Tecnam's four-seat general aviation offering, the P Twenty Ten, is on target for certification in late 2013.
According to the Tecnam design office, the P Twenty Ten developmental flight envelope is "already sufficient to perform long range and high altitude cruise and we believe we can improve these already winning performances. We’re going to out-class every new or existing concurrent aircraft in the same category both for cruise speed, endurance and flying qualities."
The certification program is following the plan and the next steps consist of advanced development: Night VFR cockpit, IFR and RNP RNAV capabilities, autopilot, spinning, “light” versions with fixed pitch propeller and analog cockpit.
Tecnam's Chief Test Pilot Marco Locatelli flew the prototype from Capua, Italy to AERO 2013 at Friedrichshafen in April, crusing over the alps at 10,000 feet.
“After 100 hours flown during its developmental and initial certification testing phase this elegant aircraft shows predictable and smooth behavior” he said. “The superior cockpit and advanced Garmin 1000 integrated avionic system works perfectly and allowed us to easily fly ... over the Alps and through three countries with good safety margins."
The P Twenty Ten had a successful show, culminating with the award for Best General Aviation Aircraft from Fliegermagazin.