We Fly: Tecnam P-Mentor

The next expression of a modern trainer comes from an atelier of Italian design.

Julie Boatman

Saturday, December 16, 2023 at 08:00 AM ET

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Tecnam P-Mentor [Credit: Jim Payne]

Key Takeaways:

Tecnam, founded by the Pascale brothers in 1948 (initially Partenavia in 1957), has a 75-year legacy of aircraft design, with the P-Mentor being its latest addition to a lineage of training airplanes.
The P-Mentor is a primary trainer certified under EASA CS 23 (equivalent to FAA Part 23), designed to bridge the gap between light sport aircraft and more complex machines for aspiring career pilots.
It features a sophisticated Garmin G3X cockpit and innovative training aids like a simulated landing gear lever, offering solid, predictable handling and efficient performance suitable for new pilot instruction.

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The courtyard of the Castello di Faicchio spans maybe 50 yards from crenellated pillar to stone post. That was wide enough for two boys—ages 10 and 11—to contest each other in a mad sprint, or to watch as their latest model glided down from a balcony perched up on its walls. Before World War II would topple portions of those ramparts, southern Italy in the late1930s didn’t provide much in terms of resources, except for the space in which the boys would construct models late into the night, hiding from their father—and sometimes to the detriment of their schoolwork.

This Article First Appeared in FLYING Magazine

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