Blackshape Brings the Italian Carbon-Fiber Veloce and the Gabriél to Oshkosh, and Why a Rotax Nine Sixteen Prime Should Be on Your Radar

Italian aircraft builder Blackshape is at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh this week (July 2026) showing two carbon-fiber airplanes through its U.S. distributor: the Rotax 916 iS-powered “Veloce” (Italian for “fast”) in its own booth, and the Gabriél, displayed inside the Dynon Avionics exhibit space. The bigger story isn’t one company selling airplanes - it’s a preview of where light aviation is heading as the FAA’s new MOSAIC framework opens the category to faster, more capable, more powerful aircraft.

Who Is Blackshape?

Based in southern Italy, Blackshape builds airplanes from carbon-fiber composite - the same material family found in racing bikes, Formula cars, and the skin of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The company grew out of the Italian composites world, and it shows: these airplanes are sleek, low-drag, and clearly built to move.

Their signature design is a tandem two-seater, meaning pilot and passenger sit one behind the other along the centerline, like a fighter trainer or a glider - not side by side as in a Cessna 172 or Piper Cherokee. It’s a more connected way to fly: the airplane rolls around you rather than beside you.

The Veloce and the Rotax 916 iS Engine

The headline machine, the Veloce, is built around the Rotax 916 iS - Rotax’s newest and most powerful production engine for this class. It’s turbocharged, fuel-injected, and produces roughly 160 horsepower.

Here’s why that number matters. The Cessna 172 most pilots trained in has historically carried a 160-hp engine hauling a heavier metal airframe with four seats and far more drag. The Veloce takes that same power output, wraps it in a light carbon-fiber body, and gives it two seats instead of four. Same power, far less airplane to push - which translates to climb and cruise performance that makes a traditional trainer feel like it’s dragging an anchor. Hence the name: Veloce, fast.

Why This Matters for Pilots: The MOSAIC Shift

For years, the U.S. light-sport category lived inside a tight rulebook of weight and speed limits. Manufacturers built clever airplanes, but always against a wall.

The FAA has been rewriting that framework under MOSAIC - Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification. The short version, standing on the ramp: the box is getting bigger. More performance, more capable airplanes, and more powerful engines are becoming available to a wider slice of pilots than the old sport-pilot rules allowed.

A carbon-fiber, turbocharged, 160-hp tandem two-seater is exactly the kind of machine that starts to make sense in that new world. It isn’t a toy - it’s a serious cross-country and training airplane. European builders like Blackshape have been making these for years, waiting for the American door to open wider.

Analysis: The pilots who benefit most from this shift are the ones in the middle - not buyers of a new Cirrus or a turboprop single, and not those who only ever want to putt around the pattern. It’s the pilot who wants real cross-country capability, speed, modern glass, and efficiency without stepping up to a heavy, expensive, high-maintenance certified single. That band has been underserved for a long time, and airplanes like this are aimed right at it.

The Gabriél and the Dynon Connection

The second airplane, the Gabriél, wasn’t parked in Blackshape’s own booth. It’s on display inside the Dynon Avionics exhibit space - and that placement is deliberate.

Dynon makes glass-panel avionics: electronic flight displays, autopilots, engine monitoring, the full digital cockpit. Long a favorite of the experimental and homebuilt world, Dynon’s equipment has increasingly moved into certified airplanes as well.

Displaying an airframe inside the avionics maker’s booth sends a message: the panel is a headline feature, not an afterthought. Buyers today shop that way. Walking up to a new light airplane in 2026, one of the first things a pilot’s eyes go to is the panel - modern glass, autopilot, synthetic vision, traffic, terrain. A gorgeous carbon airframe with a tired panel is a hard sell, and Blackshape clearly understands that.

What to Do If You’re at Oshkosh

• See both airplanes in person. Photos don’t do carbon fiber justice. Stand next to it, run your hand along the fuselage, and see how tightly everything is built - composite surface finish is something metal can’t match.
• Sit in the tandem seat if they’ll let you. Centerline seating isn’t for everyone. Some pilots love the feel; others miss having someone beside them to share a chart with. Neither is wrong - but know which one you are before writing a check.
• Ask about the numbers that matter for your mission. Not just top speed. Ask about useful load, since two people, full fuel, and bags can exhaust payload fast. Ask about cruise fuel burn, because efficiency is the whole promise of a 916 in a slick airframe. And ask about the U.S. parts and maintenance network - an imported airplane is only as good as the support behind it.
• Ask about the certification path. Where does this airplane land under the new rules? What ratings, endorsements, and insurance apply to a high-performance composite single? Those answers are shifting as MOSAIC comes online - get current information from the distributor, then verify it against the FAA’s own guidance before committing.

The Bigger Picture

AirVenture is where the world’s aviation industry shows America what’s next - and increasingly, what’s next arrives from overseas builders working in composites. Italian, Czech, German, and Slovenian manufacturers have long built fast, efficient light airplanes for the European market. What’s changing is that the American door is finally wide enough for many of them to walk through.

Blackshape putting the Veloce and the Gabriél on the field this week is one small piece of that. Underneath a simple headline - a distributor showed two Italian airplanes - an entire class of aircraft is growing up, right as the regulations grow up to meet it.

Reporting sourced from AOPA’s on-the-ground coverage at Oshkosh, with added context on Rotax’s engine line and the FAA’s MOSAIC rulemaking.

Key Takeaways

• Blackshape, an Italian carbon-fiber aircraft builder, is showing the Rotax 916 iS-powered “Veloce” and the Gabriél at Oshkosh AirVenture 2026 via its U.S. distributor.
• The Rotax 916 iS is turbocharged, fuel-injected, and makes about 160 hp - the same output as a Cessna 172, but in a far lighter two-seat composite airframe.
• The FAA’s MOSAIC rulemaking is expanding the light-sport category to allow faster, more powerful, more capable aircraft for a wider range of pilots.
• Blackshape displayed the Gabriél inside the Dynon Avionics booth, underscoring that a modern glass panel is now a core selling point, not an add-on.
• Before buying, prospective owners should weigh useful load, cruise fuel burn, U.S. maintenance support, and the evolving certification path under the new rules.