General Avia F22 Pinguino
 

Good day!

I am trying to put together a list of the F22 Pinguino produced in Italy during the 90's.

So far, the information I have is the following:

S/N 002 (I-GEAE) is operated in Italy by Professione Volare
S/N 003 (N706LA) is operated in US (no info about current operator)
S/N 004 (I-GEAG) flying in Italy - no operator info
S/N 007 (I-GEAZ) flying in Italy for instruction
S/N 008 (PH-MRC) is registered and still flying the Netherlands
S/N 013 (D-EDMJ) is operated in Germany by Flugschule Jesenwang
S/N 014 (PH-MRB) was written off due to midair collision in the Netherlands
S/N 018 (G-FZZA) is privately operated in UK
S/N 021 (VH-PIQ) is in Australia with a private owner
S/N 023 (PH-MRG) is registered and still flying the Netherlands
S/N 024 (I-FGBP) is damaged and being stored somewhere in Italy
S/N 025 (I-IAID) was operated by Biella Aeroclub and then sold to Switzwerland (no info about current operator)


If you have any information about the missing serial numbers and operators, please let me know, any help is highly appreciated.
Cheers,
Nick

D-EDMJ was the F22 that was involved in the mid-air in the Netherlands. The same operator had used PH-MRB for many years, until that F22 was lost in a crash on August 16th, 2012. In September 2012 they aquired D-EDMJ but just a month later, on 22th October 2012, it collided with DA40 PH-TDE during a photo-flight. See here for the details: https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=150310

The PH-MRB was lost after the pilot became incapacitated, see here: https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=147717

Aeroclub Roma, based Roma Urbe (LIRU), has 1 Pinguino Registered I-IAIB. Serial number: 026 :-)

I tried to do this some years ago and information is quite hard to come by. Anyway I hope I've attached the list but I don't have any info on currency or owners. Please ignore the "4"s after each entry. I couldn't get rid of them.
GENERAL AVIA F22 PINGUINO











C/N


MODEL


REG


PHOTO




COMMENTS
1
F22A
I-GEAD

Cof A expired
2
F22R
I-GEAE
4

3
F22B
N706LA
4

4
F22B
I-GEAG
4

5
F22C
I-GEAH
4

6
F22B
N92K
4

7
F22C
I-GEAZ


8
F22C
PH-MRC
4

9




10
F22B
I-CARQ
4
Expired 2010
11
F22A
I-GEAN


12
F22B
I-LUDA
4

13
F22BV
D-EDMJ
4

14
F22B
PH-MRB
4

15
F22A
I-GAFI

Accident 7/6/98
16
F22A
F-GOSA
4

17




18
F22A
G-FZZA
4

19




20




21
F22R
VH-PIQ
4
Ex ZK-JJJ and ZK-MDF
22




23
F22C
PH-MRG
4
Ex G-RAJS
24
F22C
I-FGPB
4

25
F22C
I-IAID
4
Damaged 10/4/11
26
F22C
I-IAIB
4



























F22A 116 hp, Fixed u/c and prop F22C 180 hp Retractable, c/s prop



F22B 160 hp Fixed u/c and prop F22R 160 hp Retractable, c/s prop

Just wondering if Zio Nick got any more results for the complete list of Pinguino production?

Hi Nick,
I am the owner of F22R, VH-PIQ. The aircraft has been re-engined to an IO-360 (180hp) with 3 bladed MT prop'. PIQ is now basically to F22C spec'. Unfortunately, when the previous owner upgraded the engine, he did not bother to have the MTOW increased from 850kg to the F22C MTOW of 900kg. The extra 50kg makes a huge difference to the usability of the aircraft. I am going to instigate this increase in weight with the relevant authority here in Australia.
I was wondering, if perhaps you have access to an F22C POH that you could email or post to me.
Regards,
Colin. crmckay at bigpond dot net dot au

Hi Colin,

I am happy to get in touch with you and congrats for the beautiful machine you are flying. I have some material to share, indeed.
Please contact me in pvt, I'll be happy to help.
Cheers,
Nick

Hi V-G!

