I had the opportunity to ride along with Tecnam demo pilot Andrew Jones in the P92 Eaglet out of Winter Haven (KGIF), where it was based, during one of the company’s Showcase Fly-Bys at Sun ‘n Fun last week. If the term Showcase Fly-By is unfamiliar, I’m certain that if you’ve ever been at the flight line of a fly-in, you’ve witnessed at least one of these displays. At Sun ‘n Fun, they are featured daily from noon until 1:30 p.m. and give manufacturers and individuals an opportunity to display their aircraft by performing a fly-by pattern over show center. During the fly-by, an announcer describes the aircraft over the PA system. Tecnam procured slots on multiple days to showcase its all-aluminum constructed Eaglet LSA and new P2006T twin. The day I went along, the Eaglet flew formation with Tecnam P2006T twin, piloted by Dave Lubore, Tecnam’s vp of flight training.
Lubore says Tecnam is targeting the trainer market with its LSAs (Echo Classic, Eaglet, Bravo, Sierra and P2008 models), what he feels are the answer to flight schools’ cost savings demands and at the same time giving their students a platform that will meet all their training needs. And interestingly, he says that the company is looking into possible FAA certification of one its LSAs, a complicated affair at best.
Before launching, however, Dave announced that the info from the earlier flight briefing had to be updated. Thanks to winds shifting and picking up, we were to now fly an opposite pattern than what was planned during the Showcase Briefing. Dave and Andrew went over the changes and confirmed the holding pattern locale and radio frequencies.
We were good to go. As I climbed into the right seat of the Eaglet, I was struck at how much the airplane felt like a bigger airplane with its roomy, 46-inch-wide cabin. And it seemed luxurious. My LSA experience to that day had been only in a Remos, which I trained for my Sport Pilot in, and one flight in a PiperSport. These are capable trainers but somehow feel “lighter” even though they all share the same Rotax 912ULS 100 hp engine and max weight.
And it wasn’t just the cabin that made the Eaglet seem “bigger”. Flying it did too. When we arrived at the predetermined holding pattern, a medium sized lake, we circled until the radio call came in telling us to proceed into the pattern for the Showcase. While we waited, Andrew kept us banked in 30- to 45-degree left-hand turn with two-finger control for nearly 15 minutes and the airplane remained stable and at altitude despite windy conditions. When finally cleared for the Fly-By, we entered the pattern first, with the P2006T powered back, following to our rear starboard side. Andrew crabbed a direct crosswind from the south (and the sock was straight out) along the side of Runway 27 with ease and not too much bumping around. We did this five times before heading back to KGIF and I didn’t need a Coke afterward!
As we left the pattern, Andrew offered me the controls. This particular airplane had a mechanical-gauge panel (glass is an option), and a GPS. I’ve become used to flying glass in the Remos, so I was surprised that it took me a couple of minutes to get acclimated, though the GPS was familiar. The airplane was surprisingly easy to keep at a steady altitude during the turbulent windy conditions. KGIF’s ATIS reported an 18-knot crosswind from the south (the Eaglet’s demonstrated crosswind is 20 knots). We picked Runway 23. The approach speed of around 70 knots was easy to keep too and as we came in a gust caught us right after flare but it was manageable.
Admittedly, my time in the Eaglet was very limited, but the “showcase” was a great environment to discover a new (for me) LSA.
All Comments
Yes, Tecnam has a very, very big problem coming like a steamroller at them: the Cessna LSA which if finally reaching critical mass, big time. It's a great little plane, and more importantly it carries Cessna support--and price. MUCH less than the Tecnam. Who cares about its Chinese connection? Final assembly and test is at one of the most respected firms in the business: Yingling. And no, its not Chinese, but it is first rate firm in KANSAS. And their hanger is full of final assemblies.
That said the T2008 is a very nice, comfortable, well-flying aircraft. But it is WAY too expensive: figure $200,000 reasonably tricked out with dual glass from a name brand,. Personally, I'll take the Diamond D20 for the same price or less and MUCH less for a 2 year old one with glass.
