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Tecnam North America

He Built and Test Flew Airplanes for You!

By Dan Johnson || March 17, 2017 Leave a Comment

We lost one of the good ones recently. You may not have met or even know this man, but you certainly know — and may absolutely love — the airplanes he created.

We say a sad and final farewell to Professor Luigi "Gino" Pascale.

While it is somewhat melancholy to bid farewell to this man of short stature but giant achievements, he did what he loved for seven decades and until very near the time of his death. None of us can ask for much more than that.

Luigi is also succeeded by family members who continue to run and expand the operation he began with his brother Giovanni so many years ago. Officially he was chief preliminary design officer of Costruzioni Aeronautiche Tecnam but Tecnam team members remember him fondly as the heart and soul of Tecnam. He was 93 at his passing.

Professor Luigi — as I heard several Tecnam employees refer to him — got his start in aviation designing model airplanes way back in the 1930s. His brother Giovanni and he were passionate about flight and never stopped pursuing the dream.

The Pascale brothers began work on their first full-sized airplane in 1948. They called it the P48 Astore. On the 65th anniversary of that modest beginning, the now-giant of light aviation called Tecnam, unveiled a brand new version of Astore (reported here). Of course, Professor Luigi had a great deal to do with this one as he did with the first. Subsequently all Tecnam designs have the designation P##, with the numbers representing the year the design was started.

Luigi Pascale poses in front of the Tecnam Twin, one of his many designs.

That original Astore first flew in 1951 after Luigi earned his pilot's license. In university, he achieved a Master's Degree in mechanical engineering, reinforcing an obvious aptitude for aircraft design.

Perhaps his most famous design — at least prior to the Light-Sport Aircraft of more recent years — was the Partenavia, a sleek twin-engine general aviation airplane started in 1957. Before that he and his brother created numerous race planes. Sport and recreational flying never left his mind and Sport Pilots today benefit from his tireless work. Indeed, the original company and the one we know today as Tecnam has produced and sold more than 7,000 aircraft, the company reported.

Perhaps his major success — from a number produced standpoint — is his P92, a two-seat metal airplane that has been delivered in several variations. This wonderful light aircraft remains the company's most popular design. After 25 years of service, more than 2,500 are flying in many, many countries around the planet.

While no one knows for sure, it would not be too much of a stretch to say P92 is the most successful Light-Sport Aircraft ever built (though not all models precisely meet the LSA description). That many airplanes flown an uncounted number of hours have delivered many smiles to many pilots regardless of the language they speak.

Luigi Pascale pictured with his nephew, Paolo Pascale. In this video, hear Paolo describe the new Astore and refer to his uncle.

Professor Luigi's final design, the 11-seat P2012 Traveller, is currently going through flight testing. I never heard if he did the flying for this one, but his nephew, Paolo Pascale, who now leads the Tecnam organization, once told me, "Not only does Uncle Luigi design these aircraft, he also test flies them." Amazing!

"Luigi was incredibly proud of Tecnam and all of its employees, and we will all miss him greatly," said Paolo Pascale, who these days is Tecnam's CEO. "His drive to excellence, determination, can-do spirit and commitment to our company will inspire and stay with us always."

Luigi accomplished much and his family of both relatives and company team members have much to be proud of and the pilots who continue to fly his design join with the family in bidding a fond farewell to the talented gentleman from Italy.

See Professor Luigi's heartfelt appreciation when he won the LAMA President's Award for 2016. It is clear he loved aviation and those who loved it with him:

We lost one of the good ones recently. You may not have met or even know this man, but you certainly know — and may absolutely love — the airplanes he created. We say a sad and final farewell to Professor Luigi “Gino” Pascale. While it is somewhat melancholy to bid farewell to this man of short stature but giant achievements, he did what he loved for seven decades and until very near the time of his death. None of us can ask for much more than that. Luigi is also succeeded by family members who continue to run and expand the operation he began with his brother Giovanni so many years ago. Officially he was chief preliminary design officer of Costruzioni Aeronautiche Tecnam but Tecnam team members remember him fondly as the heart and soul of Tecnam. He was 93 at his passing. Professor Luigi — as I heard several Tecnam employees refer to him — got his start in aviation designing model airplanes way back in the 1930s.

What Effect Will “BasicMed” Have on Light-Sport?

