P180 Avanti
 

I just did some reading on the P180 Avanti and I would love to hear from Avant Air pilots who fly the aircraft and share any interesting characteristics about it. I quote from Wikipedia:
"Piaggio pilots remark that exterior noise is odd sounding although it not at all appreciably noisier than comparable turboprop aircraft. Indeed, interior noise is the lowest of nearly any aircraft turboprop or jet"

I'm hoping to get a flight in one soon, there's a local company that operates one and the pilot's office is next to mine. I'll definately post up if I get the chance to do it, our schedule's having matched well though.

Thanks, I am looking forward to it. I am rather fascinated by "unusual" designs of aircraft, especially when it comes to biz jets. Oh and isn't that Beechcraft Starship one slick lookin' airplane? It has very similar designs to the P180's. (Perhaps I should have posted this on the Fractional forum...)

It sounds like a giant airbone lawnmower. Once you've heard one fly over, you'll forever be able to foretell another's coming.

Someone brought one to Jabara apt. in Wichita and put it on display for a time. It is very impressive up close. The canards, twin pushers, swept wings, composite materials, rudder-winglets, Collins glass cockpit are very nice. It's too bad it did not sell, it was way ahead of its time. It's a unique airplane.

I remember back when flying magazine ran an article on the Avanti and said that some of the designers who worked on it were also either lamoborghini, porsche, or ferrari (I forgot which one, sorry I'm not a big car person) designers/engineers as well.

Being able to cruise around at an Mmo of .7, at a fraction of the cost of a jet is a pretty big bonus too. I wonder what's keeping more businesses from buying them?

Piaggio has some sort of relationship with Ferrari it seems. If you glance around on the Piaggio website, you'll see photos of what Im guessing is an Avanti corporate aircraft for Ferrari. Has the Ferrari yellow crest with the stallion on the nose of the airplane. Its pretty slick.

The Italians have always had a thing for speed and flashy vehicles, so its no surprise that an airplane like the Avanti comes from the same country!

Ironic, a company used to also operate one of those Starships out of my airport also. Talked with one of the guys that flew it and he's got his "B-2000" type rating for that plane. Jokingly we call him the "Starship Commander."

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They are great planes but when it comes to aircraft with canards there's an issue of CG to deal with. They have a smaller CG envelope and should you stall one you are usually in deep poop.

To see why people don't normally purchase them we'd have to see what the initial purchase cost is and load characteristics are. If there is always a CG or weight issue then they might not be desirable. The range seems pretty decent. They fly in and out of CMH all the time. I like watching them. Very neat aircraft.