P2008 Owners in the greater Washington DC area?

[WinP]

Hi--I am in the process of selling my SR22 after 14 years of ownership.  I live in Bethesda MD, have a hangar at Frederick MD (KFDK.)  My mission has changed.  Over the past few years I've mostly been a local/regional VFR flyer.  So I'm thinking about a LSA with chute, and am honing in at the outset on the P2008 and Flight Design's F2.  I've seen neither plane, haven't flown one, etc.  Thus far just paper consideration.  I'm curious if there are any P2008 owners in the area.  I'd love to talk about the plane as well as the support "infrastructure" in the region.  Thanks.  Peter Winik

[remlap]

Well I'm not far from Frederick. I hanger my p2008 Turbo in Bedford Pa KHMZ and building a 2000' grass strip in Mercersburg PA. Mine also has Full package including BRS.

[WinP]

Indeed, not that far.  If I weren't selling my Cirrus I'd come up and look at the plane.  Am curious whether you have found a good maintenance shop and also whether there are any instructors knowledgable about the plane in the area.  I look forward to talking more. Thanks.  

[chazmaynard]

Oct 31, 2021 18:18:23 GMT WinP said:

Hi--I am in the process of selling my SR22 after 14 years of ownership.  I live in Bethesda MD, have a hangar at Frederick MD (KFDK.)  My mission has changed.  Over the past few years I've mostly been a local/regional VFR flyer.  So I'm thinking about a LSA with chute, and am honing in at the outset on the P2008 and Flight Design's F2.  I've seen neither plane, haven't flown one, etc.  Thus far just paper consideration.  I'm curious if there are any P2008 owners in the area.  I'd love to talk about the plane as well as the support "infrastructure" in the region.  Thanks.  Peter Winik

Hi Peter. I’m a Tecnam sales rep. The P2008 is a great airplane. Unfortunately, there is not currently an option for a chute in the 2008. Lots of good reasons to consider the P2008 however. Family owned Tecnam stays on top of the most recent innovations in general aviation. There is a certified Tecnam service center in Stevenville, MD. I would be happy to discuss this further if you wish. Charlie Maynard. [e-mail]. Mobile [phone]

[grantopperman]

How come no chutes in 2008s? My 2016 model came with one new. Did tecnam stop offering them or is the current inventory available just not configured that way?

I moved from Cirrus to Tecnam P2008 and the chute was a big part of my decision!

[Flocker]

As far as I know, the chute is still available.

[dannyb]

North west of Philly is KLOM. There is a P2008 there that they teach in. They also have SR's there that they teach in. I took an exploratory flight there in a P2008. Very accommodating folks. flygateway.org/

BTW, I really enjoyed the P2008. Also unless something has changed, you should be able to get it with a parachute although it starts to get a bit heavy.

Danny Brotto

[jetcat3]

From what I’ve heard, it sounds like chutes will no longer be offered for the P2008 SLSA because of weight. I’d imagine that’s the same for the Astore as well but I don’t know about the others in the lineup.

[buzz]

Nov 6, 2021 13:39:42 GMT jetcat3 said:

From what I’ve heard, it sounds like chutes will no longer be offered for the P2008 SLSA because of weight. I’d imagine that’s the same for the Astore as well but I don’t know about the others in the lineup.

This is exactly what I was wondering about when I heard this change. As much as I wanted a chute I skipped it due to my concerns about weight. Was also concerned about how the CG was affected as the canister sits aft a ways. One other thought about this is related to a question I had previously posted about empty weight. It seemed that my plane without a chute had almost the same empty weight as the planes that had an appox 30 lb chute system. I never could figure this out until somebody said that the additional weight was offset by extracting more resin from the carbon fiber. Not sure if this is in fact the truth but it does bring up a lot of questions in my mind. Would be nice if Tecnam would notify us about the apparent change. I am guessing a bunch of you with chutes would like to know what the concern is that prompted the change. By the way I see the chute is still shown on the website as an option.

[WinP]

Having spent 14 years flying a Cirrus, I'm not going to get a plane without a chute.  

I had understood from a Tecnam sales rep that while you cannot order a P2008 equipped with a chute as-delivered, the plane is delivered in such a way as to accomodate a chute being added post-delivery.  So that is what I would look into, and certainly would look into the W&B implications.  I'm surprised to see a sales rep on this thread with a slightly different message.

All I know is that there do seem to be plenty of people on this forum who fly BRS-equipped 914 engine P2008's.  I don't know if they were factory delivered that way or if they were all added after-the-fact.  Did Tecnam make a change or has it always been this way?  In any case, all things to be learned.  I'm in no rush, just at the beginning stages of learning about post-Cirrus options.  From my reading, I also plan to take a look at the new Flight Design F2.  

[grantopperman]

When I bought mine you could get new with chute, pre-rigged for a chute to be added later or no pre-rigging. The ones that were without the rigging were not upgradable, but others were.

I agree with you about chutes. I wrote a story for Flying years ago and the data is unarguable.

Weight and balance are not an issue in my plane. I’d be glad to send you my numbers if you want.

Let me know if I can help in your search at all. I am based in Nashville. So many LSAs are just not great. Tecnam is well built if you can make it work. Maybe look at Bristell too? I haven’t flown one but they sound nice and are lighter. I was not impressed flying a CT.

[buzz]

Nov 7, 2021 14:40:30 GMT WinP said:

Having spent 14 years flying a Cirrus, I'm not going to get a plane without a chute.  

I had understood from a Tecnam sales rep that while you cannot order a P2008 equipped with a chute as-delivered, the plane is delivered in such a way as to accomodate a chute being added post-delivery.  So that is what I would look into, and certainly would look into the W&B implications.  I'm surprised to see a sales rep on this thread with a slightly different message.

All I know is that there do seem to be plenty of people on this forum who fly BRS-equipped 914 engine P2008's.  I don't know if they were factory delivered that way or if they were all added after-the-fact.  Did Tecnam make a change or has it always been this way?  In any case, all things to be learned.  I'm in no rush, just at the beginning stages of learning about post-Cirrus options.  From my reading, I also plan to take a look at the new Flight Design F2.  

The chute used to be a factory option. And it was also possible to order the plane with just the harness in place incase you wanted to add the the chute later. But if the chute is no longer a factory option in the US due to weight issues I fail to understand how you could get approval too add it later. Unless of course you moved to experimental. Most of the P 2008's with chute were factory installed.

[WinP]

Thanks Grant. I sent you a PM, would love to talk. I should look at Bristell too, only thing is they're low wing and I was leaning toward high wing because of better photography and also better sun shading (I'm going to miss having air conditioning). One plus for Bristell is that they're based in Lancaster PA which is not that far a flight for me, in fact I was there for a half day getting my Cirrus oil changed (they have a top notch SC there) and could easily have walked over and seen the Bristell guys then.

[jetcat3]

The Bristell is nice, but very much overpriced IMHO. It flies well enough but still doesn’t compare to the P2008’s handling. The P2008 does do a great job of keeping the sun away, especially on long cross county trips.

If there was a fully loaded $250K 915 powered Bristell that would be an enticing option but at $310K it’s insulting for those who know better.

I’d definitely recommend going up in a Bristell though just to get a feel for it. My two cents!

[WinP]

Oct 31, 2021 23:04:59 GMT remlap said:

Well I'm not far from Frederick. I hanger my p2008 Turbo in Bedford Pa KHMZ and building a 2000' grass strip in Mercersburg PA. Mine also has Full package including BRS.

Remlap, could we talk by phone? Please message me with your phone number. Thanks.