Watch as We Fly the Tecnam P-Mentor

The Tecnam P-Mentor has found a home in flight schools across Europe, including this one based in France. [Jim Payne]

A crop of new training aircraft have come on the scene, and Tecnam's P-Mentor joins those ranks with a certain Italian flair. The brainchild of the family that founded the Capua-based company, the Pascales, the P-Mentor goes beyond light sport with its EASA CS-23-certificated, two-seat airplane, which boasts a Garmin G3X Touch avionics suite and other high-tech touches.

Though FAA certification is still pending, the P-Mentor has made it into flight training fleets across Europe, with plans to follow in the U.S. soon. FLYING editor-in-chief Julie Boatman visits the OEM and flies the P-Mentor over the Italian countryside north of Naples (Napoli) in this pilot report.

Capua Flight Test Italy P-Mentor pilot report piston Pistons Rotax single-engine Tecnam Video We Fly

Julie BoatmanEditor

Based in Maryland, Julie is an editor, aviation educator, and author. She holds an airline transport pilot certificate with Douglas DC-3 and CE510 (Citation Mustang) type ratings. She's a CFI/CFII since 1993, specializing in advanced aircraft and flight instructor development. Follow Julie on Twitter @julieinthesky.