Appears I will have to book a slot to fly the machine asap and report back with some real time experience.
If it flies as well as the P2002, it’ll be a good flying machine.
Does any one know how this aircraft is holding up in the training environment at Shoreham?
Which school is operating it? I can ask. I haven’t noticed it down there – but probably I wouldn’t; I just turn up and fly and then usually go home 
The P2008 I’ve recently flown still flies after half a year in a training environment 
The nose wheel fairing had to be removed after it broke during a bad nose wheel landing, the knob of one of the seat adjustment levers broke off, there are ball pen marks on the seats, and damage to the paint of the struts.
The mayor annoying points IMO are:
Other than that, it handles quite nicely once you’re in the air, achieves about the same cruise speed (~105kts TAS) as our C172SP, but on half the fuel flow, and it’s IMO easier to get in and out than out 172SP.
Quote Which school is operating it?
Omega Aviation (formerly Sky Leisure) are operating it. They were offering a half price hourly rate to encourage people to try it out with an instructor, and I expect they still are. Also, because it is lighter than the all metal aircraft, I believe the landing fee is slightly cheaper too.
I have had a sit in it and it looks very neat inside. I haven’t flown it, but was tempted to take advantage of the half price offer just to see what it was like….
I wish Omega every success with their venture and hope that it proves to be a worthwhile investment.
I asked about the P2008.
They say they love it and their customers love it. They flew it all the way back from the company in Italy, VFR obviously.
I sat in it. It has about 7cm headroom above my head (no headset) and I am 1.75m. It is nice inside. Nice equipment, well laid out. This one had the Garmin G3X, plus a standalone horizon to allow night VFR. It burns about 15 litres/hr at 95kt which is what they train at, though will go a bit quicker (fixed pitch prop).
The wing strut is strong enough but is too far in to enable one to stand on it and see above the wing, so steps are needed, and this cheap thing
would do for me to reach the filler cap.
It’s a very good looking plane and way way above any of the old iron. Anybody who runs a school and doesn’t charge significantly above the old iron operators is going to get most of the business that’s going, IMHO.
Just to tack onto this thread, I finally flew the Omega Flight Training’s P2008 Tecnam based at Shoreham today. Delightful machine. 2200rmp gave an indicated 108kts with a fuel burn of around 19ltrs ph. Wind was 220 at 20kts and she handled it well. Climbs well, nice control balance but you do need to start planning your descents etc a lot earlier than you ordinarily would otherwise you can look forward to doing lots of go arounds or using lots of runway. In the wind today, the elevator felt a little too powerful so I had ensure small inputs to prevent a balloon in the flare; I did this on my first attempt at landing and just threw the landing away without the wheels actually touching. The rest of the other landings were fine. Again with the take off, pronounced more with a touch and go, the plane was ready to fly before the “seat of the pants” felt ready to fly but all fun. I have never flown a rotax powered machine and it was interesting to learn all about chokes, coolants and so forth. It is kitted out with the G3 Garmin toys and while I don’t have anything to compare it with or indeed not being that teckie, it seemed to be all singing and dancing and capable. It is much roomier inside than I thought it was and while I am not tall, I am over 6ft1 and I fitted in well without my head touching the ceiling, even with headset on and I was not conscious of the fact that the person sat next to me was touching me etc. Something that begins to irritate me in the smaller fit cabins. Landing fee in this machine is £24 adding to its appeal.
Very impressed and will certainly be doing more flying in this machine, if only to master the “black magic” that is called the electronic wizardry. It was interesting chatting to a fellow aviator in the lounge; he is learning to fly on the Tecnam and he mentioned that he cant picture himself flying or trusting the steam gauges and here I am thinking the opposite. Defo brought home that I am getting old. Sob.
A new type in the log book to add to my collection and I also hope to start on the the twin (Seneca) in the next month or two after I have recovered from paying me taxes. Hehehe. Then, I think all my itches have been scratched and apart from a few interesting navex’s I have planned this year, if I can find the correct aircraft, I can finally retire from avaition with a big smile on me dial.
How did the stall warner work? Was it silent during the circuit?
Hahaha, it had lost its voice for the entire flight. But the stalls are benign and there is lots of warning via the sloppy controls and buffets when approaching the stall itself.
2200rmp gave an indicated 108kts
??? that plane has a Rotax 912S as a standard, for which 2200 rpm is barely over idle – that can never get you such a nice speed.
Looking for reassurance on the dashboard picture, I even fail to find a tachometer?
Confused (but I AM tired from a hard day’s work).
