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Our 2021 Roundup Of Light Twin Aircraft

Isabel Goyer and Mark Phelps — Wed, 07 Jul 2021 13:17:47 +0000

Even as late as 35 years ago, twin-engine aircraft occupied a special place in the world of light aircraft. There were more than two dozen models on the market, and the launch of an exciting new model was an important moment for the plane’s manufacturer. Pilots of every experience status north of absolute beginner were candidates to buy a twin, and buy them they did. The Piper Aztec, Twin Comanche and Seneca, the Beech Travel Air, the Barons models 55 and 58, the jaunty high-spirited Duke and the lower-cost Duchess were all popular models. Cessna, with its uber-popular 310 (and derivatives), the cabin-class pressurized 421 Golden Eagle and the 340, among a handful of others, filled the market to bursting, along with the oddball but very popular 337 push-pull twin.

In 1979 alone, U.S. manufacturers delivered 2,843 piston twins, the high watermark for the decade, during which American plane makers never delivered fewer than 1,000 piston twins in any given year.

The reason was not just that these planes offered the security of a second engine, though that was their primary selling point. Other big draws were combinations of a twin’s often-higher speeds, greater hauling capacity and larger cabin.

One can debate the safety merits of twin-engine light aircraft vis-Ã -vis single-engine models endlessly, and just such a debate has, indeed, been ongoing in our community for the better part of a century. But for much of the earlier part of that conversation, there were a few assumptions about twins that were later called into question.

The first is that big one, that twins are safer, an assumption called into question back in the 1970s by a few somewhat informal studies that concluded that twin-engine safety was largely a myth. The reason was hiding in plain sight. With a single-engine airplane, when an engine (the only one) quits, you’re going to land somewhere, somehow. But in a twin, the argument has always gone, you get to keep on flying. Unfortunately, that has not always led to brochure-worthy outcomes. The loss of an engine in a twin is especially dangerous when the engine goes on takeoff or climb out. If not handled quickly and properly, these engine failures usually result in an unsurvivable rolling crash into terrain or airport buildings.

That’s why so much of the initial and recurrent training we do in twin-engine aircraft is with one engine caged. Twin-engine pilots need to learn how to respond to such emergencies by second nature because the time it takes to think things through when your twin loses an engine at low altitude is usually not fast enough to survive the failure.

So, the argument goes, given that singles don’t have such a critical failure mode, and given that relatively few fatal accidents are caused by the loss of the single’s one powerplant, one’s odds might just be better in a single than in a twin, at least in that regard. Then again, the counterargument goes, all of the engine failures in twins that result in a safe landing somewhere never make it into the accident statistics, so the lives saved by that second engine are certainly greater than we know or have ever known.

Many of today’s twin-engine aircraft, however, are safer in design in a number of ways from earlier models. Counter-rotating props eliminate the problem of one of the engines being more dangerous to lose than the other. Some new models feature full digital authority engine control (FADEC) and will automatically feather the prop (align the blades with the airflow for minimum drag on the dead engine). And all new-production twins feature more crashworthy structures than were required in the glory days, so some crashes are more survivable today.

There are, as you are doubtless aware, fewer than 10 twin-engine models in current production, some of those built in very small numbers. Piper did not sell any of its once-popular Seneca models last year, and Beech sold 15 Barons. Worldwide, twins accounted for fewer than 100 sales, and that has been the case for nearly 20 years now.

Twins still have their fans. Buyers of Beech Baron G58s and Diamond Aircraft DA-62s are shelling out well over a million for one of these gems, and they do so not only because they believe in the additional redundancy, performance and utility these planes offer, but also at least in part because multi-engine aircraft ownership still carries with it a level of status on an altogether different plane.

—Isabel Goyer

Textron Aviationâs Beech Baron has a long and distinguished history as the crown jewel among light twins. It seems counterintuitive that such a legacy design would still be among the top performing in its class, with a high-speed cruise of better than 200 knots, 1,480-nm range and a useful load of 1,559 pounds. That performance comes at a price, however. That price is both monetary (the most expensive twin on this list, by far) as well as in empty weight. With full fuel, the Baron is limited to two passengersâ worth of useful load.

All that is because the Baron in 2021 is still virtually hand-built with robust, expensive materials. Its timeless handling qualities came about as much by instinct as by slide-rule calculations, all springing from the original 1947 V-tail Bonanza, from which the basic wing and control geometry of the Baron is derived and remains unchanged.

With 21st-century Garmin G1000 NXi avionics and cabin amenities that would make a Lexus passenger feel right at home, Barons can keep up with the most advanced modern twins in mission flexibility and passenger comfort. The 300-hp Continentals on the wing burn a combined 36 gallons per hour at cruise for an endurance of around four and a half hours. And at the end of the flight, the rock-solid handling and pothole-proof landing gear give the well-practiced Baron pilot assurance of a safe, smooth arrival.

The Baron certainly isnât the top option for all light-twin buyers, and with only eight delivered last year, one wonders how long the assembly line lights in Wichita will stay on. Other than Lufthansa in the 1970s and â80s, they have probably never been used as trainers. But for the owner-pilot who savors flying hours like vintage wine, there is simply no substitute.

Base price: $1.495 million

John Armstrong of LifeStyle Aviation, North Americaâs top dealer for Diamond Aircraft for the last four years, is a firm believer in strong-arming the general aviation industry in the direction of Jet A-burning piston engines. That includes the pair of 170-hp Austro AE300s occupying the aggressive-looking nacelles on the wings of the DA42. Austro engines that power Diamond aircraft not only burn universally available jet fuel, he says, but they do it more efficiently and with a lower carbon footprint than avgas-consuming engines.

âWhy would anyone choose to fly behind a 1940s-tech engine with mechanical fuel injection and magnetos?â he asked. âThe future of aero engines is in automotive-derived designs, and the FADEC-controlled Austro engines are 21st century tech, based on Mercedes car engines.â

Armstrong believes aircraft buyers are more attuned to this today than when Diamond first introduced the diesel engines. âCustomers would ask us where would they get âdieselâ fuel. Now, most aircraft buyers understand that the fuel for our engines is much more available around the world than leaded avgas. Diamond has been focused on jet-fuel-burning engines for 14 years.â

Comparing Diamondâs line with the competition, Armstrong also notes the DA42âs high-aspect-ratio wing and composite construction as further examples of forward thinking from the Austrian-based OEM.

The four-place DA42 comes standard with Garmin G1000 NXi avionics, a three-axis GFC700 autopilot and a yaw damper. It also comes with a TKS anti-icing system and a high-end leather interior. Max cruise is 197 knots, and regular fuel burn is only 10.4 gph total. With the 74-gallon long-range tankage, the DA42 has 795 nm of range.

Also a darling of the flight-training community, the DA42 is widely used as a multi-engine trainer. Last year, Diamond delivered 62 overall. Armstrong sums up why he thinks that is: âYou get the safety of a twin that burns less fuel than a single, and you can get fuel anywhere.â

Base price: $887,900 (2020 price)

If the four-seat DA42 is the âsport model,â that puts the larger Diamond DA62 in the âflying SUVâ category. The seven-place DA62 fills its nacelles with FADEC-controlled, turbocharged 180-hp AE330 engines burning 11.8 gallons per hour. They motivate the family-size twin to a 192-knot cruise speed for a range of 1,283 nautical miles. Useful load is 1,568 pounds.

The DA62 also features Garminâs upgraded G1000 NXi avionics package, along with the same TKS ice protection system found on the DA42. Also as in the DA42, the interior is upholstered like a luxury sedan, with unique two-three-two seating for seven. Panoramic windows give all passengers a great view of the outside, which helps cut the risk of motion sickness.

