Italian airframer Tecnam has secured European certification for the short take-off and landing variant of its P2012 Traveller twin-engined commuter aircraft.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency lists the type certificate as having been amended from 1 March to add the STOL configuration.
Tecnam has developed the P2012 STOL to serve airports with short runways and operational constraints.
The certification campaign has lasted 18 months, the company says, and production aircraft are already in the final stage of assembly.
Initial customer deliveries, it adds, will start “filling an uncovered gap” and address an “underdeveloped and unsupported” niche market.
Powered by geared Continental GTSIO-520-S engines with three-blade propellers, the STOL aircraft has a 16.6m span – some 2.6m greater than the conventional P2012.
Tecnam says the nine-seat STOL variant can achieve a take-off run of 315m at maximum weight, and obstacle-clearance take-off distance of 425m. The landing distance from an obstacle is 360m, it adds, with a ground run of 225m.
The aircraft – which has two crew seats but is single-pilot approved – has a maximum gross weight of 3.68t with a useful load of just over 1.28t.
Tecnam adds that it can be converted “quickly and easily” from a passenger aircraft to a configuration for other purposes, including cargo transport or air ambulance work.
