The Federal Aviation Administration has certificated Tecnam’s single-piston P-Mentor training aircraft, clearing the Italian manufacturer to begin delivering the aircraft to US customers.
Tecnam revealed the certification on 8 May, saying its first US-delivered P-Mentor will go to the Stephen F Austin State University in Texas.
It then intends to deliver P-Mentors to pilot-training providers Kilo Charlie Aviation in Kansas and EpicSky Flight Academy in Iowa.
“This aircraft will open up many profitable opportunities within the flight-training market and revolutionise the training paradigm,” says Tecnam.
It describes the P-Mentor as a modern replacement for the ageing training aircraft used by many US flight schools.
Tecnam introduced the P-Mentor several years ago and achieved the type’s certification by European regulators in 2022.
P-Mentors have Garmin avionics, variable-pitch propellers and optional emergency parachutes.
Powered by single 100hp (75kW) Rotax 912iSc engines, P-Mentors cruise at 117kt (217km/h) and have 730nm (1,352km) of range, according to Tecnam.
The company says it has delivered more than 100 P-Mentors to customers in 18 countries.