Sorry for my extremely late reply, but I went through several changes in life and I honestly lost contact with many of the activities I used to follow.
First, I would like to give you a huge thank you for your input.
Second, I am going to update the list with latest information I came across.

Cheers!
N

List updated
 

Dear all,
following the latest information I could retrieve, I updated the list. I add it here as a .pdf file.
If you have further information, especially on the aircraft highlighted in yellow, please let me know.
Cheers,
ZN

Hi Nick,
I've sent you a PM with a little bit more information.

Hi All,
I am the owner of F22R VH-PIQ. This aircraft has been upgraded to F22C standard. 180hp IO-360 and MT three bladed propellor. Also, fitted with Garmin GTN650, Aspen 1000 Pro, ADS-B transponder. A great and enjoyable aircraft.
I would like to upgrade the T/O weight from 850kg to the F22C standard of 900kg. Makes for a more usable cross country cruiser.
To do this, I need the performance data for the F22C from the POH.
I would be most appreciative if someone could email me a copy of the POH.
My email: crmckay at bigpond.net.au
Regards,
Colin.

Thread drift warning...

Colin mentions installing the MT three bladed prop, an excellent prop, I too have installed one on an O-360. It replaced a two blade Hartzell. Colin, do be alert for a difference in the gliding characteristics with the added drag of the third broad blade, if you went two blade to three blade. I find that to achieve the same gliding rate of descent I had with the two blade Hartzell, I have to swiftly move the propeller control of the MT to full coarse, and the glide is markedly improved. I was practicing this the other day to remind myself.

Otherwise, sorry, in Canada, I have zero knowledge of the F22....

The glide issue with the MT prop is the very flat fine pitch setting, 2700 (engine redline) static RPM, which maximizes takeoff acceleration from a standstill and decreases glide performance with a windmilling prop. I’ve been flying one for 10 years, electrically controlled in my case which limits the rate at which you can move the blades if you really do need a good glide ratio. Otherwise it makes glide control on a normal approach very simple: you carry power on final unless you want to go down quickly in which case it will quite usefully sink like a rock with throttle closed.

The MT prop will likely change the performances from POH values - it certainly does on my plane.

A guy local to me in the US has a Pinguino. I’ve seen it flying, very slow climb speed compared to an SF260 which it superficially resembles. That’s all I know :)

Well, that should be acceptable, considering that the Pinguino has 2 pistons and 80 HP less...

G-FZZA (F22A) is owned by my father. I've just completed my LAPL, so hope to be flying it soon! Based in Lamb Holm.

If I can be of any use to your search (i.e. checking numbers, etc.), let me know, I'll try to help.

Keith

It was a wet Wednesday so I thought I would try to see if there was any new information on the Pinguinos missing from Zio Nick's listing. I did find a reference to 5 Pinguinos still being on the production line when General Avia closed the doors. I assume these were s/nos 9,17,19,20 and 22 for which neither Zio Nick or I could find any information. Digging a bit further I came across an undated picture of I-GEAT in the spray shop but with no s/n quoted. This must be one of the missing 5 and it appears to fit into the I-GEA* series but is a latecomer to the party. If anybody has any more info I would be pleased to hear from them. If Kaptin is still on here, is G-FZZA still flying in the UK? I find it a most attractive aircraft and very typically a Frati design.

22 was D-EDMP, registration cancelled

Hi VictorGolf,

Yes, G-FZZA still flies in the UK! Still in Orkney, will be permitted next summer for more flying.

Keith

Many thanks SWBKCB. Do you happen to know if it was cancelled before deivery or after having arrived in Germany? Perhaps they were put off by the crash of D-EDMJ

Thanks Kaptin. Hope all goes well with the Permit.