Diamond offers a wide range of color schemes for the DA62, or buyers have the option of designing their own. Also, like all Diamond models, the DA62 is eligible for the companyâs factory PistonPower hourly-cost maintenance program. A staple of the business jet industry, âpower by the hourâ programs provide budget predictability by charging a fixed rate per hour for maintenance coverage.

Base price: $1.135 million

Piperâs sole remaining twin (there are no plans to build Senecas in Vero Beach this year), the Seminole is a true survivor. First offered in the late 1970s (then with just 160 ponies per side), it has served university flight programs, dedicated flight academies and mom ân pop flight schools well for decades. And owner-pilots sprinkle the roster of Seminole operators as well, especially those who regularly fly where youâll go for a long swim if your single engine packs it in. A feature well-liked by owner-pilots, the T-tail Seminoleâs counter-rotating engines help mitigate the danger of loss of control after a takeoff engine failure. The two-blade Hartzell constant-speed scimitar props are full-feathering.

New for this year in the Seminole are fuel-injected Lycoming IO-360 B1G6 engines as standard, flat rated at 180 horsepower each. Last yearâs Aspen standby displays have been replaced by the Garmin G5, complementing the Seminoleâs Garmin G1000NXi main avionics suite. Also now standard is Garminâs GTX345 ADS-B In/Out transponder.

Piper calls on the âtried and trueâ character of the Seminole in its brochure, noting that pilots have learned the rudiments of multi-engine flying in them for generations. And with upgraded avionics, amenities and powerplants, the company is confident that many more generations to come will do the same.

Production of Seminoles took a long holiday last year along with the rest of us, dropping from 40 in 2019 to 22 in 2020. And it should be noted that the Piper marketing team makes the point that its published pricing is straight up and âreal-world.â

Base price: $794,116 (standard equipped)

With 22 delivered last year (COVID-reduced from 40 in 2019), the Tecnam P2006T might look like an unlikely success story. Born of light sport technology, the super-light Italian Rotax-powered twin puts the lie to the âtwo engines are automatically more expensiveâ theory, challenging the single-engine Cessna 182âand even the 172 Skyhawkâfor fuel and maintenance economy. Tecnam U.S. Director of Sales Shannon Yeager (a great family name for anyone in aviation) said, âYou can overhaul both engines for less than what youâd pay to overhaul a Skylane engine, and they burn less fuel.â In fact, Yeager calculates overall operating costs as on par with those of a Cessna 172.

In case you think the P2006T must be anemic and underpowered for a four-seater, consider that normal climb rate is 1,140 feet per minute (standard conditions). Shut down one of the engines, and you can still expect 212 fpm, comparable with most other light twins. Single-engine service ceiling is 7,000 feet.

Yeager said with their Garmin G1000 NXi avionics, P2006s are regularly used for civilian transition training for ex-military pilotsâespecially rotary-wing pilotsâsince they can concurrently qualify for their fixed-wing multi- and commercial ratings at operating costs comparable to those of a Skyhawk.

âAll the speeds match up with what you use in a C-182,â he said. âNinety [knots] on approach; 80 in the pattern; 70 on final.â Knowing all that, it might not come as much of a surprise to learn that sales of Tecnam P2006Ts are split roughly 50-50- between flight schools and private owners. With a pair of battle-tested, 2,000-hour-TBO Rotax 912 S3s, who wouldnât want to do 150 knots in a twin for the same cost as flying a Skyhawk? Especially for someone whose regular routes overfly large tracts of wet stuff.

Base price: $440,000

Definitely a niche player in the light-twin market, the P68 is a follow-on to Italyâs 1980s-vintage Partenavia series. But if it fits the mission, the P68 could be the ideal airplane for the job. The Partenavia was, perhaps not surprisingly, designed by Luigi Pascale, who also drew up the Tecnam P2006T.

Florida-based U.S. distributor of Vulcanair products Mike McMann said most Vulcanair sales worldwide these days are to government or para-public agencies. In fact, the clear-nose variant of the 1980sâ P68 (sometimes referred to as a âfixed-wing helicopterâ) was ideal for missions such as border patrol, law enforcement, pipeline patrol, wildlife managementâanything involving a mission where high visibility is required.

If your requirement includes an agile, well-proven utility piston twin, look him up and give Mike a call.

Base price: $869,000

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Four-Seat Piston Singles Round-Up

Isabel Goyer and Plane & Pilot — Wed, 14 Aug 2019 17:16:12 +0000

For reasons that are both easy to understand and completely counterintuitive, the four-seat, piston-powered airplane has, for decades, dominated the GA marketplace. And it continues to do so, even though the number of pilots who buy these planes as a transportation tool has slowed dramatically, mostly in lock step with the slowing of the overall GA piston market. The tens of thousands of personal planes sold every year in the ’60s and ’70s, the true heyday of flying in the United States, has turned into fewer than a thousand planes in a good year, and the two dozen or more available models have shrunk to just a handful.

That four-seaters should be the prototypical GA ride makes sense to pilots—but to few others. Considering that most flights go out with one or two occupants (including the pilot), it seems a two-seat alternative would make sense. I’ve thought so for years, but the market was never developed for such a runabout. This is surprising because two-seat planes, like the Van’s RV series, dominate the kitbuilt market and have for decades. Not so in the Part 23 world.

Last year, GA manufacturers worldwide turned out 1,139 piston-powered planes. In the US, manufacturers of piston planes delivered 829, including 771 singles. Of those singles, 380 of them were Cirrus SR22s or SR20s, and 160 of them were Cessna Skylanes, Skyhawks or TTx (a single delivery).

For its part, Piper Aircraft delivered 114 four-seaters in 2018. So those three manufacturers—Cessna, Cirrus and Piper—accounted for all but 87 of the piston singles sold. Sales of six-seat (or larger) piston planes need to be factored in, as well. Piper sold 20 M350s (formerly the Mirage) and Beech handed over 15 G36s.

Internationally, it doesn’t get any more crowded. The top seller among other companies was the Diamond DA40, with an impressive (but still modest by historic standards) 45 deliveries. The bottom line is that recent sales of four-seat models are scant, and those sales are dominated by a few companies.

Moreover, the profile of the customers putting cash on the cowling for four-seat planes has shifted tremendously, as well. In the ’60s and ’70s, though it’s hard to come up with firm numbers, most four-seat piston planes were marketed and sold to private owners. That still happens in some instances, especially in the case of Cirrus Aircraft, which targets affluent pilots looking for high-tech personal transportation. The two other major players, the Textron Aviation Cessna Skyhawk and the Piper Aircraft Archer, are overwhelmingly sold to flight schools.

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There have been a couple of departures from our last roundup of four-seat planes. Textron Aviation pulled the plug on the critically acclaimed but slow-selling TTx (formerly the Columbia, among other names), and it ended production of its problematic diesel-powered 172 JT-A. Piper announced this spring that it was no longer producing its four-seat retractable landing gear Arrow model, though the company acknowledged that it could and likely would restart production if a substantial fleet order materialized.

Another major change in the marketplace is the drying up of the piston-single retractable gear market. Beech sold 15 Bonanzas, and Mooney sold seven each of its Ovation Ultra and Acclaim Ultra, and that was about it. There are a couple of emerging retractable-gear models. The Pipistrel Panthera has been inching toward certification for a few years now—is this the year it gets it done? —and Diamond’s exciting DA50 retractable-gear single is looking as though it might get the company’s attention after sitting on the back burner for the past several years. Both planes are included at the end of this roundup as being on the horizon, thought if you’ve been in aviation very long, you know that the horizon is usually much farther away than it looks.

