Tecnam

The world lost another aviation pioneer this week as Luigi “Gino” Pascale, the founder, president and chief preliminary design officer of Costruzioni Aeronautiche Tecnam, died at the age of 93. Pascale started designing model airplanes in the 1930s with his brother Giovanni. The brothers built their first real airplane in 1948 — the P48 Astore […]

Morning fog gradually gave way to sunny skies and pleasant temperatures near 80 degrees as the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo opened its doors to the LSA community yesterday at the Sebring Regional Airport in central Florida. It was a marked difference from last year’s show, when wind and rain put a damper on the five-day […]

In a recent feature, we outlined some of the reasons light-sport aircraft are experiencing a resurgence in the general aviation industry — and why now is a good time to look into LSA ownership. Whether you’re in the market for an LSA or just enjoy looking at interesting airplanes, the aircraft below will give you […]

Small, simple, affordable: From vintage Piper Cubs to Aeronca Champs, Ercoupes, Taylorcrafts and Luscombes, these are the airplanes that kindled America’s love affair with general aviation in the 1930s and post-war 1940s. Their common appeal, of course, centered on their minimalist approach to construction, which made them easy to repair when they broke down or […]

Tecnam has achieved first flight for the largest offering in its rapidly expanding product line: the P2012 Traveller. The 11-seat airplane was flown from the 3,141-foot-long grass runway at the Capua Airport (LIAU), adjacent to Tecnam’s headquarters. “After a smooth takeoff, I climbed to a safe height to perform our pre-planned maneuvers to check the […]

Charles Bolden says now is the right time to take a serious look at a distributed electric aircraft that, if successful, will create advanced technologies to reduce fuel burn, emissions and aircraft noise. Bolden is administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA’s new X-57 project, nicknamed “Maxwell,” will be the agency’s first dedicated […]

The Purdue Research Park Aerospace District in West Lafayette, Indiana, announced a partnership that will make the university a sales, maintenance and training center for Italy’s Tecnam, a maker of general aviation piston airplanes. “There is a tremendous challenge of pilot scarcity in U.S. aviation. One of our most important endeavors is to train and […]

It’s a great name for an optionally piloted airplane. FLARE, the Flying Laboratory for Aeronautical Research, will take to the skies soon as part of an Italian aerospace research center project that will transform a Tecnam P92 two-seater into an unmanned, or at least unpiloted, test bed. Italy’s civil aviation authority has signed off on […]

The Tecnam P2010, a new high-wing four-seat single produced in Italy, is coming to U.S. shores at last after the FAA awarded the airplane’s Part 23 type certificate. Carrying a base price of $345,000, the P2010 is priced slightly below competitors’ airplanes, namely the Cessna Skyhawk, Piper Archer and Diamond DA40. Performance is similar to […]

The Tecnam P2010 is one of those airplanes that you can’t help but stop to look at when you see it on the ramp. Mainly because you’ll be wondering why that Cessna Skyhawk looks so good. Until you realize it’s not a Skyhawk. It’s something different. Something silky smooth. With flowing lines. My goodness, it’s […]