turboprop

Piaggio Aero P. 180 Avanti II: Are Turboprops The Answer In A Tough Small Plane Market?

Filed under: Wings

It's been a tough year for small private plane companies with layoffs and plant closures but not everyone is floundering. Piaggio Aero, makers of the P. 180 Avanti II have announced the addition of three new service centers in Ft. Lauderdale, Toronto and Montreal. The announcement came one month after Piaggio's expansion with West Star Aviation at its East Alton, Ill. facility. Since 2008, the Piaggio Aero brand has doubled its North American service network. The success of the P. 180 Avanti II is a combination of its sleek Italian styling (Piaggio Aero Industries' Chairman, Piero Ferrari, son of Enzo Ferrari, is also vice Chairman of Ferrari S.p.A.) and its fuel efficiency. The plane is the fastest turboprop aircraft combine the speed of a light cabin jet with the cabin of a mid-size craft that can hold nine people. It can hit cruising speeds of more than 402 ktas. but requires a third less fuel than most business jets. The new service centers are now open with more planned for 2010.

Gallery: Piaggio Aero P180 Avanti II

Tags: piaggio, piaggio aero, PiaggioAero, private plane, PrivatePlane, turboprop

Top Class Turboprop: The Daher-Socata TBM 850

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

Taking advantage of the burgeoning interest in top-drawer turboprops, seen by many to be a more economical alternative to jets in tough times, comes the $2.8 million Daher-Socata TBM 850 (above). The stylish plane, the product of a merger between Socata, founded in 1911, and French aerospace firm Daher, offers the advantages of the cruising speeds typical of light jets, but with the economical direct operating costs of a single-engine turboprop. And of course it's a lot cheaper. Equipped with a Pratt & Whitney PT6A engine offering responsive handling and sporty performance, the TBM 850 can climb to 31,000 ft in as little as 20 minutes, fly over 1,400 nautical miles, and slip into a 2,000-ft. airstrip or a mountain runway. It accommodates six people including pilot and co-pilot in its luxurious, air-conditioned cabin.

[via JamesList]

Tags: aerospace, Daher-Socata, jet, plane, private jet, PrivateJet, turboprop

Hawker Beechcraft King Air 350i

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

The new Hawker Beechcraft King Air 350i (above) is an updated, luxury version of a turboprop plane that's been a big seller since 1964. The economic crisis has caused many corporations to consider swapping expensive jets for more efficient and less costly turboprops like the classic King Air. Beechcraft has added in luxury features and finishes found on much more expensive Hawker business jets to make the $6.6 million King Air 350i a competitive choice. It's billed as is the most luxurious, most comfortable and most capable turbine aircraft ever offered in its class, period. The company compares it to a Range Rover - very refined with rugged underpinnings and exemplary safety features. With the most flexible and technologically advanced cabin ever introduced in a twin turboprop, the plane can ferry 9 passengers in the morning and then be reconfigured into an ultra-luxe VIP shuttle for 2 that same afternoon.

Tags: Beechcraft, business jet, BusinessJet, Hawker, Hawker Beechcraft, HawkerBeechcraft, jet, plane, private jet, private plane, PrivateJet, PrivatePlane, turboprop

Piaggio Planning a New Ferrari Jet

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Wings

Piaggio chief executive Alberto Galassi just announced that plans are finally in place for a new Ferrari jet based on the Avanti turboprop plane (above) at the European Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition (EBACE) in Geneva. Piaggio, which is partly owned by Ferrari and is licensed to use its prancing horse logo, says its shareholders in Abu Dhabi and India are backing the project but declined to release many details. "I promise you one thing, this [will be] a beautiful airplane," Galassi said. "You would not expect anything more from Italian style and Ferrari."

They're not taking orders yet, however. "Who wants to hear about a new airplane, take orders and then wait 10 years for delivery?" Galassi asked. "You don't see Ferrari announcing a new model and then spending years developing it. Ferrari designs the car, builds it and then launches it. I want us to be close to first flight and with the latest technology before we tell people about it." He also joked, "It costs the same to design an ugly aircraft as it does a beautiful one, so we have the beautiful one."

[via JamesList]

Tags: airplane, EBACE, Ferrari, Italian style, ItalianStyle, Italy, jet, Piaggio, turboprop

Piaggio Aero P180 Avanti II

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

I've bandied about the term "Ferrari for the skies" before but this is the real deal. Italian company, Piaggio Aero is owned by the Ferrari family and the the Maranello racing team has been flying the Avanti since 2000. The Avanti is also the preferred choice of President Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, general manager Jean Todt and world champion Formula One driver Michael Shumacher.

The P180 Avanti II is the world's fastest turboprop business aircraft. It has a midsize cabin that can hold nine people and is over 6 feet wide and 5 feet 9 inches tall. The plane also uses fuel efficiencies that are nearly 40% less than most business jets and 25% less than the most efficient twin turboprops. The plane sells for around $6.195 million. Check out the interior after the jump.

Source

Tags: airplane, airport, avanti ii, business plane, ferrari, piaggio, plane, turboprop, wings

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TBM 850 Six Seater Turboprop

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

Another entry into the super competitive small plane market comes from EADS Socata which has announced the newest member of its TBM family, the six-seater TBM 850 single-engine turboprop. The idea is to give TBM 850 operators the advantage of the cruising speeds of light jets with the lower costs of operating costs of a single-engined turboprop. The plane is certified in European and FAA certification is expected soon. Deliveries will begin in 2006 and the base price is $2,576,930 in 2006. A version with typical customer options and equipped for RVSM (Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum) operation will list at $2,799,850. The RVSM-equipped version can fly non-stop from Minneapolis to Miami.

Tags: plane, single-engine, small plane, SmallPlane, turbo prop, TurboProp