The other big wild card in this whole four-seat equation is the Part 23 rewrite—I guess we’ll have to come up with another term that now it’s been rewritten. These liberalized certification standards have been adopted but not put into practice much. As such, the new FAA standards will allow manufacturers to wrangle approval for their light planes by using industry consensus standards, much the same way as it’s done in the LSA world but with more FAA oversight. Will these changes result in more Part 23 four-seaters (or any other type, for that matter)? We’re just not sure. But in the LSA segment, this certification approach has resulted in an impressive number of new designs.

Lastly, there remain two big stumbling blocks for the return of the four-seat market to anything resembling its former glory. First, and most obvious to the consumer, is that these new planes are expensive, not just in dollar numbers, but even when adjusted for inflation and other factors. Second, the manufacturers aren’t getting rich on these planes, either. Everything they use to build these planes, including the labor, is more expensive, too.

One ray of hope is, ironically, the aging of the piston fleet. With the introduction by Garmin and a few others of game-changing avionics retrofit options for owners of older planes, which is a lot of us, there’s suddenly new life for these planes. That doesn’t mean they’re getting any younger though, just that they’re more useful to us for a while longer. But the truth is, the supply of decent used planes is shrinking, and they cost a lot to maintain. There’s nothing we can do about either of those things.

There’s also the subject of electric power. The dream of having small planes that run on battery power is great, but it’s not happening anytime soon. Four-seat planes are about twice as heavy as two-seaters, and battery power doesn’t make much sense on two-seaters, yet. Until there are major breakthroughs in battery storage capacity and/or weight, electric flight will remain more science experiment than practical solution.

Some of the four-seaters that remain in production, however, are impressive examples of how new technology can successfully breathe life into great, old designs. Cessna’s high-wingers spring to mind. Others, like the Cirrus piston singles, are new airplanes, relatively speaking at least, and show that innovation can actually create new markets.

Click the button below to see our lineup of production Part 23 four-seat singles. Enjoy.

Cirrus SR22 G6/SR22T

Okay, the Cirrus SR22 isn’t really a four-seater—it’s a four-/five-seater, but we’ll allow it since the plane’s general configuration is identical to other recent Cirrus models, but with extra room inside to add a third, smaller backseat passenger. It’s a good thing we’re counting them, too, as the SR22 is the most-produced light plane in the world. It’s not the fastest piston single in the skies—that distinction belongs to the Mooney Acclaim Ultra, but the SR22 is the most technologically advanced model available, with its built-in whole-airplane recovery parachute system, optional known ice protection, excellent exterior lighting and much more. It’s also the bestselling single in the world once again, despite a steep price of around $900,000 with all the bells and whistles. The latest model, the SR22 G6, has the Garmin G1000 NXi avionics suite, which was rare when Cirrus launched its G6, but is now in just about every new model. NXi is great, but Cirrus takes it several steps further with its Perspective keyboard controller which, with practice, cuts down on pilot workload and eases operation. The SR22 is available in a normally aspirated or turbocharged version, though most buyers go with the turbo. That would be our call, too, as the blower allows the plane to achieve its best true airspeeds when you head up to the mid-teens, where we spend most of our time when we’re flying the plane.

Niche: Premium fixed-gear transportation plane.
Bragging Points: The chute, great styling, outstanding visibility and excellent cross-country performance, high style and excellent visibility.
Tradeoffs: Premium price point, control feel that leaves something to be desired, less-than-best-in-class speed.
Base Price: $539,900; $639,900
Price Typically Equipped: $950,000
Competitors: Mooney Acclaim Ultra, Mooney Ovation Ultra
Fun Fact: Cirrus offers trade-up programs for pilots looking to up their game in an SR22 and later transition to the SF50 Vision Jet.

Specs SR22; SR22T
Main Construction: Composite
Engine/HP: Continental IO-550-N/310 hp; Continental TSIO-550-K/315 hp
Propeller: Hartzell, 3-blade, composite, constant speed, 78 diameter; Hartzell, 3-blade, composite, constant speed, 78″ diameter
Avionics: Cirrus Perspective+ By Garmin (Garmin G1000 NXi)
Top Cruise Speed: 183 kts; 213 kts
Stall, Landing Configuration: 60 kts; 60 kts
Max Range: 1,118 nm; 1,021 nm
Max Takeoff Weight: 3,600 lbs.; 3,600 lbs.
Payload (full fuel): 798 lbs.; 716 lbs.
Useful Load: 1,330 lbs.; 1,248 lbs.
Takeoff/Landing Distance: 1,082 ft./1,178 ft. (groundroll); 1,517 ft./1,178 ft. (groundroll)

Mooney Acclaim Ultra

Mooney is back in business, and its latest models offer huge improvements in comfort and utility, while taking nothing off the eye-popping speed numbers. The Mooney Acclaim Ultra is different than previous Mooneys because it has two doors—one on each side. Construction is very similar to previous sheet-metal Mooneys, with the exception of the forward fuselage section being composite, which allowed the company to add a door and make both doors substantially larger than previous portals. As a bonus, the windows are also lower for better overall visibility. How fast is the Acclaim Ultra? As they say in Beantown, it’s wicked fast, to the tune of 240-plus knots fast. To get that speed, Mooney pairs its slick aerodynamics to a 310 hp turbocharged Continental TSIO-550. The Acclaim Ultra is now standard with the Garmin G1000 NXi, so owners can get all the latest avionics goodness. In all, the Acclaim Ultra is a four-seat single that’s faster than any other plane in its segment, has FIKI ice protection as an option and is more comfortable than ever.

Niche: Premium retractable-gear personal transportation plane.
Bragging Points: Best speed in the world, greatly improved interior, comfortable seats, tremendous range.
Tradeoffs: It’s smaller inside than an SR22 or TTx, and the gear adds complexity, weight and, down the road, maintenance.
Base Price: $769,000
Competitors: Cessna TTx, Cirrus SR22
Fun Fact: The Acclaim Ultra can trace its roots back to the original Al Mooney-designed M20 of 1955, with a wood wing. It’s come a long way since then, but it’s still built in Kerrville, Texas.

Specs
Main Construction: Composite
Engine/HP: Continental TSIO-550-G/280 hp
Propeller: Hartzell, 3-blade, metal, constant speed, 76″ diameter
Avionics: G1000 NXi
Top Cruise Speed: 242 kts
Stall, Landing Configuration: 56 kts
Max Range: 1,100nm (45-min. reserve, standard tanks)
Max Takeoff Weight: 3,368 lbs.
Payload (full fuel): 384 lbs.
Useful Load: 1,000 lbs.
Takeoff/Landing Distance: 2,100 ft./2,650 ft. (50 ft. obstacle)

Mooney Ovation Ultra

When Mooney got back into business several years ago now, Job One was to reinvigorate the lineup. In 2017, Mooney got FAA approval for its Acclaim Ultra, the turbocharged version of its slick airframe. The normally aspirated model, the Ovation Ultra, came next. The company got the thumbs up for that model last year. Like the Acclaim Ultra, the Ovation Ultra gets a fiberglass shell on the forward fuselage in place of the former sheet-metal outer shell. As on the Acclaim, this gave Mooney the ability to reimagine the forward shell, adding a pilot’s side door, enlarging and lowering the windows, all without adding additional weight. Like the Acclaim Ultra, the Ovation Ultra features the Garmin G1000 NXi avionics suite. Known icing protection is available, as is air conditioning. The big differentiator between Ovation and Acclaim is the powerplant. The Acclaim, designed to fly high, relies on better true airspeeds up there without losing horsepower for its best-in-class speed. The Ovation, on the other hand, accomplishes this with more power—310 hp compared to 280 hp for the Acclaim Ultra. It works great, too. The Ovation Ultra is the fastest normally aspirated production piston single, achieving just a couple of ticks short of 200 knots true. The model also boasts tremendous range, greater than 1,400 nm, and terrific climbing ability.

