Tecnam Aircraft has said their PTwenty-Twelve Traveller is on target to make its first flight in June.
The Traveller is an 11-seat, twin-engined high-wing aircraft designed to replace ageing Piper Navajo and Cessna 400 series aircraft currently used in charter operations.
Three airframes are under construction at the company's plant in Capua, Italy, of which one will be used for air testing and the other two for ground structural tests. Tecnam expects the air test bed to be rolled out in February.
Tecnam reports very strong interest in the Traveller, including from Australia, and construction of the new production facility is already well under way.
Powered by two Lycoming TEO-540-A1A engines, the PTwenty-Twelve is projected to have a top speed of 209 KTAS and will run on both avgas and mogas.