Pipistrel

Pipistrel d.o.o Ajdovščina is a Slovenian light aircraft manufacturer established in 1987 by Ivo Boscarol and based in Ajdovščina, and was the first private aircraft company in Yugoslavia. Due to legal restrictions imposed by the Yugoslavian government during the 1980s on flying alternatives and ultra-light aircraft, the first aircraft was flown secretly in the evening, between dusk and dark. The flying times and shape of the hang-glider style wings earned the aircraft the nickname "bats" which was adopted by the company naming themselves after the Latin word for bat, pipistrellus.