Niche: High-performance retractable-gear transportation plane
Bragging Points: Fastest non-turbo plane in its class. Top-notch avionics.
Tradeoffs: Not as roomy as its fixed-gear competition. Does its best work at lower altitudes.
Base Price: $689,000
Competitors: Cirrus SR22, Mooney Acclaim Ultra
Fun Fact: Mooney delivered seven Ovation Ultras in 2018, the same number as for the Acclaim Ultra.

Specs
Main Construction: Metal with forward-fuselage composite skin
Engine/HP: Continental IO-550-G/310 hp
Propeller: Hartzell, 3-blade, metal, constant speed, 76″ diameter
Avionics: Garmin G1000 NXi
Top Cruise Speed: 197 kts
Stall, Landing Configuration: 59 kts
Max Range: 900 nm (45-minute reserve, standard tanks)
Max Takeoff Weight: 3,368 lbs.
Payload (full fuel): 514 lbs.
Useful Load: 1,130 lbs.
Takeoff/Landing Distance: 1,600 ft./2,500 ft. (50 ft. obstacle)

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2017 Tecnam P2002 Sierra Mk2

Kathleen O’Connor — Wed, 08 Feb 2017 10:28:55 +0000

Base Price: $150,000

Seats:2

Main Construction: Metal

Engine/Hp: Rotax 912 ULS2/100 hp

Propeller: Sensenich, 2-blade, fixed pitch, 68″ diameter

Avionics:Dynon SkyView or Garmin G3X

Top Cruise Speed: 120 kts

Stall, Landing Configuration: 38 kts

Maximum Range: 600 nm

Maximum Takeoff Weight: 1,389 lbs.

Payload: 406 lbs.

Useful Load: 514 lbs.

Takeoff/Landing Distance (No Obstacle): 860/558 ft.

Takeoff/Landing Distance (50-ft. Obstacle):1,424/1,092 ft.

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2017 Tecnam P2010

Kathleen O’Connor — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 11:56:20 +0000

Base Price: $369,000

Seats: 4

Main Construction: Carbon-fiber fuselage, Metal wings

Engine/Hp: Lycoming IO-360-M1A/180 hp

Propeller:MT, 2-blade, fixed pitch, 74″ diameter

Avionics:Garmin G1000

Top Cruise Speed: 140 kts

Stall, Landing Configuration: 50 kts

Maximum Range: 715 nm

Maximum Takeoff Weight: 2,557 lbs.

Payload: 546 lbs. (full fuel)

Useful Load: 925 lbs.

Takeoff/Landing Distance (No Obstacle): 1,259/1,026 ft.

Check out the P2010 and other fantastic single-engine airplanes in our latest Piston Singles Buyer’s Guide.

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2017 Tecnam P2006T

Kathleen O’Connor — Fri, 20 Jan 2017 10:49:49 +0000

Base Price: $440,00

Seats: 4

Main Construction: Metal

Engine/Hp: Rotax 912 s3/100 hp each

Propellers: MT (MTV-21) 2-blade, constant speed, 71″ diameter

Avionics: Standard analog or Garmin G950

Top Cruise Speed: 140 kts (75% power)

Stall, Landing Configuration: 48 kts

Maximum Range: 742 nm

Maximum TakeoffWeight: 2,712 lbs.

Payload: 636 lbs. (full fuel)

Useful Load: 948 lbs.

Takeoff/Landing Distance (No Obstacles): 1,476/1,050 ft.

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The Tecnam P2010: Where Aircraft Performance And Passenger Comfort Meet

James Wynbrandt and Scott Slocum — Sat, 05 Dec 2015 04:00:00 +0000

Tecnam has seen the future of general aviation, and it’s the automobile. Nothing unusual or wrong with that—most OEMs have embraced the concept of replicating the “automotive experience,” seeking to meet customers’ raised standards for fit and finish, and deliver the level of comfort and style one would expect when plunking down the cash equivalent of a super premium luxury car for an airplane.

But more than a route to attracting pilots, Tecnam sees this as the path to salvaging the industry. “If we’re going to try to get new people into aviation, we need pilots to have people to fly with them—otherwise, they stop flying,” said Shannon Yeager, Tecnam’s U.S. sales director. “And to get people to go flying, this”—he nodded toward the airplane in front of us—“needs to be as close to the automotive experience as possible.”

We were standing beside N1107M, a P2010, Tecnam’s new four-place high-wing, at the company’s hangar-showroom at its U.S. headquarters at Sebring Regional Airport (SEF) in Florida (home of the annual U.S. Sport Aviation Expo). Opened in 2014, here, all the aircraft models the Italian company makes are displayed auto-showroom style, parked in two facing rows. Visitors can stroll amongst the aircraft, placarded with specs and performance, as they mull choices and options. Now, with the addition of the P2010, the Italian manufacturer—known primarily for its LSAs in the U.S.—has a platform with the room to bring that automotive ideal to aviation reality.

The P2010 (“Twenty-Ten”) received EASA certification in 2014 and was on the cusp of receiving FAA certification when we flew it this fall, operated as an Experimental Exhibition aircraft. Like all numbered Tecnam models, the “P” stands for (Luigi) Pascale, the designer, and the number represents the year the model’s design study was finalized. Notably, this is also the first single-engine high-wing four place certified in the U.S. in almost half a century—since Cessna’s C-177 Cardinal in 1968—making it something of a yardstick of GA’s advance over that span.

Combining a composite fuselage and metal wings, the P2010 blends the traditional and modern smartly in pursuit of performance and practicality. The metal wings “give us a nice flexibility when we’re flying,” said Yeager, noting that the stiffness of a carbon-fiber wing would make it less turbulence tolerant. Additionally, composite material is more difficult to repair in the event of hangar rash, and the wings more susceptible to injury. Meanwhile, the carbo-fiber fuselage allows construction of a wider, stronger cabin than metal would permit. “So we’ve put the right material in the right places,” Yeager said. “It gives us overall weight savings along with aerodynamic improvements.”

Approaching from the starboard side, the most obvious auto-like feature is the rear cabin door, allowing entry and egress for back-seat passengers without having to squeeze in behind the forward seats. The rear door, however, was almost an afterthought. “The aerodynamic flow and the materials allowed us to place the strut behind the front door, and that gave us the opportunity to have a second one,” Yeager says. “We wouldn’t have been able to do it otherwise, but we ended up with the right measurements.”

But the automotive experience also needs to be expressed in utility, the ability to pile in the kids or another couple with all your gear and really go somewhere. Tecnam positions the P2010 against the venerable Cessna 172 in highlighting its fitness for duty as a practical traveling machine.

“This weighs a little bit less than a 172 but it carries 300 pounds more, and it goes about 15 to 20 knots faster,” Yeager said. “I can put four 200-pounders, two-and-a-half hours of fuel, and four golf bags in this aircraft, and I am legal to go flying,” he continued. “Those are book numbers—not, ’Well, we might be able to’ numbers.”

