tecnam p2006t rr:GA 19/3/11 17:08 Page 30 TwinTwinFlight test: safety safety on on

Geoffrey Boot renews his MEP and IR in this stylish Tecnam twin and finds it very much to his liking. Photos: Flyer magazine

ollowers of my flying exploits may My colleague Andy Cragg, with whom I UK and Ireland. After some frustrating recall an appetite for two engine have owned aeroplanes for many a year, delays over the winter with the snow and Fflying. Of late, however, even our has been suggesting we cast our eyes cold weather conspiring against us we venerable Twin Comanche, which has over the miniature version of the finally got together in January on a sadly been grounded for some months, Partenavia, the new Tecnam P2006T, for sunny, but later very wet and overcast has come under suspicion for being fuel some time. To be honest, in my ignorance day, providing an opportunity for me to hungry (now more per litre than cheap I had dismissed it simply because it test the aeroplane and for Tim to test me. wine!) so much so that we have been featured Rotax engines. My early Let me set the scene. Tim arrives, we using our SF260 for hops across the Irish encounters with the two stroke versions have a cup of tea; Andy arrives, we Sea from the Isle of Man. However, one had not been that happy. walk round the aeroplane, Andy takes engine with the 60-plus miles of rough However, the requirement for an IR off for a few circuits; Tim returns and in Irish Sea below, particularly in winter, and MEP renewal prompted me to phone the meantime I’ve planned the IR test; requires faith and courage. I know, the Tim Orchard, ex-Concorde pilot, another walk-round and briefing and engine doesn’t know it’s over water — venerable examiner, better still an I’m in the hot seat lining up straight but we do! operator and also agent for Tecnam in the into the missed approach then ILS

30 April 2011 tecnam p2006t rr:GA 19/3/11 17:08 Page 31 nsingle single money money

procedure at Lydd. Background engine training. Before you get too worried – or perhaps The Diamond D42 Twin Star started to not – yes I did pass the test, but before I It has been fairly obvious for some time, tick some of the boxes but the hiccup go into the foibles of the aeroplane which especially for those who own and operate with the diesel engines, its long unfolded during the process, I would twins – and in these I include training wingspan, and a high purchase price, has reiterate Tim’s comment as we left the organisations – that the cost of fuel is been a barrier to many potential owners. first hold into the procedure. It is fast becoming prohibitive. When you Taking on board the ‘do you need six probably indicative of how easy this new factor in the cost of new aircraft and seats’ question (which you don’t when generation of twin engined aircraft are to their continuing maintenance, is there you’re training, or there’s two of you and fly: “You’re obviously having to work hard any wonder that £300/£400 an hour is all you’ve got is your luggage), but you with the glass cockpit you’re not familiar becoming de rigueur. There has long want that other engine for IFR or sea with, but incidentally are flying the been a gap in a market looking for an transit security, the only way of bringing aeroplane very accurately”. Handling the economical twin that will provide a safe down costs dramatically is and has been aeroplane was definitely not the hard transport platform, while displaying all to identify efficient, reliable engines then part. the characteristics required for multi combine them with an even more

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TECNAM P2006T AIRCRAFT Basic price : €305,500 Glass IFR version price : €358,484

POWER Engine 2 x Rotax 912S, four cylinder, producing 98hp each Prop 2 x MT 2-blade constant speed, full feathering.

