At EAA AirVenture this week, the Tecnam exhibit resembles a sea of aircraft, including five airplanes being shown at Oshkosh for the first time. The Italian planemaker, celebrating its 60th year in business, arrived this week with a long list of new products, updates, and data to share with their U.S. customer base. The new-to-Oshkosh products include a turbo version of the P2008 (the standard version debuted at Sebring’s Light Sport expo back in 200;click here for an AVweb video), and four different versions of the P92 LSA — a floatplane, a taildragger with cargo pod for backcountry traveling, a surveillance version marketed as a low-cost law-enforcement option, and the classic Echo LSA, which sells for about $75,000. The company also had updates on three new aircraft now in the works.
Three new models will start deliveries by year’s end, the company said: Astore, a low-wing metal LSA that flew for the first time in June; the Snap! aerobatic airplane; and the P2010, a four-seat aircraft that AVweb checked out at Aero earlier this year. Another new model, the P2012, a two-engine, 11-seat piston-powered aircraft, will fly in 2015 and get certified in 2016, the company said. The company also shared their analysis of training costs, showing that career-minded students who train in an LSA, maximize simulator time, and take their instrument and complex training in a Tecnam twin can end up logging more multi-engine time for their money.