Yeager towed the airplane singlehandedly out to the ramp, showcasing its ease of ground handling, for the preflight inspection. The smooth composite fuselage leaves little to examine. At the rear of the aircraft, hash marks on the port fuselage just forward of the empennage allow quick verification of the stabilator’s proper range of deflection. At the front end, large butterfly access panels expose the engine sufficiently to change oil without dropping the cowl. The Lycoming IO-360-M1A inside can burn 91 octane unleaded aviation fuel, but for now, that’s not much help beyond the limited areas of Europe where it’s available and approved for use. There’s room to spare under the cowl, sparking speculation that Tecnam will offer higher-powered P2010s in the future. Yeager wouldn’t confirm the plan but hinted that it’s true. “This aircraft holds 62 gallons of fuel. Do you need that much to run a 180-hp Lycoming IO-360?” he asked, shaking his head. “Most people don’t need to fly six-and-a-half or seven hours.” He also noted the airframe has been tested at higher airspeeds. “The limiting factor [in boosting performance] is not the structure, it’s the engine.”

The P2010 offers fixed pitch (climb or cruise) and constant speed MT propeller options, and Tecnam expects the latter to be the overwhelming choice in the U.S. N1107M, however, was outfitted with a fixed-pitch cruise prop, installed for final certification re-testing Tecnam was conducting. Our climb rate would suffer, but we could expect to see speed in the range of the model’s 140-knot top speed.

Getting into the airplane is easy, even if not done exactly automotive style. Just put your butt on the seat—use the step as desired to assist with positioning—and swing yourself in. Slide over one in the back if you need to make room.

Three-point automotive style seat belts, automatic courtesy lights that illuminate when the baggage compartment door is opened, and seat leather with stitching any Italian automaker would be proud of are among features adding to the auto ambiance. The demo aircraft also had the Premium Edition interior, which includes suede seat inserts and higher-quality carpet and trim. While passengers may be comforted by car culture styling, pilots will likely appreciate the familiar Garmin 1000 avionics suite (standard in the P2010) and Lycoming power, making start-up and operations almost second nature to many. A Mid-Continent SAM (Standby Attitude Module) digital display provides backup instrumentation, keeping the panel uncluttered and round-gauge free. System switches are positioned along the bottom of the panel.

Restricted to flying in a proficiency area under our Experimental Exhibition status, we couldn’t travel very far or land anywhere else on today’s demo flight. But if I were introducing a potential flying buddy to GA, I’d probably stay close to the home field on the first flight anyway, as I decided to imagine today’s mission.

Tinted windows are standard, and all are sealed, which together with soundproofing reduces interior sound level some 15 dB, but can make the cabin warm during ground ops. Keeping the doors cracked works fine for environmental control, even if passengers aren’t used to driving down the road that way.

With the oil warmed, we taxied toward the active, tanks three-quarters full. The nosewheel casters 90 degrees to the left and right, providing exceptional ground maneuverability. Yeager reviewed takeoff procedures as we taxied: Apply back pressure at 55 knots and let the airplane fly itself off between 60 and 65 knots, which will take 800 to 900 feet of pavement at sea level. Cleaned up at 80 knots behind a constant speed prop, climb rate would be about 800 fpm.

“The acceleration will not thrill you,” Yeager said before we took Rwy 01 for departure. But thrills aren’t something passengers necessarily want, and the P2010’s climb profile is also unlikely to produce any adrenaline. “Even though were climbing at best angle, we’re only about four to five degrees nose up,” Yeager noted approvingly during our climb-out. “It’s a real flat climber and descender. That makes uninitiated passengers feel a lot better. They’re not used to a car tipping up 15 degrees.”

The P2010 should give passengers a smooth ride in stable air. Vortex generators (VGs) on the vertical stabilizer improve rudder control authority, and the stabilator, a feature of all Tecnams, has been moved farther aft on the empennage relative to its other models, enhancing pitch stability. Small fences on the back edge of the ailerons boost their effectiveness in turns. Occupants will arrive quickly, as well. At 2,500 feet and 2600 rpm on an above standard day (35 degrees C), our airspeed reached 135 knots. A world of destinations will await. The wheel farings leave enough clearance to operate on turf and unpaved strips. “In Europe, it’s too expensive to land on pavement,” Yeager noted, adding that the home field at Tecnam’s factory in Casoria is “basically a whole bunch of ruts and holes with some green patches, so if it can handle that, there’s not much here it can’t handle.”

But though comfortable operating off-pavement, the P2010 isn’t a short-field airplane. Takeoff performance seems to be its primary operational limitation. As noted, close to 1,000 feet of pavement is needed to get airborne in standard conditions, and if operating on turf, “fully loaded on a hot day, you want 2,500 feet of grass,” Yeager said.

Forget the temporary “Experimental” warnings. The detail we care about is the extra door, that is at least compared to most four-seat models today. The rear door allows passengers to climb in back easily and without having to move the front seats forward to squeeze through to the back, a state of affairs common even in singles costing twice as much as the P2010. Traditionalists will approve of the Lycoming IO-360, one of the most trusted powerplants in GA history. The fuel-injected 180-hp opposed four-cylinder engine provides enough power to give the P2010 spirited performance and an impressive useful load. For the panel, Tecnam made the choice to go with the most popular flat-panel option, the Garmin G1000 with twin, reversionary displays, the Garmin GFC700 autopilot and solid-state backups, the SAM module by Mid-Continent Instruments. With a nicely styled interior, a great avionics package and lots of room for passengers and flyers, the P2010 offers a sophisticated user experience from every angle.

For that reason, Yeager typically has pilots fly slow flight demonstrations at about 70 knots, seeing little reason to emphasize the bottom end of the envelope. “This will land in so much shorter distance than it needs to take off,” he explained. “If a pilot has to get it that slow and close to the edge to land, he’s probably not at a field he can take off from.” (Slowed to just above its landing configuration 50-knot stall speed, control surfaces remained effective in shallow turns; with the throttle retarded, the ensuing break was a gentle burble.)

But those field length requirements aren’t much of a limitation for most pilots or passengers looking for a comfortable traveling airplane rather than a flying SUV. What sort of facilities are you going to find at a hardscrabble strip that can’t accommodate a typical GA aircraft, anyway? A thousand feet of pavement and 2,500 feet of turf (adjusted for elevation) still leave lots of great destinations in the database. Along with the styling, onboard equipment should make getting there enjoyable. Electric trim is standard, and the Garmin GFC700 autopilot is available as an option, though we didn’t have either in our experimental configuration.

Pilots won’t find any surprises in the pattern upon arrival, either, as we saw during touch-and-goes back at SEF. The P2010 can fly flat, no-drama approaches with a gentle 300 fpm descent at about 75 knots. It’s okay to be a little high; you can slip the aircraft in any configuration, and the altitude provides an extra safety margin as there’s slight lag in response to power inputs at low airspeeds.

“Think about this aircraft as the first airplane you own,” Yeager summed up as we taxied back to the showroom. “It looks like a car, and it doesn’t hit extremes, so it won’t freak people out who aren’t used to flying. And you’re going to be comfortable if you’re the pilot because you don’t have a lot to think about.” He was quiet for a moment. “I’m tired of people getting their [pilots’] certificates, going out to fly with dad and mom, and after 30 hours they stop and never come back.”

More than 30 P2010s have been delivered in Europe thus far. Tecnam is currently building about six per month, and one or two per month are earmarked for U.S. customers, with a base price of $345,000. As for how it stacks up as the first certified high-wing four-place in half a century, if the P2010 can get pilots to keep flying and passengers to go along with them happily, that’s progress indeed!

Check out the newest P2010 and other fantastic single-engine airplanes in our latest Piston Singles Buyer’s Guide.

