Piaggio Aero

[Matt Ottosen]

P180 Avanti II

[David Loera]

Piaggio P180 N134SL

[Chris V]

[redsox223]

Wow, great photos, but this is a really ugly plane.

[BillOz]

Mitchell,

With this aircraft, beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder, and no cracks about being blind.

From the right angles, I think this is quite a good looking plane, and not much else with props can touch its' performance.  From the side or a front 3/4 view, it looks nice, see Dave's shot.

[Joe Copalman]

Vlassic may make the crunchiest pickle, but Piaggio's is the fastest.

[redsox223]

Bill I stand corrected. A prop that can climb at nearly 3,000ft per min, plus a max cruise speed of 395 kts is a worthy aircraft.

[Rob Silliman]

Piaggo P-180 departing Sky Harbor

[Joe Copalman]

[wingsnstuff]

Beautiful shot Joe.  Here's a note from the AIAA Daily Launch on the Piaggio Aero

Piaggio P180 Very Efficient Turboprop For Its Class.
The Wired (8/23, Paur) "Autopia" blog reviewed the Piaggio P180 turboprop, the "unusual design" of which "translates to greater efficiency, up to 40 percent better than other airplanes in its class." According to the article, "engineers tried to rethink every aspect of the airplane. It uses turbine power to spin propellers instead of the jet engines common in this class of aircraft. The plane also features a small canard like wing near the nose, the main wing and a horizontal tail." The article noted, "It's unlikely jets will give up their crown as the mid-size business aircraft of choice any time soon. But if you have $7 million burning a hole in your pocket, the P180's creative design does offer an efficient alternative."

[CJPalmer]

Yes, great shot Joe! Some further info for you. All three wings (canard, main, and tail) all produce lift, unlike conventional aircraft where the tail pushes down. This also makes it easier to incorporate flaps into the wing. The fuselage may look composite, but it is aluminum with filler used to smooth the entire surface. This make for very low drag. Unfortunately, this means you have to keep the aircraft very clean. If it starts to get too dirty the, the increased drag will produce a noticeable loss of speed.

[bilwor]

[Jeff D. Welker]

Very nice capture Bill.

[FrequencyChange]

Piaggio P.180 landing at Scottsdale Airport with snow covered McDowell Mountains.

[Barry Griffiths]

 
Piaggio P180 s/n 1199 (2009) N192SL by Barry Griffiths CAD, on Flickr