation aircraft will start to service the commercial air transport network,” said Korum Ellis, founder of FlyOnE who is campaigning to extend the network of airport charging points for electric aircraft.
The Spicer family have recently moved from Queensland to Western Australia so Amy can attend a school that offers flying lessons to pupils.
Western Australia has plans to become a hub for electric aviation with 3 airports already offering charging, and Kununurra-based airline Aviair introducing electric Vertical Take Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft for tourism and air experience flights in 2025.
Amy, who addressed this year’s Women In Aviation Summit in California, has been invited to visit Aviair’s operation. Just the next step for a young pioneer with a bright future ahead of her, who says she hasn’t had all her own way.
“In grade 4 some of the boys used to be very mean to me saying that ‘you can’t fly before you get a driver’s license’, but you actually can fly a plane, legally, before you get a driver’s license.”
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