DIMENSIONS Wingspan 10.6m Wing area 14.4sq-m Length 8.66m Height 2.58m Cabin width 1.2m+ Seats 4 MTOW 1180kg (in 2011 MTOW 1230kgs) efficient airframe. JetA rather than Avgas Top: ‘a miniature version of the Partenavia’ with the Diamond solved part of the from the pencil of the same designer Empty weight 760kg problem but a new, expensive engine Above: fuselage extensions allow for a wide Max payload 420kg and stable main undercarriage design conspired to keep the cost up. Fuel capacity two 100l fuel tanks That’s where Professore Luigi Pascale entered the fray. The designer of the PERFORMANCE Partenavia obviously recognised that Strangely they are unpainted – apparently Vne 168kt scaling down the concept and combining it something to do with EASA and the Cruise 145kt with the now very successful Rotax 912S conductive qualities of the paint used on Range 710nm four-stroke was a recipe for an efficient, the wings. I know, don’t ask me, Tim Ceiling 15,000ft (single engine 7,000ft) frugal but very capable aeroplane. The wasn’t really sure why either. A small Take-off roll 225m has evolved beyond my early stepladder is supplied with the aeroplane Landing roll 180m Rotax scepticism and now sports a TBO of to make visual inspection of the tanks as Rate of climb 1260fpm 2,000 hours or 15 years, and of course is well as checking of the oil possible. in use and well proven in many light The cabin/cockpit inside is much larger All specifications and performance figures aircraft throughout the world. than anticipated. There is a door on the are supplied by the manufacturer. All performance figures are based on left side for pilot access and the seats slide The aeroplane standard day, standard atmosphere, sea level, well back, making access easy. On the and at gross weight unless stated otherwise. There’s a lot to be said for conventional right side there is a further door to the rear aluminium construction. It’s stood the test to load passengers and luggage. I sat in MANUFACTURER of time, is relatively easy to maintain and the rear cabin and even with the pilot seats COSTRUZIONI AERONAUTICHE TECNAM Srl that’s where this aeroplane sits. The fairly reasonably well back there is plenty of Via Maiorise lightweight construction avoids looking or space for two adults, behind which there is 81043 Capua (CE) feeling tinny: a clever combination. The a cavernous area capable of taking another aeroplane looks uncannily like a smaller 80 kilos. T: +39-0823-622297 version of the Partenavia, combined This is not a cabin class twin: putting it W: www.tecnam.com perhaps with a Dornier 228. in perspective, the overall cabin area is UK DISTRIBUTOR The compact Rotax engines seem to sit probably a little larger than a PA28, Tecnam UK into the wing structure, presumably particularly taking into account the AAA Ltd reducing drag and weight, and the wing baggage area at the rear. The seats, whilst Wycombe Air Park tips sport very distinctive upturned modern, were a little on the hard side but Booker, Marlow winglets. The cockpit area is suspended in practice proved comfortable. Bucks SL7 3DP below the main spar, with much of the The aeroplane sits close to the ground T: 01494 523426 load forward of the centre of gravity. Two and you notice this, not only as you enter E: [email protected] W: www.tecnamuk.com 100 litre wing tanks sit within the wing. but when you are seated. Whilst the

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Above: interior feels spacious, with plenty of room for the rear seat passengers Left: ‘cavernous’ baggage compartment can accommodate 80 kilos of luggage Right: doors cannot be opened when the engines are running, luckily

geared to the Rotax engines. Internally the cockpit and cabin are well trimmed and finished. Up front the panel is dominated by the glass screens of the Garmin G950 integrated flight deck system with a GMA1347 audio panel sitting visibility is good forward, it is slightly more between the screen. As alluded to earlier, restricted to the sides due to what one this was my first experience of this new assumes are structural pillars ahead of the generation of kit. The engine adjustments automatically there are just side windows. instrumentation was of an analogue type. throttles and prop control, the other pair The entry doors are exceptionally close to The controls themselves are being carburettor heat. Below the levers the propellers but Tim assured me that conventional yokes, standard are choke controls and parking brake. there is a clever mechanism that does not pedals and toe brakes. Below the Garmin The undercarriage is an electro hydro allow them to be opened whilst the engines screens there are three standby flight operated system. If this fails to operate the are running. I didn’t put it to the test! instruments, the sort that I understand emergency system uses a nitrogen bottle to For the more technically minded, the well, as well as a clock and fuel pressure send extra hydraulic fluid into the lines. wings are of a laminar flow type, fitted gauges. The emergency selectors are on the floor to with Frise ailerons and electrically operated As the aeroplane is used primarily for the front of the pilot’s seat. slotted flaps. The aircraft sports a stabilator training, no autopilot is fitted, but the In terms of load, with two pilots and full à la Piper and the fin and rudder are of factory option is an S TEC 55 which fuel it’s best to have some luggage in the conventional construction. The overall combined with the Garmins is about as back to stay within the C of G but you’ll go dimensions are quite small, with a good as it gets for us lower-end GA pilots. 650 nautical miles. On the other hand if wingspan of 11.4m and length of 8.66m. The central quadrant sprouts the usual you start filling the seats and baggage The Rotax engines are fitted with fully three pairs of levers but because of the compartment then the trade off is going to feathering two blade MT props which are Bing carburettors that deal with mixture be fuel but even then with four up and