The post The Tecnam P2010: Where Aircraft Performance And Passenger Comfort Meet appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

Tecnam Astore

ODEA Developer — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 04:00:00 +0000

Tecnam Astore

SPECIFICATIONS

Price:

Standard, $147,000 with carbureted 912ULS, to $176,000 with optional avionics packages. Turbocharged Rotax 914UL2, as flown, $24,900.

Engine:

115 hp Rotax 914UL2

Propeller:

Three-blade Sensenich, 5.67-ft. diameter

Length (ft.):

23.0

Height (ft.):

7.54

Wingspan (ft.):

28.4

Wing area (sq. ft.):

131

Standard empty weight (lbs.):

809

Max. takeoff weight (lbs.):

1320

Max useful load (lbs.):

511

Fuel capacity (gals.):

PERFORMANCE

Takeoff distance (ground roll, ft.)*:

715

Takeoff distance (over 50-ft.obstacle, ft.)*:

1,180

Max climb rate (fpm):

1100

Max speed (kts.):

120

Cruise speed (75% power @ 6,500 ft., kts.): 118 Vne,(kts.):

150

Max range (nm):

750

Stall speed, clean (kts.):

Stall speed, with flaps (kts.):

Landing distance (ground roll, ft.):

505

Landing distance (over 50-ft. obstacle, ft.):

990

The post Tecnam Astore appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

Making A Splash In The LSA World

James Wynbrandt and Photography by Jim Koepnick — Tue, 06 May 2014 04:00:00 +0000

If you need convincing that LSA represent a valuable adjunct to traditional GA models, look no further than the amphibian world. There, you can buy an LSA capable of setting down on land or water for about what amphib floats alone cost for some Part 23 aircraft. Italian aircraft manufacturer Tecnam has already sold many pilots on LSA and sport aircraft, with more than 3,500 of its products operating around the globe. Now, the company has taken on the realm where water and sky meet with its P92 SeaSky, which joins an already formidable fleet of LSA amphibs. Development of this end of the market has doubtless benefitted from the increased weight limit LSA seaplanes enjoy—1,430 pounds versus the 1,320 pounds for other LSA—a standard the FAA adopted to keep LSA regulations consistent with rules for European microlight aircraft.

While several seaworthy LSA employ the hulled flying boat model (e.g. the Aventura, SeaMax, SeaRey, Super Petrel and the in-development ICON A5), the SeaSky puts Tecnam’s proven P92 Echo Classic LSA atop amphibious floats in place of the aircraft’s usual tricycle undercarriage. The result flies something akin to a classic Piper J-3 Cub on floats, updated with side-by-side seating in a comfortable cabin and the added utility of being able to touch down on solid land, something even the most ardent seaplane pilot can appreciate.

“That means you can go out and do all the floatplane flying you want, and then go to just about any land-based airport and get fuel,” said Tristan Raab, Tecnam’s SeaSky demo pilot, noting, “You can’t go to just any lake with a floatplane and expect to fuel up—you’ve got to really plan it.”

Raab should know. In addition to corporate work, his extensive seaplane CV includes stints flying Beavers on floats for Seattle-based Kenmore Air and instructing at Jack Brown’s Seaplane Base, the noted training facility in Winter Haven, Fla. I met Raab on the flight line at Sebring Regional Airport (SEF) during the annual U.S. Sport Aviation Expo in January, where the SeaSky was making its Expo debut.

The P92 looks good on floats, with enough heft not to appear diminished when hoisted astride pontoons. The airframe is basically all aluminum (wingtips and cowl are composite, and the ailerons are fabric), but the Tecnam-made floats are composite; the company took fabrication experience gained through development of its carbon-fiber airframe for the P2008 and P2010, and created its own amphibious floats.

Made from vacuum-cured carbon fiber, the floats feature a flat top with a nonslip grip coating for firm, stable footing. A pneumatic compressed air system, lighter than a hydraulic system, controls landing gear extension and retraction. (The maintenance-free pneumatic system also eliminates the potential for hydraulic fluid leaks.) A manually operated reserve pump provides backup. The landing gear components are anodized Avional CNC-machined, and the pontoons are reinforced to survive a gear-up landing or two on turf or hard surface.

All marine rudder control and lift cables have been eliminated from the surface of the pontoon, replaced by a solid push-pull rod routed through the float that deploys and retracts the water rudder, powered by the landing gear’s pneumatic system and operated by a separate control knob. Removing the cables eliminates the surprisingly considerable drag that they can generate, as well as hazards associated with trip wires.

“When you’re hopping out onto the float, hoping to get to the dock and grab a rope and get it tied down, the less you can trip over, the better,” Raab said.

The SeaSky has been flown with either two- or three-bladed ground-adjustable Sensenich propellers, but the three-blade is now standard. “It gets a lot more pull and a lot more power out of that Rotax engine,” Raab said of the tri-blade, “so it’s going to help get on the step a lot quicker and get off the water quicker, as well.”

Inside the SeaSky, the 44-inch-wide cabin provides ample elbow room and storage space for carry-ons behind the forward and aft adjustable seats. Standard panel equipment is day-VFR steam gauges on the left side with digital engine monitors on the right. Optional glass panel packages are available. It’s a simple configuration that fits the rugged utility style of the aircraft and its primary mission of providing freshwater access.

The 98 hp Rotax 912 ULS engine fires up immediately, but taxiing, which requires differential braking for steering, takes a little practice. Once cleared for departure, full power provides sufficient rudder authority to keep the SeaSky pointed straight down the runway—or wherever you want the nose if departing from water. Lifting off took a little more back pressure than anticipated, but electric trim on the stick makes adjusting control pressures easy in any phase of flight.

On retraction, the front gear on each pontoon swings up to a horizontal position and pulls back into the float, leaving the front tire exposed as a bumper. The rear wheels pull into the float. Two sets of green gear lights in the center console below the throttles indicate whether the wheels are completely retracted or extended, while a red light signals the wheels are transitioning. Raab advises pilots of all amphibs to pull the gear up after every takeoff—even after a water departure when already retracted—to keep in the habit of paying attention to the gear position. With airspeed bouncing around 75 to 80 knots, we climbed out at about 500 fpm.

Expo features twice-daily demo flybys performed by the exhibitors’ aircraft along runway 17/35 at 500 feet. A left turnout from 01 requires maintaining visual contact with the demo activity, and the big wraparound windscreen and the large Lexan panels that take up most of the P92’s cabin doors’ surface area provide excellent visibility. Seats are positioned in line with the leading edge of the wing, reducing the visual obstruction common to high-wing aircraft.

Lake Jackson, seven miles west, serves as Expo’s seaplane base and water ops demo area. Whether we’d actually be able to land there was questionable. The winds that kicked up that morning persisted into mid-afternoon, and the lake was reportedly topped by whitecaps. We headed north at 2,500 feet to check out the sky end of the SeaSky’s performance, giving the gusty breezes time to calm.

Expo’s aircraft display area has no shortage of LSA that present themselves as glass-paneled, cross-country touring vehicles, but this isn’t one of them. We were cruising at 90 knots indicated, some nine knots below the cruise speed of a P92 trike. “It’s not made for getting anywhere fast,” Raab says. But stability and docile handling characteristics are more important than speed in a floatplane.

Even getting bumped around by gusts as we were, the P92, properly trimmed, flew straight and level almost hands free. Raab pushed the nose down and then released the forward pressure to illustrate its positive stability, and the SeaSky quickly resumed level flight at our initial altitude, just as it did after he pulled the nose up and released the pressure. Adding power for steep turns to the left and right, the SeaSky needed little control pressure on the stick to hold altitude, though the electric trim system is ever ready to assist.

