COSTRUZIONI AERONAUTICHE TECNA P2006T

The Tecnam P2006T is the lightest certified four-seat twin in production: an Italian high-wing aircraft with two 100 hp Rotax 912 engines, retractable gear and a 2,712 lb gross weight. It burns about eleven gallons an hour total, which is less than many four-seat singles, and it runs on unleaded mogas. It was certified by EASA in June 2009 and the FAA in 2010 with conventional instruments or an early Garmin fit. The MkII of 2017 kept the airframe and engines and changed the cockpit: the Garmin G1000 NXi as standard, revised ergonomics and a new interior, which is what the flight-school fleets now buy. The P2006T NG, shown in April 2024 and certified by EASA in February 2025, is a larger step on the same designation — fuel-injected Rotax 912 iSc3 engines, a higher maximum weight, four doors and bigger windows among some 300 changes. A 2010 to 2016 aircraft therefore has the old panel, a 2017 to 2024 one the NXi, and the newest ones the injected engines.

Flight schools buy it as a multi-engine trainer because it delivers a genuine twin-engine rating at roughly half the running cost of a Seminole. The compromises follow from the small engines: single-engine performance is limited, useful load is under 1,000 lb, and it is not an aeroplane for carrying four adults and bags any distance. The Rotax engines need a trained mechanic with calendar-based as well as hours-based maintenance, and having two of them doubles that exposure. Parts come from Italy.