Italy has authorised to test fly an optionally piloted variant of a Tecnam P92

Italy’s civil aviation authority, ENAC, has authorised the country’s CIRA aerospace research centre to test fly an optionally piloted variant of a Tecnam P92 Echo S light sport aircraft.

Flight Global: https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/enac-authorises-testing-of-optionally-piloted-tecnam-424748/


CIRA's press release:

Thanks to a fruitful technical cooperation with the Italian Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC), CIRA has achieved the Permit to Fly (PTF) for its Optionally Piloted Aircraft named FLARE, derived from a TECNAM P92 ECHO S.

The permit, valid for one year, has been issued on the basis of the system and safety documentation produced by CIRA in accordance with the recent ENAC NAV32E regulation relevant in-flight testing activities.

In particular, CIRA has coordinated a complex technical effort which included maintenance, design and changes to the basic aircraft and its systems, producing the necessary documentation to ensure the compliance to the CS-VLA (Very Light aircraft) regulation.

With the release of the PTF, which occurred after an intense ENAC audit, CIRA has acquired a flying platform to be used for low cost and high efficiency technology validation able to operate in full compliance with aviation rules.

The first experimental campaigns, starting from April 19, will be dedicated to the development of autonomous flight technologies, traffic separation by ADSB and weather-satellite data acquisition systems. CIRA plans to use FLARE in future for the development of aero-structural innovative technologies such morphing wing as part of the Italian Aerospace Research program (PRORA).