The SeaSky proved very maneuverable in slow flight, as well, an essential characteristic when you’re making flybys to inspect a potential landing spot on the water or maneuvering around terrain on final for a secluded lake. I imagined we were landing on one now, elevation 2,500 feet, as I pulled back on the stick, power at idle, holding the nose up, two notches of flaps in, working the rudders as the stall horn beeped at about 40 knots indicated. At the stall break, the P92 simply mushed straight ahead, and we had only lost 100 feet by the time I pushed the nose down, put in the power and arrested the sink.

“Use the rudders, keep it coordinated,” Raab said after the fact, as if reciting the Golden Rule of stalls. “So many people don’t use their rudders.”

We turned toward Lake Jackson, gradually descending to 1,000 feet. The wind hadn’t let up much, but the lake is the inbound reporting point for Expo’s VFR arrival procedure, so whether we landed on Jackson or not, it was on the route back to Sebring. Our call to the Expo Seaplane Base Unicom got no response.

“You can see we’ve got some whitecaps out there,” Raab said as we came up on the shoreline. “If you’re a commercial operator and you want to do one takeoff, one landing, that’s okay,” he said, sizing up the conditions. “But if you’re out there teaching!” He shook his head as if remembering all the bumps and jolts he had received while instructing on a choppy surface.

We decided to make some low approaches, simulating a water landing. As we briefed, Raab emphasized the need to pay particular attention to the landing gear position. A gear-up landing in a retract can be embarrassing and expensive, but a gear-down landing in an amphib can be fatal. “You’ve got to be careful,” he said. “You have to separate yourself from the airplane and think, ‘What am I doing?’ No matter how exciting it is, and people yapping around you, if you don’t make the right decision, you’re either scraping the bottom of the keel, or you’re upside down underwater—and that’s a dangerous thing.”

Our approaches took us by the Sunset Grill, the popular waterfront watering hole adjacent to the Seaplane Base, typically packed with LSA enthusiasts during Expo, but appearing deserted on this cold, windy afternoon. How nice to be able to set down at a spot like this or thousands of other places that pilots without floats can only dream about. But not today. Some might say we didn’t get the real picture of the SeaSky if we never landed on water, but we did experience another priceless benefit of amphib LSA—being able to fly on a day when any LSA with straight floats would be grounded.

Base price of the P92 SeaSky is $147,000 with basic instrumentation without radio. Packages with radio begin at $157,000. A float retrofit kit for Echo Classics is available for $38,000. N209TA itself is a converted Echo Classic. Straight floats are also available.

The post Making A Splash In The LSA World appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

Tecnam P92 SeaSky

James Wynbrandt and Photography by David Carlson — Tue, 06 May 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Tecnam P92 SeaSky

Engine:

98 hp Rotax 912 ULS

Propeller:

three-blade Sensenich
ground adjustable

MTOW (lbs.):

1430

Standard Equipped Empty Weight (lbs.):

900

Load Limits:

+4/ -2 Gs

Baggage Allowance (lbs.):

Wing Span (ft.):

66.5

Wing Area (ft.):

133

Length (ft.):

22.6

Height (ft.):

10.3

Cabin Width (in.):

Fuel Capacity (gals.):

26.4

PERFORMANCE

Takeoff—Water (ft.):

<656

Takeoff—Land (ft.):

492

Landing—Water (ft.):

260

Landing—Land (ft.):

492

Takeoff Over 50-ft. Obstacle—Land (ft.):

950

Landing Over 50-ft. Obstacle—Land (ft.):

850

Rate Of Climb, Sea Level (fpm):

790

Maximum Speed, Sea Level (kts.):

Cruise 75% Power (kts.):

V_ne (kts.):

130

V_so(kts.):

V_s(kts.):

Service Ceiling (ft.):

11,500

The post Tecnam P92 SeaSky appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

The New Old Classic

James Lawrence — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 04:00:00 +0000

It’s a sidewalk-egg-frying, breath-gasping hot Southeastern U.S. day, and I’ve been photographing the brand-new Tecnam Echo Light out on the hot tarmac. I’m sweating like a budding comic about to come on after a killer set by Robin Williams, wondering if I’m up to making the demo flight. Then memory kicks in: This is a Tecnam. Relax. Every Tecnam I’ve flown (this will be my fourth model) has been a cupcake. Why should the Light be any different?

The Pleasures Of Tecnam
My host pilot is CFI Todd Kallenbach. I climb in, pleased as always with the comfy, attractively stitched (and adjustable) Tecnam seat. True, it’s a no-frills, budget-conscious airplane that doesn’t ooze the Ferrari-like luxury of the Italian company’s P2008 cruiser or new Astore. You can spiff it up with cosmetics and digital avionics, but if your bottom line is cost, you’ll appreciate the tidy, lightly populated analog panel for what it offers: good old recreational flying without “texting-while-driving” distractions.

Speaking of bottom line, this particular airplane costs $84,900 and includes a Garmin avionics suite: the Aera 500 GPS in a Gizmo docking mount, SL40 radio and GTX 327 transponder. Stripped down to an all-analog panel and no radios, that price drops to $75,000.

The Tecnam Echo Light is powered by an 80 hp Rotax 912UL and cruises at 92 knots.

Think about that: Here’s a fully airworthy aluminum airframe (with some fabric covering) that comes ready to fly from a 68-year-old aviation manufacturer at a price only all-fabric, ultralight-style aircraft usually approach. Let’s hear no more complaints about out-of-reach LSA prices.

The Echo Light airframe is rated at 1,102 pounds MTOW, 218 pounds less than the category’s 1,320-pound ceiling. The engine: that unsung hero, the Rotax 912UL 80 hp, four-cylinder, four-stroke liquid-cooled mill, rather than the common 100 hp LSA variant. So naturally, I wonder: Will power performance suffer?

The airframe is all-aluminum, but ailerons and part of the tail group are fabric covered. Empty weight is a mere 606 pounds. Useful load is 496 pounds. Subtracting 11.9 gallons of fuel (right wing tank; a left wing tank is optional) leaves a 425-pound payload.

The tidy analog panel also features a Garmin Aero 500 GPS, an SL40 radio and a GTX 327 transponder.

That’s still enough room for a couple of 200-pound passengers and not much more. But Echo Light is intended to be a value airplane, not a long-distance cruiser like the P2008. It’s based on a 20-year proven design and offers low operating costs. In short: a born trainer/local funship.

And it has pedigree: 20 years after its first flight, the still-produced P92 Echo has 13 variants and versions, and 500 customizations. More than 2,000 units fly worldwide under ULM/LSA and VLA certification.

Born To Please
The dual throttle/dual stick setup and center-mount hand brake lever further support the training mission. Taxiing is a breeze, thanks to the good steerable nosewheel and strong hydraulic main wheel brakes. I feel dialed in, 100 feet down the taxiway.

I like the friction thumb lever right next to the push/pull (non-vernier) throttle; electric flaps with LED indicator; PTT button on top of the foam-padded, gooseneck (for leg ingress/egress) control stick; 44-inch wide cabin and outside air vents. There’s even a 12-volt plug-in power socket. The Light may be no-frills, but it’s a mature airframe in every way.

We close the door, take the active, toggle in a notch of flaps, and I push the knob to the metal. Ahhh, so nice: That 80 hp engine is definitely smoother than a 100 hp Rotax. Easing back the stick at 50 knots, we lift off more quickly than I expected. I level to pick up climb speed and feel the controls a bit, then start a cruise climb.

