Tecnam Founder Luigi Pascale Dies at 93

The world lost another aviation pioneer this week as Luigi “Gino” Pascale, the founder, president and chief preliminary design officer of Costruzioni Aeronautiche Tecnam, died at the age of 93.

Pascale started designing model airplanes in the 1930s with his brother Giovanni. The brothers built their first real airplane in 1948 — the P48 Astore — beginning the legacy of naming airplane models based on the year they were designed, a tradition that Tecnam maintains to this day. The Astore first flew in 1951, the same year that Pascale achieved his pilot’s license. Around the same time, Pascale graduated with a Master’s Degree in mechanical engineering.

Pascale designed several race planes in the 1950s and founded Partenavia in 1957, where he focused more on general aviation airplanes for the masses. Nearly a decade later, the Pascale brothers founded Tecnam, which today produces a variety of certified single- and twin-engine airplanes and several LSA models. Together, Pascale’s two companies have delivered more than 7,000 airplanes. The Tecnam P92, a two-seat metal airplane that has been delivered in several variations, has been the company’s most popular design with more than 2,500 in service around the world.

Pascale’s final design, the P2012 Traveller is currently going through flight testing. The Traveller is a twin engine, nine-passenger airplane designed as a cost-effective regional commuter.

“[Pascale] was incredibly proud of Tecnam and all of its employees, and we will all miss him greatly,” said Paolo Pascale, Tecnam’s CEO and Luigi Pascale’s nephew. “His drive to excellence, determination, can-do spirit and commitment to our company will inspire and stay with us always.”