THE RIVALE: WHAT HAS BEEN MISSING FROM PERSONAL FLYING

Tecnam has officially unveiled the name, identity and first physical design elements of its new aircraft programme at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2026, in what the company has positioned as a defining moment in its 75-year history. The aircraft is called the Rivale — Italian for rival — and the naming carries deliberate meaning. Giovanni Pascale Langer, Tecnam Managing Director, said Tecnam’s greatest rival had never been another manufacturer but always itself, and that every new Tecnam had one responsibility: to challenge the Tecnam that came before it.

The reveal was staged as a landmark press conference at Oshkosh, held in front of a packed crowd during rain. Rather than unveiling a completed aircraft, Tecnam chose to present the Rivale’s identity through a monumental 3,000-pound stainless steel sculpture — meticulously crafted, shaped, welded and polished over several months — that reveals only the first three feet of the aircraft, from nose to engine cowling. Everything beyond has been deliberately left unseen, inviting the aviation world to imagine what lies between those first three feet and the tail and wingtips, until the complete aircraft is publicly unveiled in the months ahead. Introducing the presentation was Brandon Martini of Stratus Financial.

THE PHILOSOPHY: BEAUTY AS FUNCTION, INSPIRED BY DA VINCI

Pascale Langer said the Rivale was the product of years of research into what was missing from the experience of personal flying today. He described personal flying not as simply travelling from one place to another but as freedom, emotion, beauty, time and the people you choose to share it with. Drawing on Leonardo da Vinci’s conviction that perfection is not a detail, the Rivale embodies the Italian philosophy that beauty is an integral part of function rather than an afterthought. The programme has involved years of research, passion and collaboration across engineering, technology and Italian design, and it represents what Tecnam believes should be the ownership experience when a pilot approaches their aircraft — not simply functional but genuinely aspirational.

CONTINENTAL V6 ENGINE AND THE WORLD’S FIRST GARMIN G2000 PRIME

The Rivale will be powered by the Continental CD-300-Series Jet-A/SAF-compatible V6 engine — a dedicated powerplant developed specifically for the programme. More significant still in terms of technological firsts, the Rivale will be the very first aircraft in the world to feature the new Garmin G2000 Prime avionics suite, a premiere that positions the aircraft at the absolute leading edge of general aviation cockpit technology at the point of its commercial launch. The cockpit, Tecnam promises, will itself surprise with its lines and shapes when revealed. Strategic partners who joined Tecnam on stage following the unveiling to confirm their involvement in the Rivale programme include Continental (Karen Hong, CEO and President), Garmin (Zach Evans, OEM Sales Manager), Beringer (Claire Beringer, CEO), MT Propeller (Martin Albrecht, General Manager), Michelin (Tony Menard, Aviation Marketing VP) and CAV (Niall Boxwell, Lead Engineer).

Tecnam confirmed that the new aircraft has been conceived to establish new benchmarks within the company’s product portfolio, delivering a level of performance and ownership experience that the company says will redefine expectations for personal flying. Full technical specifications will be disclosed progressively as the reveal continues chapter by chapter in the months ahead, with the complete aircraft expected to make its public appearance next year.

VECTORED APPROACH TRANSITIONS TO AN ALL-TECNAM FLEET

Alongside the Rivale reveal, Tecnam announced separately at Oshkosh that Vectored Approach Flight Academy — a US-based premier flight training organisation established in 2019 — is transitioning its operations to an all-Tecnam fleet. The academy has purchased two Tecnam aircraft, with a third on order, consisting of the P-Mentor two-seat IFR trainer and the P2010 MkIII 180hp four-seat IFR aircraft equipped with the Garmin G1000 NXi avionics suite and a Flight Management System keyboard. The fleet directly supports Vectored Approach’s focus on procedural training, FMS proficiency and modern airline cockpit preparation.

Stephen Pitts, President of Vectored Approach, said the academy existed to unlock the full promise of professional aviation and that student pilots would graduate with the knowledge, skills and situational awareness to achieve at the highest levels of the profession and perform in modern cockpits from day one. Walter da Costa, Chief Sales Officer at Tecnam, said the P-Mentor and P2010 were designed exactly for this mission, providing flight schools with the most technologically advanced, efficient and safe platforms available. Tecnam’s broader Oshkosh display also featured the US premiere of the P2012 Traveller VIP twin-engine aircraft and the new P2010 Gran Lusso 215 hp with factory-certified air conditioning.