Engineering:Tecnam P2006T

Short description: Twin-engine general aviation aircraft

P2006T
Tecnam 2006T on the ground
Role	Four-seat light twin
National origin	Italy
Manufacturer	Tecnam
Designer	Luigi Pascale
First flight	13 September 2007
Introduction	2010
Status	In production, active
Produced	2007–present
Number built	578 (as of 2017)
Developed into	NASA X-57 Maxwell

The Tecnam P2006T is an Italian high-winged twin-engined all-metal light aircraft, built by Costruzioni Aeronautiche Tecnam based in Capua, Italy, near Naples. The P2006T received airworthiness certification in the European Union by EASA under CS23 in 2003, type certification in 2009, and Federal Aviation Administration FAR Part 23 certification in 2010.

The P2006T is the lightest twin-engined certified aircraft available. It is a four-seat aircraft with fully retractable landing gear and powered by liquid-cooled Rotax engines that can run on 92 octane unleaded automotive gasoline as well as Avgas 100LL.

Design

The P2006T is a twin-engined four-seat cantilever high-wing monoplane with a retractable tricycle landing gear. Its stabilator is attached to the fuselage, mostly aft of the vertical fin (the stabilator is a single unit with a cutout in its leading edge where it mounts to the tailcone). The nosewheel of the tricycle landing gear retracts into the nose cone; the trailing-link main units retract into stubs which extend from the lower fuselage. The fuselage section is a slightly rounded rectangle, higher than it is wide. A door on each side of the fuselage provides access to the seating area; in addition an escape hatch is provided above the two forward seats, to be used if fuselage deformation in a crash prevents those doors from being operable.

The Rotax engine cylinder heads are liquid-cooled; there are cooling vanes on the cylinder barrels. Thus both cooling airflow through the nacelle, and a cooling radiator, are required in each cowl. The electric starters, used to start the engines on the ground, must also be used for an inflight restart, since the highly geared engines cannot be turned by airflow past the stopped propeller. Thus, for FAA certification, the company was required to add a backup battery in addition to the standard battery. The pilot's power quadrant contains three controls for each engine: throttle, propeller rpm, and carburetor heat. The engines have automatic mixture adjustment, so there is no mixture control required on the panel.

The linkage between the flight controls and the flight surfaces is provided by pushrod, rather than the more common use of cables and pulleys.

Operational history

The P2006T first flew on 13 September 2007 and was certified by EASA on 5 June 2009. NASA's all electric X-57 Maxwell prototype aircraft is being developed using a P2006T as its basic structure.

Variants

Civilian P2006T from Switzerland

P2006T

Standard civilian version.

P2006T MRI

Maritime patrol variant.

P2006T MMA

Multi-Mission variant modified with mission equipment by Airborne Technologies.

T-2006A

Italian military designation for aircraft delivered in the Training role to 70° Stormo of the Italian Air Force on 5 July 2016 for multi-engine pilot training.

Operators

Tecnam P2006T of the Romanian Aviation Academy

Dominican Republic

• Dominican Air Force

Spain

• Guardia Civil

India

• Air Taxi

Romania

• Romanian Aviation Academy

Italy

• Italian Air Force - 3 aircraft on lease

Specifications

P2006T analog cockpit

Data from

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Capacity: 3 passengers or 618 pounds (280 kg) payload with full fuel
• Length: 8.7 m (28 ft 7 in)
• Wingspan: 11.4 m (37 ft 5 in)
• Height: 2.90 m (9 ft 6 in)
• Wing area: 14.8 m² (159 sq ft)
• Aspect ratio: 8.80
• Empty weight: 819 kg (1,806 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 1,230 kg (2,712 lb)
• Fuel capacity: 200 litres (44 imp gal; 53 US gal)
• Powerplant: 2 × Rotax 912S3 horizontally opposed four-cylinder geared piston engines, 75 kW (100 hp) each
• Propellers: 2-bladed MT Propeller MTV-21, 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) diameter constant-speed, fully feathering

Performance

• Maximum speed: 287 km/h (178 mph, 155 kn)
• Cruise speed: 269 km/h (167 mph, 145 kn)
• Stall speed: 102 km/h (63 mph, 55 kn)
• Never exceed speed: 309 km/h (192 mph, 167 kn)
• Minimum control speed: 115 km/h (71 mph, 62 kn)
• Range: 1,204 km (748 mi, 650 nmi)
• Endurance: 4.25 hours
• Service ceiling: 4,300 m (14,000 ft)
• Rate of climb: 5.3 m/s (1,040 ft/min) 250 ft/min (single engine)
• Wing loading: 78 kg/m² (16 lb/sq ft) at MTOW
• Power/mass: 0.162 hp/kg (0.07 hp/lb)

See also

Related development

• NASA X-57 Maxwell

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• Diamond DA42
• Partenavia P.68
• Piper Seminole