I absolutely agree that with only the Skycatcher and Piper LSA (now no longer Piper) as the ONLY LSAs covered in flight tests by the (old, much lamented) management, that it's time for some in-depth coverage of Tecnam and others. Not all of us can afford a $300,000+ CESSNA, $600,000 for a Cirrus turbo or a 20 mil jet for the lifestyles of the rich.
Where are the rest of the in depth LSA flight reports? My flight school now has 3 LSAs, and getting more. Why? Capital expense and fuel, including a Skycatcher that is booked--solid.
I spent a few hours getting familiar with an Eaglet mostly in the pattern. Once I learned how to get in and out of it without having to remove my head, it proved to be a rather stable, responsive, predictable and a fun little plane to fly. This aircraft did feel light to me, even fully loaded, which should be an advantage on hot, humid days as it was when I first tried it. The next time I tried flying it again was on a very cool, dry day and what a surprise I got when I used the same approach technique as I did before trying to land. Forget about losing altitude in cool air, this thing was going to float for ever. After a go-around, a deliberate effort to get it to the ground (better planning) yielded far better results. There were some gusts that day and after one landing when I was sure I was planted on the ground, several seconds later I was airborn again, but the Eaglet was still easily controllable and I could keep it a few inches off the ground until it decided to land for the second time. I never did figure out how to use the power elevator trim as the up-down buttons on the stick seemed to contradict what the indicator was reading so I just kept the trim neutral. The stick pressure was light and easy to deal with, even with the elevator out of trim for some flight conditions. The windows aft of the seats look nice, but proved to be completely useless to me when I tried to see anything out of them. There is one issue I must mention that may be common to the Eaglet and other aircraft with only one drain per fuel tank, make sure that the wings are completely level when checking for water in the fuel! On one occasion, after a thorough preflight, the engine began to lose power just as I entered downind. Even though my flight was to remain in the pattern, I had to cut it short and do an emergency landing. The Eaglet's owner and I looked over the engine throughly back on the ground and could not find any problems while the engine performance improved and was now running properly. After a very complete run-up, we decided to try it again and on the takeoff roll, I was on a hair trigger to abort if we needed to... and we needed to! We rolled back to the parking spot and started poking at everything on the engine again before deciding to drain some fuel at the engine into a bucket. To our surprise, after draining about a quart of fuel, we started to find water. By the time there was no longer any water coming out, we had about a pint of it at the bottom of the bucket.
In all, as unfamiliar as I was with this aircraft, I found flying it to be a relatively pleasant experience. I will say however that for my taste, I wouldn't trade an old (even a shabby looking but mechanically sound) Cessna 172 or a 152 for a fleet of new Eaglets. On second thought, maybe I would, but I'd sell them and guess what I'd buy. ;)
There are a couple of good sources for multiple LSA reviews. The most comprehensive is by Dan Johnson, but you have to subscribe to read them: http://www.bydanjohnson.com/index.cfm?b=6&m=6
There's also a number of reviews, covering the Evektor Sportstar, the Tecnam Sierra and Eaglet, and the SportCruiser, here: http://finbar.net/id2.html
EAA used to have reviews, but I can't find them anymore.
Just wanted to clarify a couple of comments about Tecnam LSA aircraft. I have been flying them and demonstrating them for a couple of years now. I appreciate the dialog that is developing around all the LSA aircraft. One big point is price. We offer five different aircraft starting from about$110,000 to a top of the line aircraft with every possible bell and whistle at $170,000. That includes dual glass, autopilot etc. We use multiple avionics manufactures and let our customers design their own panels, which needless to say can be very expensive. I love flying behind our basic panels with a portable GPS, but our customers want more options. Avionics can be very expensive and that is a very personal decision for each owner. We have never sold an aircraft approaching the $200,000 mark . I guess it may be possible if the owner wanted to do it.
The Cessna SkyCatcher is a big addition to the LSA field. We aren't afraid of the aircraft as a competitor. We offer a line of high and low wing aircraft. It just means that all of us have to produce the best product we can. In the long run, Cessna will help us strengthen and improve all our product lines.
