Overview
Blackshape Aircraft is an Italian light-aircraft manufacturer in Monopoli, on the Adriatic coast of Apulia, specializing in hand-built composite two-seaters. Founded in 2009, its lineup centers on the military-styled Prime and its certified sibling, the Gabriel. The company is active and in production, holding a current EASA type certificate and, since 2024, an FAA type certificate for its US trainer variant.
Heritage
Blackshape was founded in 2009 in Monopoli by Luciano Belviso, part of Apulia’s aerospace district in southern Italy. Its first aircraft, the carbon-fiber Prime, reached the market in 2012, the same year the company earned its EASA design-organisation approval. The certified Gabriel followed, gaining an EASA type certificate (EASA.A.607) in 2017 under CS-VLA. The company is held by ANGEL S.p.A., an Italian privately-owned aerospace and high-technology group, and in 2024 it secured FAA type certification for the US-market Gabriel BK160-200, entering the North American training market.
Design Signature
Every Blackshape airframe is built from pre-preg carbon fiber cured in an autoclave, a process borrowed from motorsport and aerospace that yields a light, stiff, corrosion-free structure. The house style is consistent: a low-wing, tandem-seat, retractable-gear single under a bubble canopy, styled to look and fly like a scaled-down military trainer. The Prime carries this as an Experimental ultralight on a 100 hp Rotax, while the Gabriel scales it to a certified 160 hp Lycoming trainer with a constant-speed propeller and a whole-airframe ballistic parachute.
For Owners
Blackshape is in production and supports its fleet directly from Monopoli, with a dealer and training-school network in Europe and, since the 2024 FAA certification, North America. Ownership is closer to a bespoke Italian sports car than a mass-market trainer: a small, hand-built fleet means factory-dependent parts and specialist composite maintenance, and the retractable gear, constant-speed propeller, and ballistic parachute each carry their own scheduled service. Buyers gain a fast, fuel-efficient carbon airframe and accept the support footprint of a low-volume European maker in exchange.