I had just cancelled part two of a flight review with my long time instructor Michele Pulley. It was looking pretty hazy and I had wanted to fly over to Kitchener Waterloo for a supervised entry into a control zone. Having learned at an uncontrolled airport I am somewhat intimidated by the possibility of screwing something up while breaching the boundaries of a control zone. So instead of just flying some cicuits I elected to get a few things done at RAA National Headquarters.

I was only there an hour when the phone rang and Peter Glaw, President of Airsport Aviation Inc. told me that he was in the Brampton Flying Club clubhouse waiting for a package. We got talking and eventually both of us found our way back to his 3200 sqaure foot hangar, located on the premises. This brand new hangar houses Airsport's offices including a second story, board rooom / training room. It is very nicely laid out, and will make afor a very attractive Ultralight training facility. On the hangar floor, waiting eagerly to see the light of day was the gorgeous Tecnam P96 Golf. Designed by F.lli Pacale who is now in his eighties, it is obvious from its slick appearance that this design is stereotypically Italian. It looks very Euro and fast. Within seconds I was drooling over its clean lines and brilliant paint scheme. I had to keep reminding myself that this was an Ultralight, but in reality it bears no connection or resemblance to what many refer to as a flying lawn chair. This thing is bigger than my Sonex!

Peter graciously offered to take me up and i glanced skywards to see what had become of the haze which had prevented my earlier flight. It was looking a lot better so Peter pushed it out and did the preflight. As I climbed into the left seat, my first impression was of how high I sat in the cockpit. I felt more like I was riding it than wearing it. This would later prove to be a benefit as the resulting visibility was fantastic. I buckled in with the four point harness and bobbed my head to allow the canopy support to clear my head as it rolled forward. Three latches provide positive closure of the canopy, but Peter tells me that it can fly with the canopy open. I have never flown one, but I think it would most closely resemble the feel of an Ercoupe, judging by the configuration of the open canopy.

My second biggest impression was of the finish. In every sense the aircraft looked solid, well built, and handcrafted to perfection. The paint, the interior, and the panel had all been assembled with great attention to detail. The canopy itself was very thick Lexan, not the flimsy stuff you find on a lot of Amateur Built kits. Dual sticks were adorned with the Ray Allen Company's nice foam grips with built in PTT and trim control. A swithc on the panel transefers control from one stick to the other. This is the budget way of handling transfer of the trim control, as a relay is available which eliminates the transfer switch and allows either stick to control trim. Of course it costs a few bucks and unlike the toggle switch, might need replacement sooner than later. For demonstration purposes, this model came equipped with 3 gyros and a G meter. It also had an Icom panel mounted radio and a Garmin Transponder. A bit overkill for an "Ultralight", but not for a gadget loving geek like me. In fact, it had a spot above the radios begging for a full colour GPS.

The seats move fore and aft to accomodate leggy pilots, but only those with a very long torso would come close to using up all the headroom. I am about 5'11" and with the seat fully aft, I was too far from the pedals. We didn't wear headsets for this flight, and i could get my hand easily between my head and the Lexan on top. Pilots wearing a common David Clark with the thick foam pad should have no trouble with space. A subsequent flight confirmed this.

The Rotax 912S is a relatively quiet engine and so we could converse with no difficulty in flight. Transitioning from a Lycoming or Continental is easy, but the high revs, lack of carb heat and mixture take some adjustment. The engine start was not unlike a Diamond Katana or a Zodiac 601 equipped with the Rotax 912. A bit of choke, fuel pump, ignition on, and a after about two or three blades of the prop, it fired up perfectly. One of the characteristics of the high compression engine is the abruptness with which it starts and stops. The prop is a fixed pitch, composite of wood covered in fiberglass. I just know somebody is going to want to hang a variable pitch prop on it, but it really doesn't need it. It would only serve to add complexity and weight. Taxiing is achieved witha single brake lever between the seats and steering control via the rudder pedals. It is a common method (used on my Sonex and on older Zeniths), but for some reason receives a lot of criticism. Probably because the spam cans all use the differential braking system.

We taxied out to runway 33, which is 3500 feet long, and after a brief run-up we took the active. With 15 degrees of flaps and the throttle advanced I didn't immediately feel significant thrust, but much sooner than I expected the Golf leaped into the air and climbed away better than any Cessna I've ever flown. Better than a lot of amateur builts too, many of which make use of large powerful engines to achieve their performance. By the time we reached the end of the runway, we were past pattern altitude and accelerating nicely on our way to the Golf's high speed cruise which achieved with 75% power and 5200 RPM. Trimmed out this little gem is acontent to sit still and fly happily along. The Golf has positive pitch stability, meaning it will return to level flight after one bob of the nose. I suspect training schools will be hard pressed to find any competition for this well behaved airplane. It was a bumpy day by Cessna standards, but the shorter wing on the Golf helped us slice through with little effect. My instinctive corrective inputs were probably unwarranted as it had no intention of straying from our intended course. We tooled around for 10 or 15 minutes and I made some standard rate turns, about all I ever do without upsetting the balance between my stomach and my brain. The turn coordinator didn't show much deflection and I might hve had my feet off the pedals had I wanted to. As the weather improved we climbed some more and performed some steep turns and stalls. Both were non events.

We made our way back to Brampton and in the pattern there was an obvious sensation of deceleration as we slowed down to 75 mph. Touch down is at about 40 mph. Trimmed out it will fly itself in with minimal corrections to power and pitch. With 30 degrees of flaps we were down and able to make the first turn off with ease.

The Golf is a mostly aluminum aircraft. The cockpit is a steel tube cage covered in aluminum skin providing maximum crashworthiness. The moving surfaces are covered in fabric. Why? Because as a trainer, many shoes are likely to bump into the fabric. It will reboud without any trouble to its normal shape, but a metal surface might easily dent. I don't see it as a major inconvenience, and perhaps a few spares kept in inventory would easily keep the aircraft from being grounded.

The Golf I flew was registered as an Advanced Ultralight Aircraft (AULA). Assembled this way, it must conform strictly to the manufactuer's specs, and cannot be altered lest it slip back into the basic ultralight category which currently does not allow passengers. With its current AULA registration it may entere a control zone with appropriate equipment; something a basic ultralight is not allowed to do. The airplane can be built from a kit, which comes with an already high degree of completion, but Peter doesn't recommend it. Buying it as a kit only saves $9,000, so why sit on it as a project when you could be flying right now? Don't forget that as an AULA the kit does not need to comply with the 51% rule. It can be purchased in whatever degree of completion the factory decides to sell. Turnkey aircraft start at about $62,000, and while this is not an inexpensive proposition for a budget minded amateur builder, it is a plane which I could own long term and be very happy with. For those on a VW budget, it might be worth financing over a long term. Peter may offer some attractive ownership or partnership arrangements in the future so don't discount it if it matches your criteria closely in other ways.

In summary, the Tecnam P96 Golf is set to be a popular seller in Canada. With his 27 years of successfully running an Ultralight sales and training business, and having imported aircraft for many years, Peter Glaw of AIRSPORT AVIATION Inc. is probably the most suitable person to im0portr the Tecnam line of aircraft. With several sales already on the books, and the summer flying season just beginning, it won't be long until you see one of these aircraft in the pattern at your airport. Its looks, performance, handling, and visibility all add up to making this an almost perfect ride.