The pushrod-linked ailerons (partly cabled, but it has that no-slop pushrod feel) bank the wing with little adverse yaw. A touch of the big rudder is all you need to keep it kosher. Actual stick deflection forces aren’t as light as, say, a Van’s RV-12 or Remos GX, but control forces won’t wear your arm out.

The Rotax 912UL delivers 80 hp.

The Cessna Of S-LSA?
Five years ago, I began my Tecnam Experience in the P92 Eaglet. I was in sport- pilot flight-training mode back home at the time, and the Eaglet seemed a perfect fit for my developing skills. That flight taught me three prime truths about Tecnam LSA. They’re: 1. well-designed and engineered, 2. fly beautifully and 3. the build quality is as top notch as for the company’s general aviation planes.

Tecnam has been an aviation mainstay in Italy since 1948. When light sport began in 2004, the company was good to go with in-production easily “Americanized” European microlight models. Its stable included the P2002 Sierra and P92 Echo, born in the 1990s.

Tecnam wants you to have a lot of choices. Its current line of eight LSA includes the classy, luxurious P2008, SeaSky amphib (its composite floats have all-internal cabling), single-place SNAP aerobat and the just-announced, super-sexy Astore low-winger.

The Echo Light climb rate is surprisingly robust, reflecting the light wing loading and clean, efficient wing and airframe: At an 80-knot cruise climb (and on a hot, humid afternoon), I’m still seeing around 600 fpm. Standard day conditions book spec is 885 fpm: That seems accurate.

The cruise climb delivers decent over-cowl visibility—I see the horizon line from left to right. There’s headroom for pilots up to at least six feet, three inches. My eye level—just above the wing root bottom, just aft of the leading edge (I’m five feet, 11 inches)—means I have to duck slightly to see along the wing’s underside. I like the curve of overhead windscreen: You can see straight up and slightly behind. In a decently banked turn, you can see what’s ahead over the wing’s top: always a safety boon.

Big side windows aft of the seats supplement the generous view below with a good rear component.


CFI Todd Kallenbach (left) gets settled into the Tecnam’s stitched and adjustable seat (right).

I pull some turns, Dutch rolls, and approach and departure stalls. They only reinforce my sense of flying an old friend. The Light is a born trainer: docile, stable, reassuring and a good performer. Fledgling stick jockeys should love it.

Cruise speed befits the training/light cross-country mission of the aircraft: At full power, I log a bit over 100 knots (book is 103 knots; 75% cruise is 92 knots).

As the golden sun eases toward the hazy horizon, we head back to make some landings. Entering base and powering back to around 60 knots delivers a very good power-off glide. Landings are laughably easy. The airplane is solid and stable through final (at 50 to 55 knots), round out and flare. The bird floats nicely then settles onto the runway with no bad manners.

My host suggests I make the final full-stop landing in three-pointer, taildragger attitude. I settle on the mains only, holding the nose wheel well off. Keeping everything straight is easy with the excellent rudder control. Then, as speed bleeds off, the elevator loses effectiveness and the nosewheel eases onto the concrete. Suh-weet! That’s an excellent task for teaching low-speed handling skills. No wonder Tecnam Italy’s CEO Paolo Pascale flies this airplane to and from his home in Italy every day.

I walk away from the Echo Light, glad to once again cop some Tecnam Time. Do yourself a favor: Go have some real fun with this fine airplane.


On Tree Landings And LSA Pilot Skills
Tecnam North America’s president Tommy Grimes runs the company with CEO Phil Solomon, as well as the full-service Heart of Virgina (HOVA) FBO he founded with his wife, Kim, in 1992. The topic of emergency airframe parachutes came up since the Echo Light doesn’t come with one. “Well, I’m not a fan of the parachute,” he said. “If you can’t land this airplane just about anywhere, you shouldn’t be flying. With power on and the stick full aft, you could probably land it anywhere and walk away. “You can hit a crocodile while water skiing, break your neck skateboarding, get hit by a car while bicycling,” Grimes continued. “If flying isn’t an acceptable risk to you, maybe you’re in the wrong sport.” I counter by saying a non-flying passenger with an incapacitated pilot has few options other than pulling that red handle. I suggested the airframe ‘chute is the last-ditch savior after a mid-air, bird- strike, engine out over water or an ocean of trees—any calamity that prevents a dead-stick landing. “But in most other emergencies,” he persists, “you can land almost anywhere, if you know what you’re doing. I tell people not to worry flying, even here in Virginia. What’s Virginia full of? Trees! But, there’s a difference in the color of trees. There are pine tree plantations all over here and pine trees are darker. “So I say, get as slow as you can over pines, stall it, and you’ll walk away every time. Pine trees bend and just fall over with you. If you see an oak tree, forget it.”Grimes laughs. “You hit that sucker, you’re toast!” I ask him—he’s a veteran commercial pilot with more than 8,000 hours—if he’s ever had the pleasure of a tree landing. “Nope. Don’t plan to, either.” The topic shifts to LSA pilot skills. “I think they’re better pilots. If you take a Cessna 172 driver and a sport pilot, the latter typically has better flying skills. We’ve seen that here at HOVA,”Grimes explained. He’s talking about pure, hands-on flying skills, not the deeper knowledge of airspace that comes with the extra training for a private pilot license. “It’s a light airplane. You have to fly it. To me, that is the key to air safety. If all the other stuff in the cockpit quits, my brain kicks in, my hands and feet start working, and I fly the airplane. “That’s where LSA can really shine. If you want more safety in the air…teach people how to fly,” Grimes concluded.

On Tree Landings And LSA Pilot Skills

Tecnam North America’s president Tommy Grimes runs the company with CEO Phil Solomon, as well as the full-service Heart of Virgina (HOVA) FBO he founded with his wife, Kim, in 1992.

The topic of emergency airframe parachutes came up since the Echo Light doesn’t come with one.

“Well, I’m not a fan of the parachute,” he said. “If you can’t land this airplane just about anywhere, you shouldn’t be flying. With power on and the stick full aft, you could probably land it anywhere and walk away.

“You can hit a crocodile while water skiing, break your neck skateboarding, get hit by a car while bicycling,” Grimes continued. “If flying isn’t an acceptable risk to you, maybe you’re in the wrong sport.”

I counter by saying a non-flying passenger with an incapacitated pilot has few options other than pulling that red handle. I suggested the airframe ‘chute is the last-ditch savior after a mid-air, bird- strike, engine out over water or an ocean of trees—any calamity that prevents a dead-stick landing.

“But in most other emergencies,” he persists, “you can land almost anywhere, if you know what you’re doing. I tell people not to worry flying, even here in Virginia. What’s Virginia full of? Trees! But, there’s a difference in the color of trees. There are pine tree plantations all over here and pine trees are darker.

“So I say, get as slow as you can over pines, stall it, and you’ll walk away every time. Pine trees bend and just fall over with you. If you see an oak tree, forget it.”Grimes laughs. “You hit that sucker, you’re toast!”

I ask him—he’s a veteran commercial pilot with more than 8,000 hours—if he’s ever had the pleasure of a tree landing.

“Nope. Don’t plan to, either.”

The topic shifts to LSA pilot skills.

“I think they’re better pilots. If you take a Cessna 172 driver and a sport pilot, the latter typically has better flying skills. We’ve seen that here at HOVA,”Grimes explained.

He’s talking about pure, hands-on flying skills, not the deeper knowledge of airspace that comes with the extra training for a private pilot license.

“It’s a light airplane. You have to fly it. To me, that is the key to air safety. If all the other stuff in the cockpit quits, my brain kicks in, my hands and feet start working, and I fly the airplane.

“That’s where LSA can really shine. If you want more safety in the air…teach people how to fly,” Grimes concluded.

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