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Piaggio introduces the new Avanti P180 EVO.

Feels like I’ve had it forever, @Mooney_Driver

I hear ya Adam… in fact i do admire your spirit and over all your patience. And there was me a few years back going really irritated when I had to wait for my plane to be back out of maintenance for two weeks……

No, keep it coming. I am looking forward to hear that your airplane will finally fly and you enjoy it… before you embark on the next adventure. And one day, maybe you’ll write a book on your experiences. I’d buy it even if I have read most of it on the different fora you’ve posted about your ownership exploits.

LSZH(work) LSZF (GA base), Switzerland

I appreciate that, Mooney. Like I mentioned in some other thread somewhere, I think I’ve changed my outlook on owning fixer uppers now. They can still financially make sense, but they just take too much time out of your life. I might have 20 years left of medicals and flying, if all goes perfectly to plan. I’ve waited 5 years on getting old planes flyable. Yes, I’ve not had to finance anything, I could pay as I earned, but perhaps in hindsight, it would have been better to finance a slightly more expensive plane, and had the opportunity to enjoy it during all these wasted years. That’s what it feels like now. The next one I buy, if I do, will not be a major fixer upper. And if that takes financing, that’s ok.

Well, Adam, we all learn our lessons. I am very happy with the result of mine, which did not get that much updated as yours but still a lot. But in the end, you get what YOU want and you can fly it the way you like.

Anyhow, keep us posted on your progress. I hope your plane finally gets flying and you’ll be able to forget the upgrate woes for a few years.

LSZH(work) LSZF (GA base), Switzerland

Italian government throws Piaggio €700 million lifeline

24 June, 2019 SOURCE: FlightGlobal.com BY: Kate Sarsfield London

Italy’s government has approved over €700 million ($800 million)-worth of orders and commitments for Piaggio Aerospace, as it seeks to make the business more attractive to any potential buyer.

Announced on 21 June, the series of commitments came as Piaggio’s state-appointed administrator, Vincenzo Nicastro, prepares to begin a tender process later this year for the struggling developer of the P180 Avanti Evo, which entered extraordinary receivership in December 2018.

Chief among the agreements is an order from the defence ministry for nine new Avanti Evos, plus an upgrade of 19 earlier-generation examples of the twin-pusher type operated by all three branches of the country’s armed forces. Valued at €260 million, the contract is expected to be signed by year-end.

A further €96 million deal to provide logistics support to the military should be sealed by the end of September, on top of €200 million worth of engine maintenance contracts, which are scheduled for approval by the end of June, Piaggio says.

The Italian parliament is also expected to give its approval by late July to completing certification of the P1HH HammerHead – an unmanned surveillance variant of the Avanti – and the acquisition of at least one system, comprising two aircraft and one ground station, for €160 million.

HammerHead development has been on hold since the company entered receivership. Piaggio says its long-term objective is to maintain “company know-how” and participate in future Europe-wide unmanned air vehicle programmes.

Piaggio says it is also “heavily committed” to the business aircraft market and recently expanded its sales team to help drive up demand for the Avanti Evo. Two aircraft have been delivered so far this year – both in May – and two more examples remain in the backlog.

Nicastro says: “The timetable announced, which foresees the signing of the first new contracts as early as the end of this month, will support the company’s commitment to regaining market share in all the sectors in which it operates.” He adds: “There is still a lot to do,” but believes the company is “moving in the right direction”.

“Our goal is to be in a good position after the summer, when the official tender for the sale of Piaggio Aerospace will hopefully start, with a company able to attract a number of qualified potential buyers,” says Nicastro.

He invited non-binding expressions of interest on 30 April to acquire part or all of the Italian firm, headquartered in Villanova D’Albenga, near Genoa. By the 15 May deadline, Nicastro had received 26 expressions to acquire the whole company, three to buy the aircraft business and 10 for the engine business.