By Dan Johnson || January 17, 2017 6 Comments

Tecnam's handsome Astore helped celebrate the company's 65th anniversary in business.

Are excited general aviation pilots kidding themselves about BasicMed? At least one prominent light aviation expert thinks so and judging from comments I've received, I am inclined to say this is much more common than some want to believe.

The number of inquiries or comments I have received compels me to speak to this subject. Several readers or viewers asked variations on this question, "Will this have an adverse effect on Light-Sport Aircraft?" I'll offer my response and then add some other comments.

Aviation medical reform is nearly complete (BasicMed becomes effective May 1st). Many pilots may be waiting to qualify. Most need only to fulfill the requirement for an online evaluation every two years (free from AOPA) plus needing to see a doctor every four. If they did not earn a third class medical in the last 10 years, they must get that out of the way first. This is potentially a big problem as many let their medical lapse for various reasons.

The good news: Light-Sport Aircraft or Sport Pilot-eligible kit aircraft trigger no such requirement.

The Airplane Factory's Sling is available as a two-seat LSA or a 4-seat kit.

Aviators from the LSA and Sport Pilot-eligible aircraft community are generally pleased that some pilots will be able to acquire airplanes from the used GA fleet at low cost or continue to fly the one they already own or rent. The fleet averages nearly 40 years old but that also means lower asking prices (though BasicMed demand could nudge the prices upward).

However, the appeal remains strong for a new LSA at an affordable price or a used LSA at a reduced cost. These roomy, up-to-date aircraft commonly have modern fuel-efficient engines, highly sophisticated equipment including glass panels, and feature low operating costs with performance to match many GA airplanes, albeit with two seats. Light kit aircraft offer broad customization at modest expense. All can be flown with no medical proof other than a valid driver's license.

When the rule change was first proposed five years ago, LSA sales took a nose dive. That body blow to a young industry segment has long since been absorbed and pilots who want a late-model aircraft have been choosing from dozens of models that are now well-established in the market and boast good safety records.

Contrary to some naysayers, LSA has been a global success. Today, LSA and LSA-like aircraft represent well over 60,000 units worldwide with annual sales around 3,000 new units. That last figure is about triple the number of new Type Certified aircraft delivered annually, according to recent reports. Find more details on LSA around the world in this article.

Remos debuted their slick new GXiS model at AirVenture 2016.

"As for the current [BasicMed] proposal, it is not the open medical idea that the LSA pilots enjoy," observed Eric Tucker, longtime industry expert and technical representative for Rotax in the Americas.

"The 'hoops' put in by the FAA make [achieving BasicMed] anything but simple," he added. "There are still checks, there are still evaluations that make this far more complex than the LSA medical we currently have."

Eric summarized noting that, given those fresh "hoops," LSA will not lose its appeal due to the medical changes for pilots.

"After reviewing the new requirements, the so-called relaxing of the medical for pilots, I am rather surprised at the pundits' responses," elaborated Eric. "This is not at all the same as the LSA rule. Indeed this is in some ways worse than what they have at the moment, in my opinion. You now have people who have to go to a doctor who will be unsure of what is really required and perhaps reluctant to sign off on a certificate that they know so little about."

Eric suggested asking yourself these questions: "Will doctors unfamiliar with aviation be willing to sign off for aviation medicals? Will they be willing to take on the responsibility for this in light of the legal response, if it should occur (as it no doubt will) that a pilot has a medical issue while flying after seeing a regular doctor? I think that the positive thoughts expressed today by some might change when we recheck this in a few years. Time will tell."

"The LSA rule is far better," Eric concluded. "People should be made aware of this."

Are excited general aviation pilots kidding themselves about BasicMed? At least one prominent light aviation expert thinks so and judging from comments I’ve received, I am inclined to say this is much more common than some want to believe. The number of inquiries or comments I have received compels me to speak to this subject. Several readers or viewers asked variations on this question, “Will this have an adverse effect on Light-Sport Aircraft?” I’ll offer my response and then add some other comments. Aviation medical reform is nearly complete (BasicMed becomes effective May 1st). Many pilots may be waiting to qualify. Most need only to fulfill the requirement for an online evaluation every two years (free from AOPA) plus needing to see a doctor every four. If they did not earn a third class medical in the last 10 years, they must get that out of the way first. This is potentially a big problem as many let their medical lapse for various reasons.

