72301 PIAGGIO P.180 AVANTI

Piaggio P.180 Avanti is a modern, two-engine business and transport aircraft of Italian production. The drive is provided by two Pratt and Whitney Canada PT6A turboprop engines with a power of 850 HP each. The prototype flight took place in 1986. Series production started shortly after and is still continuing. By 2017, 220 aircraft of this type had been produced. The P.180 Avanti was developed as a grassroots initiative by the Piaggio Aero aviation plant, which in the early 1980s aimed to create a new utility and light transport aircraft. Finally, after thorough research and development, an atypical machine with two pushing propellers and an atypical design of the blades with as many as three bearing surfaces with a T-shaped rear tail was created. However, this rare solution meant that the P.180 Avanti has fantastic aerodynamic properties, is relatively easy to pilot and shows at least good performance. It is worth adding that Piaggio P.180 Avanti has been used by the Polish Air Ambulance Service since May 2004. One of the probable development versions of the P.180 is the sea reconnaissance aircraft (designation: P.180 MPA), which was presented in 2015.