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some baggage, the range, depending on Needless to say, all went well and after Internally, the noise levels are low. One weight, will be 300/400 nautical miles. the first ILS Tim perpetrated the required criticism is that the undercarriage limiting Ranges will increase following an engine failure, and with quadrant covered speed of 93 kt is a bit on the low side. impending increase of the MAUM to simulated failure of the right engine. This However, later in 2011 this limit will be 1230kgs (current and future P2006T’s) was not the drama it can be in many older raised to 119 kt, which will help during twins; with a reasonably light application instrument approaches where a little bit Getting going of rudder the engine identified and shut more speed during the initial approach Having briefed on the Garmin, starting the down (touch drills). We continued to climb might be appropriate. This will be Rotax engines is akin to starting my car. at blue line speed as Tim set zero thrust on retrospective to all P2006Ts. After selecting fuel pumps and ignitions the so called dead engine. At the 80-knot The MEP renewal also requires some both engines started instantaneously; blue line speed we were climbing at over general handling work which enabled me taxiing with the conventional rudder pedals 200ft a minute. While it took me a second to get to grips with a few steep turns, the and toe brake pedals is simple, with a to decide where the balance ball was, as reasonable turning circle. Pre departure it’s actually a small rectangle set above the checks are pretty standard for a light twin HSI on the screen, we continued with the and we were soon lined up and ready to asymmetric NDB/DME procedure which roll. Acceleration doesn’t exactly kick you proved no more difficult to fly than the ILS. in the pants, it doesn’t need to because it Flip-flopping the frequencies on the doesn’t take long to reach rotate at 65 Garmin with automatic beacon knots, the nose wheel comes off earlier, identification is a new luxury — forget the and we were airborne shortly thereafter in Morse! All combined with the very docile around 300m. Take off flap is handling characteristics to make a good recommended for all take offs. Tim had instrument/training platform and one I’m briefed 80 knots for initial climb, which is sure students will adapt to very quickly, as coincidentally blue line speed (Vy and indeed I did. Vyse) but to be honest that felt slow and nose high so I naturally reduced the angle and settled at around 95/100 knots, which just happened to be the recommended en route climb speed. By this time I was not really worried about the view ahead as I was concentrating hard on the Garmin display, working out my altitude and speed. This proved surprisingly intuitive and it wasn’t long before I had mastered the display and was able to concentrate on identifying the requisite beacons for the test.

