Millions of television viewers around the world were treated to a spectacular Tecnam P2006T flying display during the Paralympics opening ceremony in London.

The Tecnam twin was chosen by the Paralympics Games organisers to be the first act of the opening ceremony. It had been especially adapted to enable it to put on the pyrotechnic show and was flown by Lance Corporal Dave Rawlins, a British Army soldier recovering from injuries sustained in Afghanistan, and Tim Orchard, Tecnam’s dealer for the UK, Ireland and Iceland.

UK-based charity Aerobility was a critical part of Rawlins’ rehabilitation and gave him the confidence to achieve his ppl last year, while flight training organisation Aeros facilitated his multi-engine rating.

The task of converting, flight testing and certifying the provision of LED strip lights to the wings and fuselage of the Tecnam twin as well as the addition of pyrotechnic dispensers to its wingtips were achieved through Gama Engineering and Guy Westgate, a display pilot with specialist pyrotechnic expertise.

“The personal challenge of Dave performing the spectacular flight over the 2012 Paralympics opening ceremony cannot be underestimated,” says Orchard. “The exceptional teamwork and support provided by Aerobility, Tecnam, Aeros, Guy Westgate and particularly the Gama Engineering team proved to the disabled community the maxim that if I can fly a plane, what else can I do?”

Rawlins has also realised his long held ambition, after his British Army career, to work in civil aviation, and will join Gama’s operations team at Farnborough shortly.