Tecnam P2008

The Tecnam P2008 is a two-seat, single-engine light aircraft built by the Italian maker Tecnam, a high-wing, strut-braced monoplane aimed chiefly at the American market. It was the first Tecnam design to use major composite parts: a carbon fibre fuselage with an integrated fin, paired with all-metal wings and tailplane. Its Rotax 912 flat-four piston engine drives a two-blade propeller, the cabin seats two side by side with a door on each side and baggage space behind, and the fixed tricycle undercarriage steers on the ground by differential braking. The first flight took place on 30 September 2008, the type was shown at the AERO Friedrichshafen show in 2009, and deliveries began that December. Variants include the base P2008, a turbocharged P2008 TC and a P2008 JC certified under European very light aircraft rules. By 2013 examples were registered in countries including Australia, Italy, South Korea, New Zealand and the United States.