This photo: roll rate is adequate, stalls hold no nasty surprises

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roll rate being more than adequate, as well STOL like performance. It is rumoured that price of one, with that added safety as a dally with the stall. Once again no one individual has been to known to land, and security. nasty surprises: the stall warner starts to come to a full stop and take off on a 6) Short field performance par excellence sound a tad under 70 knots, there is some runway just 550m long. Perhaps I should — Small is beautiful. It won’t occupy light buffet and the stall happened at say, don’t try this at home! that much hangar room for those who around 60 knots. With first stage approach might want to operate from their own flap (equivalent to take off flap), the stall Tick box conclusions strip. speed lowers and the break is a little more Ticking boxes is the name of the game 7) It’s a great training platform. Not only pronounced with a tendency to wing drop. when you’re looking for a new aeroplane is it relatively easy to fly, it operates Recovery is simple: with the nose down and for me this is an aeroplane that ticks a and handles like, and is, a smoothly apply power resulting in a loss of lot of those boxes : conventional twin — just what we 300/400 ft. The reality is in normal flight 1) It’s not that expensive for a new instructors want. you would have to be very distracted or aeroplane compared to the 8) It has a very low noise footprint as careless to enter a fully developed stall. competition. well. When Andy took off with Tim In the cruise it’s really a matter of 2) Its Rotax engines are proven and with initially I didn’t actually hear the deciding how much noise, or indeed fuel, its conventional construction it doesn’t aeroplane go — good for your you wish to burn. Flying the procedures I look as though it’s going to eat lots of neighbours. initially had the power back at 20 MAP money in maintenance. 9) It doesn’t look half bad. I mentioned it 2000 rpm which was turning in around 3) Most of the technology is already was Italian and the Italians do have a 115/120 knots IAS with cruise flight at 24 proven. canny habit of producing good looking MAP 2000 rpm. This raised the game to 4) It will, and I haven’t mentioned this aeroplanes. 125 knots, and by pushing the throttles earlier, run on Mogas as happily as it 10) The only box that perhaps doesn’t tick further forward the aeroplane nudged does on Avgas 100LL, something that is that of speed, but then as I get older 132/134. Obviously this is at low level; may become increasingly important do I really need to be there that 10 climb a little bit and the modest power particularly as the price of Avgas minutes or 15 minutes earlier? 9/10 setting will true out at more than 135 escalates. If operating from your own not bad! knots. Not the fastest aeroplane on the strip then there is a Mogas alternative. I owe thanks to Andy, whose insistence block, but plenty for training and Also, the hours between oil and plug and persistence finally persuaded me to comparable to the Grumman Cougar or changes are doubled if Mogas is used give the Tecnam a try. This is really a Piper Seminole. Substantially slower, – another cost saving. Flying Farmers-type aeroplane with two however, than most of the larger twins and 5) Two engines – this aeroplane burns so engines but at the same time it’s an my Twin Comanche, which at low level is little fuel for a twin (in fact it’s akin to excellent training platform with all the a 140 knot aeroplane – but then you have operating a Cessna 172) that you are characteristics required to put trainees to balance that with the fuel burn. in effect almost getting two for the through an MEP and IR. Tim assures me 40 litres an hour total is I already have a 440m strip and the really maxing it. They have over 200 hours thought of being able to operate from this operational experience and the average is and house the aeroplane in my own Below: the Tecnam really comes into its own 35/38 litres an hour. Perhaps with the two on short grass fields hangar is an attractive proposition. Watch engine security, taking a little longer to get this space, as they say. I there on less fuel than any of the competition is worth the trade off. In the circuit once again I found I had to be careful not to exceed the undercarriage limiting speed: 80 knots with initial approach flap and undercarriage down seems about right with full flap producing a lot more drag on shorter finals reducing speed to 70 knots for the threshold. Crosswind limit quoted as 17 knots demonstrated, more I suspect with a bit of practice, although I am not encouraging anyone to do it. Where the aeroplane really comes in to its own is its grass field/short field capability though I didn’t have an opportunity to wring this out, operating from nearly a mile of tarmac. Tim says: “Bear in mind the factory does all its test flying from a grass strip”. The manual reinforces this, and unusually instead of having to factor in grass field performance you have to factor it out for tarmac, so the performance figures just get better. Fully load the aeroplane and with zero wind on the proverbial grass, in ISA conditions, it will leave the ground in 270m. In same conditions the TODR is 370m. Landing roll is even more impressive sub 200m. Put the aeroplane on tarmac with a head wind and you have

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