Flying The Piaggo P-180 Avanti II

Luvrv8 said:
We have a FBO (AvaintAir) full of those P-180's. They are noisey on the ground and you can hear them on a 4 mile final. A friend works on them, he tells me stories of carbon build up on the props and replacing the door seals for pressure is common.
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I am VERY well familiar with that FBO! Your friend is correct. They are exceptionally loud on the outside; yet it is THE quietest plane I have ever flown, on the inside (and one of the quietest I've ever ridden in).

The carbon build up on the props is due to the fact that the props are only about 6 inches behind the exhaust stacks. We used to have to clean them ourselves at the end of every flight day. Fortunately that's a maintenance only problem now! On the other hand, the benefit of having the props there is that we don't have to have prop heaters, or any other form of prop deice - the exhaust does it for us. One less thing to break! (The only way the exhaust isn't going to deice the props is if the engine is shut down. In which case, we probably have bigger issues).

Ahhh the door seals. Gotta love the door seals. This plane is just like the 1900 in that way. On the Piaggio, it's because they did the two part door (top half swings forward, bottom half drops down and becomes stairs) instead of going with the Citation design of a single forward-swinging door and a separate fold-down stair. The seal is USUALLY fine around the outside, it's the horizontal joint where the two halves overlap that is the recurring problem. That, and a really stupid nose steering design...
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
I just met ANOTHER POA pilot last night (Brian). We fly tomorrow. Then I might meet Mari this weekend. That's Teller, Brian, and Mari, all in less than two weeks.

WHAT WILL IT TAKE FOR YOU TO BELIEVE IN ME????
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Yep, I can verify she's real. Or if it's not her, it must be her twin. No...wait...I saw her pilot certificate. Yep, definitely for real.
 
Teller1900 said:
The carbon build up on the props is due to the fact that the props are only about 6 inches behind the exhaust stacks. We used to have to clean them ourselves at the end of every flight day. Fortunately that's a maintenance only problem now! On the other hand, the benefit of having the props there is that we don't have to have prop heaters, or any other form of prop deice - the exhaust does it for us. One less thing to break! (The only way the exhaust isn't going to deice the props is if the engine is shut down. In which case, we probably have bigger issues).
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I saw one of these on a $300 barbeque run to Augusta Maine. They were getting ready to depart as we were leaving. I think the distinctive noise is due to the exhaust going through the prop. After I heard them in AUG I now recognize that noise everywhere and when one flies even high overhead I say "Oh, a Piaggo Avanti!" and my friends think it is quite funny I can tell that from the ground B)
 
They do make a distinctive noise when the fly.
 
BrianR said:
Yep, I can verify she's real. Or if it's not her, it must be her twin. No...wait...I saw her pilot certificate. Yep, definitely for real.
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Thanks, Brian. Teller - I met Brian from POA a few days after meeting you. Due to the darned marine layer we did not fly in the 152 and I am super bummed. Oh and Teller saw my Pilot cert too! It is odd since I've never shown it to anyone before. Now two POAers have held it.
 
BrianR said:
Yep, I can verify she's real. Or if it's not her, it must be her twin. No...wait...I saw her pilot certificate. Yep, definitely for real.
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kimberlyanne546 said:
Thanks, Brian. Teller - I met Brian from POA a few days after meeting you. Due to the darned marine layer we did not fly in the 152 and I am super bummed. Oh and Teller saw my Pilot cert too! It is odd since I've never shown it to anyone before. Now two POAers have held it.
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Ya know, Kim, Brian makes a good point. How do I know it was you and not a twin?? We all have the same picture on our pilot's license! :rofl:

spinfire said:
I saw one of these on a $300 barbeque run to Augusta Maine. They were getting ready to depart as we were leaving. I think the distinctive noise is due to the exhaust going through the prop. After I heard them in AUG I now recognize that noise everywhere and when one flies even high overhead I say "Oh, a Piaggo Avanti!" and my friends think it is quite funny I can tell that from the ground B)
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It's a combination of the exhaust through the prop and, moreover, the "contaminated" air coming off the back of the wing through the prop (and the fact that we turn our prop blindingly fast for a turbo-prop). If you're really bored, read up on square waves. That's the noise the Piaggio makes.
 
...They are exceptionally loud on the outside; yet it is THE quietest plane I have ever flown, on the inside (and one of the quietest I've ever ridden in)...

It is indeed amazing just how quiet they are inside - even sitting in the back seats. I recently bought a fraction and each ride is still a "this thing sure does haul *ss" experience.

It is a sweet ride!
 
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rsleeds said:
...They are exceptionally loud on the outside; yet it is THE quietest plane I have ever flown, on the inside (and one of the quietest I've ever ridden in)...

It is indeed amazing just how quiet they are inside - even sitting in the back seats. I recently bought a fraction and each ride is still a "this thing sure does haul *ss" experience.

It is a sweet ride!
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How about sitting on that strange toilet with the top and the bottom of the door missing? Is it quiet in there too?
 
rsleeds said:
...They are exceptionally loud on the outside; yet it is THE quietest plane I have ever flown, on the inside (and one of the quietest I've ever ridden in)...

It is indeed amazing just how quiet they are inside - even sitting in the back seats. I recently bought a fraction and each ride is still a "this thing sure does haul *ss" experience.

It is a sweet ride!
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Very cool, I'm glad you like it! It really is a great design. Have you been through much/any turbulence with it yet? I'm always astonished how it smooths out the bumps! Are you an owner of a ---SL tail, or a privately owned aircraft?

kimberlyanne546 said:
How about sitting on that strange toilet with the top and the bottom of the door missing? Is it quiet in there too?
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Surprisingly, yes! You get a little bit of an echo in there, but not bad at all. You can still sit back there and talk to the guys in the pointy end without really raising your voice.

The wing spar passes completely behind/outside of the pressure bulkhead, so almost no noise or vibrations are transferred to the cabin. It's a tad noisier at the very back of the cabin, since you're closer to the engines, but they're still a good ways behind you.
 
Teller1900 said:
Very cool, I'm glad you like it! It really is a great design. Have you been through much/any turbulence with it yet? I'm always astonished how it smooths out the bumps! Are you an owner of a ---SL tail, or a privately owned aircraft?
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I haven't noticed too many bumps yet - but based on that, maybe I have and just didn't notice it :)

We're "SL" owners. Hopefully we'll share a leg down the line.
 
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