GA Deliveries Decline Yet Tecnam Performs Well

By Dan Johnson || November 11, 2016 2 Comments

The world best seller is Cirrus SR22, especially the 22T for turbo.

Every quarter, like clockwork, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), issues its delivery report. I've used their data in the past (see HERE) and I appreciate the work they do for the GA producer community. For the past few years, these reports have not exactly been a bright spot, with fairly small numbers of aircraft reported delivered and trends sloping downward. Thanks to my LAMA associate in Europe, Jan Fridrich, ByDanJohnson.com also reports airplane activity, although Jan and I use FAA registration data modified only by our intimate knowledge of the light aircraft industry. Both GAMA and LAMA must interpret some info as these data sources are more slippery than you might think. For each organization the best info is that which you can distill over years of reporting. If the detail may have potential errors (usually small) the long term trends are more reliable. I want to give you a small glimpse at GAMA's numbers for the first nine months of 2016. I am well aware such info is not why you come to this website. However, as GAMA has coaxed a few of the larger LSA producers into its membership, I found some facts of interest.

Tecnam's lovely Astore resembles the Cirrus but costs a fraction as much.

The best news was Tecnam's numbers. This Italian company has been a major force in light aircraft production for years. That isn't changing; in fact, it appears certain to accelerate. From GAMA's numbers I ignore all the business jet, turbine, helicopter, and ag-plane data. That stuff interests me and most readers only peripherally. So, I look solely at their Single Engine Piston (SEP) data as the closest comparison to LSA and light kit aircraft. GAMA reported 601 SEPs for the first nine months, or 800 annualized. Of that, Tecnam logged 122 units for better than 20% of all GAMA SEPs. This does count all their aircraft with one engine including their Type Certified P2010 four seater as well as their LSA models, the latter accounting for 53 units or 71 annualized. GAMA decided from info supplied by Tecnam which ones were LSA, referring to their ASTM standards compliance. The GA organization leaves LSA out of their summary tables but includes those stats in their detail info. To compare, Cessna reported 127 units in the same nine-month period. So, short by only a hair, Tecnam produced as many SEPs as did giant Cessna. Both significantly trailed Cirrus, which logged 226 units delivered (38% of all SEPs), by far the best in the list. Other GA producers, in order, were Diamond (46) and Piper (41), trailed distantly by Bonanza (16), Champion (15), Mooney (5), and Maule (3).

Tecnam's P2008 is a handsome and popular Light-Sport entry. Tecnam photos courtesy the company

The only other LSA producers included on GAMA's review were Flight Design (19) and CubCrafters (27... of which 22 were LSA). Flight Design is going through reorganization and how GAMA will handle that change remains to be seen. CubCrafters, with 22 LSA (all Carbon Cubs, zero Sport Cubs) annualizes to 29 LSA and that is far off their hot pace the last few years. In 2015, the West coast Cub-like builder slipped from their one-a-week rate in the preceding few years and 2016's info appears to slow further. Could the number of potential buyers of $200,000 Cubs be dropping or is this just a temporary slowdown? CubCrafters has competition from American Legend and various European suppliers of very similar aircraft (SportairUSA's Shock), American variations (Just Aircraft) that perform even better, and still others with more affordable prices (Rans). All that said, Tecnam clearly looks like the strong company in light aviation with numbers way ahead of whomever comes second. The company has a wide line of several LSA (P92, P2008, Astore, etc.) plus the dual-Rotax Twin, the newer P2010 GA model and an 11-seater in progress. Good for Tecnam!

Every quarter, like clockwork, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), issues its delivery report. I’ve used their data in the past (see HERE) and I appreciate the work they do for the GA producer community. For the past few years, these reports have not exactly been a bright spot, with fairly small numbers of aircraft reported delivered and trends sloping downward. Thanks to my LAMA associate in Europe, Jan Fridrich, ByDanJohnson.com also reports airplane activity, although Jan and I use FAA registration data modified only by our intimate knowledge of the light aircraft industry. Both GAMA and LAMA must interpret some info as these data sources are more slippery than you might think. For each organization the best info is that which you can distill over years of reporting. If the detail may have potential errors (usually small) the long term trends are more reliable. I want to give you a small glimpse at GAMA’s numbers for the first nine months of 2016.