First of Type - Tecnam P Mentor ZK-TET at Oamaru

Back on 2/8/23 the New Zealand Airline Academy registered a pair of Tecnam P Mentors ZK-TDT2 and ZK-TET.  These are the first P Mentors in New Zealand and represent quite a step forward in integrated flying training as there aircraft are registered under the General Aviation category as a certified aircraft that is also IFR equipped, so a student pilot can use this aircraft to obtain their PPL, then CPL and IFR ratings.  It is aimed at training airline pilots and it has full Garmin glass screens and even a mock undercarriage extend and retract switch to allow training for commercial airline aircraft operations.

The P Mentor was introduced at Aero Friedrichshafen 2022 and is based on the Tecnam Sierra Mk 2 model.  The P stands for Pascale (brothers Luigi and Giovanni Pascale founded the Tecnam company), and the Mentor is self explanatory.  The aircraft is powered by a Rotax 912iS engine.

New Zealand Tecnam agent Neil Ross was at the NZAA base at Oamaru yesterday and sent this photo:

ZK-TET is c/n 1034 and is seen here outside the NZAA hangar at Oamaru.

Thanks for the photo Neil.