Italian firm Leonardo has expressed an interest in the engine and aircraft maintenance activities, but Nicastro intends to sell the company as a single entity, rather than breaking it up.

always learning
LO__, Austria

Well, my buddy Anthony bought an early 1992 P180 this fall. He immediately dropped her off for panel upgrade to Garmin and just recently got her back. Panel looks amazing and actually a lot cooler and more modern than the later Avanti II’s with the ProLine. He’s promised me a ride soon, but has been teasing me with lots of photos and performance numbers on his latest trips. Honestly, this thing just is in a category by itself. Forget having the largest cabin of any comparable jet, but the sheer economy of it’s slippery self really translates. I’ll let the pictures talk for themselves, but how about less than 500lbs/hr doing 350 TAS economy cruise. What a machine!










A guy named Anthony reached out to me last year when he was thinking of buying a P180, knowing I’m kinda a big fan. I was able to share a POH I had. Not sure if that helped, but to my great surprise, he went ahead and bought a 1992 P180 Avanti this fall and promised me an early ride in it! So this is the pictorial trip report of that ride from yesterday. We flew from Los Angeles to Denver.

I’ll let the pics talk for themselves, but if a ride in this thing was supposed to scare me off, well, it’s just done the opposite. These damn things are friggin’ amazing! Anthony and I was just grinning from ear to ear during the whole ride.

As for ride, it is whisper quiet in the cabin – I would say as quite or quieter than a jet. We cruised with headsets off for awhile and just the speaker and I could keep a normal conversational tone without problem. Even communicated with the person siting in the back without any problem, barely raising the voice. Cabin is huge, and is just a solid magic carpet ride. Goddamn you Anthony! You’ve now made me want one even more! ;)


Prop spinning “locks” getting removed.


KHHR


You remove the pin for ground handling, so must remember to put it back before startup. You lose it and it’s $3000.


Gear and wheel assembly somehow a relative of the F-104 Starfighter.


Takeoff from HHR. Rotate at 110kts, then flaps up at 125kts (which happens immediately) and off you go. It reminded me a bit of the Aerostar takeoff – until you reach blue line, it’s kind of shallow, then it really gets going.


178kts IAS and still doing 2000ft/min. 4000ft/min is no problem down here.


In no time are we well above LAX class B and on our way.


During full power climb, you’re looking at about 425lbs/side in FF.


At 28000ft still 175kts IAS and doing 1300ft/min.


Me and Anthony with no headsets for some of the flight. It’s whisper quiet.


Briefly at FL350 w see 380kts TAS.


Pretty cold up here and you can see the heated windshields doing their job. They have kind of a funny pattern that differs from drivers side to co-pilots side.


We jumped up to FL370 for a smoother ride. Grand Canyon.


At FL370 the speed settled in between 360-370kts TAS.


FF up here are around 270-280lbs/hr/side. That’s very impressive for that speed


0.7nm/lbs or almost 6mpg. I’ve owned trucks that burn more gas than that!


1000lbs/side left.


Sun setting on the forward wing.


You can’t see the nacelles or props from cockpit.


Anthony’s new panel. Two GTN 750’s and two full-size TXi’s and new radar. Panel looks like it rolled off the assembly line yesterday except for a few RSVM steam gauges he has to keep around until the altitude curves get released and he can move to all glass.


Coming in towards Denver, ATC gave us a very late slam dunk arrival. We had to hit 4000ft/min decent to stay with the STAR. The thing just doesn’t want to slow down. We also went through some icing clouds on the way down and you could barely tell – rock solid in turbulence.


As now a certified California wimp despite my Swedish background, I seriously underestimated how cold Denver can get, so this photo was taken about 2s before I ran into Signature as a popsicle. Ice on every taxiway.

Thanks for the ride, Anthony!

Adam, panel looks great. But that performance is poor for a proper jet. What did he pay for the aircraft and upgrades in total? If it was cheaper than a Mustang then fair enough.

EGTK Oxford

Can anyone see the resemblance to its grandmother?

quatrelle wrote:

Can anyone see the resemblance to its grandmother?

I once heard a funny noise in Latina, Italy and ran outside to see one of those, operated by the Italian Air Force, inbound to the base at good speed and under 1000 feet (typical Italian VFR). From that my comment is that the sound of one resembles the sound of the other!

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