Tecnam’s P2006 twin – a sneak preview
Wagga Air Centre’s Chris Cabot has been flying light twins on his night freight network long enough to be cynical about engine-out performance. So when Tecnam started quoting projected engine-out expectations for its neat little four-seat P2006 twin he invested $6,000 to go to Italy and see for himself.
Chris’s other concern was that he’s Tecnam’s NSW and ACT dealer and he didn’t want to dud anybody: “Being an old twin driver (of Cessna 310s, Piper Navajos and the like) I simply didn’t believe the performance figures. I was the most skeptical person and I reckoned there was no way known the aeroplane was going to fly on one engine, let alone climb on one.”
“But I was wrong. Our takeoff weight was 80 kg over MTOW with the test pilot aboard. We went up and flew it around on two engines at 140 KIAS. We then shut down one engine and that didn’t seem to matter; the aircraft performed just as well either way, airspeed drops back to about 110 kt, it flies quite comfortably turning into or away from the dead engine with no dramas.
“So I said ‘Will I climb on one engine? Let’s find out.’
“VMCa is 73 knots indicated, and best climb rate speed is 80 kt. At 80 kg over max takeoff weight we were climbing at 520 feet per minute on a 28 degree day at sea level. So I was very impressed. I know a Navajo or a C310 won’t do anything like that and won’t go anywhere at MTOW on one engine.
“We couldn’t go to 5,000’ because of overlying military airspace, but it climbed to 3,000’ easily and comfortably without any performance degradation. Leg room in the back was great and with the pilot in the front seat I could just reach out and get my toes under the seat in front, so there’s heaps of leg room in here and a lot of luggage space. One of the design features they’ve put into it for certification is an emergency hatch in the roof so if you ever land in the water you can get out through the roof leaving the doors sealed so it’ll keep floating.” (But Chris took their word for that one.)
“Power comes from two 100 hp Rotax engines with hydraulic constant speed units and full feathering capability. The retractable gear is a lot like the Agusta helicopters, with a little pod on the side of the fuselage. Tecnam makes components for Agusta helicopters which I’ve flown, and there are a lot of components fairly similar in the Tecnam’s undercarriage system. Also it’s a trailing link undercarriage so it’s very hard to bugger up a landing. We operated out of a 400m strip and takeoffs and landings there presented no worries at all, I reckon it’ll suit the Cessna 182 pilot who wants that IFR twin capability. It outperformed all my expectations.”
Tecnam couldn’t adapt the Garmin 1000 avionics because the software wouldn’t talk to the Rotax engines, so they’ve gone for the Garmin 900. The autopilot is also fully IFR, the aircraft uses 40 lit/hr at 140 kt, and the full price in Australia will be about AU$800,000 plus GST.
Tecnam had also contemplated putting using the lightweight O-200 that Teledyne Continental are producing for the Cessna Skycatcher but Continental wouldn’t sell them an engine, so they stuck with the Rotax. There is some talk down the line of a Gemini Diesel option which would probably suit the farmers who already have diesel facilities.
We look forward to presenting our readers with a comprehensive flight test some time soon.
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Dear Sir/Madam
When is the Tecnam P2006 twin aircraft expected to arrive in Australia and what will be the cost?
Regards
Vince Cassaniti
Editor’s comment
Tecnam Australia expects a demo aircraft to be in Australia by the end of November. Basic price for a conventional panel aircraft will be about AU$560 + GST, and a fully IFR glass cockpit version with flight director, synthetic vision – the lot! – has just been ordered and will sell at about AU$760k plus GST.
Ed