2013 GAMA report

And then there are a huge portion of lower middle class pilots who are looking in disbelief onto the “used” market and who will find that “maybe now is the time to make the dream come true”.

That was me :-)

Let’s put it THIS way: If ANYBODY here was pragmatic we’d all be part of a chess or gardening forum :-)

So true

Re Tecnam, my impression is that their way of doing business is disciplined, perhaps a little hard nosed. This is not a company or owner that believes in promotion in the manner of Diamond or Pipistrel. There was a well publicized story of their relationship with one of the original promoters of the US LSA law that clarified their approach in my mind. They also have no sign on their building in Capua, and an unstaffed security gate – I stopped there briefly on my way north a few years ago. It makes sense; if I ran that business in the Naples area I would want zero attention too.

I imagine Tecnam doesn’t join GAMA or report their manufacturing volume because there’s nothing in it for them and they prefer to keep a low profile. None the less, I think Tecnam makes several hundred planes per year, more than most of the GAMA members.

Re used planes, it is surely a wonderful time to buy. If you’ve worked a job for years as some do, your income and savings may have risen substantially over the last decade in spite of the overall economy. Meanwhile aircraft prices have dropped at a similar rate. I call it the revenge of the fiscally conservative

What are the benefits to a manufacturer being a member?

I think where Tecnam might be unusual with respect to most non-GAMA manufacturers is that they make a significant volume of aircraft.

What are the benefits to joining any industry association? Political visibility, lobbying and pooled resources for a little advertising.

I checked the FAA register recently in regards to the Tecnam P2006T for a post in another thread. Think I counted 13 on the US register, which is a lot less than I’d expected. After all it’s cheaper to buy new than a Cessna 182, on par to service and overhaul. In my mind it’s a no brainer, but one has to remember that the US aviation market is about as conservative as the Spanish Inquisition. They haven’t heard about Tecnam much and the brand has no recognition. Also, for liability purposes, I think all parts get shipped in, which might scare some buyers. But in Europe, where Tecnam is more known, they’ve sold well. Must be closer to 200 now, which is a success by any standards. As the reputation grows, I’m sure they’ll eventually sell more of them in the US.

If they could somehow get a small diesel in there, de-icing and maybe even pressurisation, increase the MTOW and range, they would have a killer product. Just unbeatable at that price.

If they could somehow get a small diesel in there, de-icing and maybe even pressurisation, increase the MTOW and range, they would have a killer product. Just unbeatable at that price.

Have you sat in one? I found it the cabin to be extremely crammed and the build quality substandard. Lots of cheap plastics and very un-Italian ugliness.

I own a Tecnam P92 (beside my SR22 TN) and I visited the Tecnam factory in Naples when I bought it last year. Tecnam made their fortune in the 90’s when Professor Pascale started to produce the P92 under ultralight category (450kg MTOW) and the Italian government agreed to close an eye on the real weights of the P92. From that moment Italy became one of the largest “false-ultralight” markets in the World (more than 10000 ULM are flying today in Italy, against less than 2000 GA) all benefiting from the Italian government “flexibility” on real weights (the rule is just to have a rotax engine in the front). In the meanwhile Tecnam enjoyed the first mover advantage and produced around 2000 P92, which makes it the most produced and tested “ultralight” (i.e. rotax-using) plane in history.
Prof.Pascale played smart a second time and got VLA certification for the P92 (and its evolution, the P2008), so that it could be used in EU PPL schools and became the only GA plane to use the Rotax engine (only engine certified to be used with alcool-containing mogas, i.e. car gasoline). Only the Diamond Katana also used the rotax engine, but was underpowered and didn’t have much success.
The third smart move of Prof.Pascale was the creation of the P2006T, to answer the needs of EU commercial flying schools (CPL/ATPL) who understood how the D42 had a false economy when came the time (TBR) to replace the diesel engines (Rotax engines cost 1/3 of Thielert or Austro Engines).

Now Prof.Pascale is quite aged and the son is taking over as CEO…I don’t see a bright future for Tecnam once Prof.Pascale will be gone: Tecnam is losing market-share both on the domestic ultralight market (they have bad customer-care and comparatively slow planes) and on the VLA market (where the SportCruiser is now preferred because of the ballistic parachute). The new generation simply lacks the genius and the innovation power of the old founder: typical Italian SME story, where the new generation prefers to sink the father’s company rather selling or hiring external management…

Valerio – thanks for that post, very interesting. I guess time will tell.

The Italian promotion of genius and family business is a wonderful cultural asset that I’ve never seen successfully combined with professional management. One side always wins and the product eventually either disappears completely or loses its original appeal. The trick for me is to buy the Italian companies product from the top of its game, preferably a few years after it was made when its become unfashionable. I have one Italian motorcycle that’s worth perhaps five times what I paid for it twenty years ago, and it wasn’t cheap then. Maybe I’ll sell it and buy a Tecnam after the US LSA category crashes