New Tecnam P2008 turbo

[jetcat3]

Hey y’all,

I wanted to share these pictures I got from Mark of a new P2008 he delivered. I believe this is John’s new beautiful bird! 

Drew 

Attachments:

[ChiMike]

Gorgeous. The new autopilot layout is a bit different. What a great looking plane!

[John]

I haven't checked this board for a few weeks. Been busy flying my new airplane. Yes, these are photos of my new aircraft. I purchased a 2016 P2008 with only 80 hours on it about a year ago. I put 85 hours on it and was hooked. Then I saw a new P2008 with this grey paint scheme. The improvements and refinements of the 2017 model won me over. My wife liking the ballistic parachute concept was my green light. Some differences between the 2016 I had and this new 2017:
Barringer wheels and brakes
Justified left G3X panels w/newer autopilot
GNC 255A Nav/Comm radio
ADS-B in & out
Custom interior

I did a little homework and had Mark install the GMA 245 Intercom. This intercom is incredible. Bluetooth stereo. 3-D Audio. Phenomenal intercom noise and voice activation control.

In the 80's I was building a Glassair III. I got about half way through the project and sold it. It progressively felt like I was building my own coffin. They say the Glassair III has about the same glide-path as a brick. Since then I've owned two F33A Bonanzas. My wife was born and raised in Yakima, Washington. At the time I was building the Glassair III, I told my wife I was building a Yakima Taxi so we could visit family in Yakima. At the time I reserved the tail number 24YT. There would be TWO of us FOR the Yakima Taxi, hence N24YT. Fast forward a few decades and that tail number was still available. I was happy to report to my wife that I finally got her that Yakima Taxi and it has a parachute. I flew her to Yakima a few times in my Bonanzas, but she's a little more cautious these days. Nothing a reasonable supply of Tequila and duct tape won't fix.

[buzz]

John,
If you ever hop over the Cascades from Yakistan to the West side of Washington let me know. My plane is based out of Auburn S50.

[John]

Buzz,
Thanks for the invite. If I make it that way, I'll let you know.

[Glenn]

Congratulations John. 

[scrapman1959]

John, great looking plane! Mine is a twin, with red colors. I’m having the seat foam reworked in ours. The puffed out edges that go up the backrest are to firm compared to the center of the backrest, and those firmed up edges catch me in the ribs without proper support in the middle of my back. Just curious if anybody else with these new seats is feeling that? I’m a smaller guy, wearing medium/small men’s shirts so it could just be my build? Other than that, we are loving the performance of the 914T. Still learning lots about the G3X as I came from 10 years of Dynon flying. The interior lighting for nite flights is quite impressive too, but remember to turn your screens back up to bright before shutting down, or you will have a heck of time next day finding the settings 🙄

[ChiMike]

My only issue with my seats (2015 P2008t) is the bottom seat feels a little “thin” after an hour or so. I tend to sit more ‘upright’ (I formerly raced BMW’s and adjust my seat in the same manner for regular driving) so I use a cushion at the shoulder blades to square me up a bit more from the pitch that the seat adjustment allows. My solutions were a Skywoosh pad for the bottom and a visit to Office Max where I got an office chair ‘lumbar’ support. It has a strap and I simply use it at the top of the seat.

Both work well. 3- 4 hours still gets a little hard on the butt but not as bad— no worse than my Jeep.

As to sitting more upright, in a race car it gives you better control of the steering wheel and your legs/feet can respond more quickly to clutch-brake-throttle shifts. The benefit for me in flying (outside of it is just a more comfortable and ‘normal’ position after 30 years) is that my visibility over the cockpit and cowling is great! I find it much easier to visually track ground references during take off, climb out, and cruise.

[timb]

My P2008 seat was like sitting on a board, so I took them both down to the upholstery shop and had them add as much high quality foam as possible without changing the cover material. Now I sit up a little higher and can do 3 or 4 hour legs in much better comfort.  

Phil Lockwood sat in my plane and asked me what I had done, he said his head never touched the ceiling in a P2008 before.

[scrapman1959]

I would love to sit straight up while flying the 08’ but I also think it’s important to see out the side windows! I’m only 5’ 9”and if I don’t put the seat in the reclined position, you are looking at interior top door panel and roof structure of the fuselage when looking out the sides, unless you duck your head every time you want a peek out the side windows. More foam will inevetibly make this problem worse. My base cushion seems to be pretty good already, so maybe more base foam has been added at the interior shop before we took delivery. I know I certainly don’t want to sit any higher than I am now.

[buzz]

I too like sitting upright and closer to the panel. This is how I drive my car. I am 5'8". Was thinking about designing something to go between my head/back and the seat or maybe even drill one more set of holes for the adjustment pins but I haven't looked real close yet to see what that would entail.

[ChiMike]

Buzz, I’m a short legged 5’10 — with a torso/ sitting height more akin to 6’1- 6’2. I do have to scrunch down a bit to see down through the side window. (This is one area where the CTLSi is a better plane— much better visibility.) The pitch and position of the A pillar on the 2008 does come into play, but I just lean back a little and look hard left.

The seat pad I use is only 1/2 inch— and it isn’t noticeable. Mark has told me he can do a seat mod that gives more padding and comfort without changing the seat function. I’ll see how the next few months go and I may take him up on it.

[John]

I wasn't expecting the feel and comfort of the 2017 seats to be so much better than the 2016 aircraft. The leather is softer and the cushion is perfect. I believe Mark has those seats done somewhere other than Tecnam. I noticed in photos of new P2008's that the leather patterns differ from plane to plane. Perhaps my seats have a different cushion material. Whatever it is, I like it. Perhaps Mark can shed some light on this topic.
If I could lift the side window a couple inches higher I would. I'll have to try flying with the seat in the tilt-back position. Sounds like that works for a few of you. I was able to adjust the Bonanza seats en route. I'd rather be full upright in the pattern and kicked back en route. Perhaps modifying the seat latch is worth investigating.
By the way, I had my avionics shop friend wire my LEMO plugs in stereo. Tecnam wires their headset jacks mono. The GMA 245 Intercom is an amazing upgrade, especially when wired to the headsets in stereo. The GMA 245 also needs to be spliced into the G3X so that it can receive software updates like all other boxes tied to the G3X. Tecnam wouldn't give me credit on the GMA 240 that was in the aircraft. I put an ad on VansAirForce and sold the GMA 240 for $600 in one day. Probably should have asked for more.

[John]

Thought some might be interested in where I installed the LEMO plugs.  I bought this LEMO recess plate from Aircraft Spruce.  That metal panel is removable.  It needs to be cut in low (as in the photo) because of the female plug height.  Power for the LEMO plugs comes from the cigarette lighter. 

[Flocker]

Nov 5, 2017 15:30:06 GMT ChiMike said:

My only issue with my seats (2015 P2008t) is the bottom seat feels a little “thin” after an hour or so.

+1.   I'm on the list with Mark to have my seats upgraded this month.  I'll report back when complete.