JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #141 - July/August 2021 - 43

Taking off after the pandemic: the Italian aerospace industry
Fig. 5: Tecnam's P2010 airframe, with its wide, sleek composite fuselage design and all-metal wing, has
proven to be the perfect platform to match the performance and capabilities of diesel engine aircraft
(Images Courtesy Tecnam)
company is involved in research programmes
with NASA for an electric plane and with
Rolls-Royce for a hybrid training aircraft
and a fully-electric passenger plane. Strategic
agreements were signed with China for the
production of airline pilot training aircraft.
Last year, 200 aircraft took off from Capua
to be shipped to all flight schools, of which
95% are abroad. The P92 was the first major
success: an ultralight aircraft with a closed
cabin, a tricycle landing gear, two seats and
traditional on-board instruments - a real
aircraft. Since that first model, the Tecnam
fleet now boasts about 30 models using both
metal and composite materials (Figures 5
and 6). Air France, British and LOT chose
the aircraft manufactured in Capua for their
flight academies. The latest creation is an
11-seater aircraft commissioned by a US
regional airline, Cape Air, that has already
optioned 100, of which 20 are already flying
in Boston skies. Tecnam has design and manufacturing
certifications for both metal and
composite materials. Carbon fibre is used for
the fuselage, and metal for the wings and the
landing gear. For composite processing, the
company has a factory in Casoria (Naples)
with prepreg ovens as well as precision mechanical
machinery such as cutters to work
" solid " pieces up to 8 metres in length.
Fig. 6: The Tecnam P2012 traveller all-electric passenger aircraft for the commuter market
(Images Courtesy Costruzioni Aeronautiche Tecnam SpA)
kg of additional payload for low Earth orbits.
The main manufacturers of car and airplane
components are on the same path. The Adler
group, piloted by Paolo Scudieri in Airola,
produces composite parts with cutting-edge
technologies and materials, particularly for
the helicopter sector.
Novotech focuses on urban air mobility to
promote communication between people
and overcome the current barriers of public
and private transport. The company's Seagull
is an ultralight seaplane and a two-seater
amphibious vehicle made of composite
materials with floats integrated into the fuselage.
Equipped with two aluminium wings
that fold with a simple click after docking
and re-open with another click at take-off,
the Seagull is 7.5 metres long, 3.20 metres
wide, 3.5 metres high and has a wingspan of
11 metres. The operating weight is approximately
700 kilograms (including the two
passengers). Its production should begin by
the end of 2021.
Tecnam is a small company founded by
Luigi and Giovanni Pascale that boasts
7000 aircraft sold all over the world. The
Outlook
When the health crisis will be behind us,
the main aerospace companies will certainly
be pushed to make new technological
investments that will help reduce the operating
costs of their aircraft, while reducing
consumption and the environmental impact
of the aviation sector. Sustainability will be
one of the drivers of this recovery. There is
still a lot to do in terms of sustainability and
this issue will certainly affect the future of the
industry.
Composites will play a very important role as
new aircraft projects will most likely focus on
the electrification of aircraft and fuel efficiency,
and thus on lightweighting.
More information:
www.jeccomposites.com
Simonetta Pegorari
Technical Contibutor
N°141 July - August 2021 / jec composites magazine
43

http://www.jeccomposites.com

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #141 - July/August 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #141 - July/August 2021