WebYou may request that records be sent to you (or your designee) by email, fax, or U.S. mail. Because there is no overhead panel, I had sufficient head room to allow me to clumsily maneuver myself into position. It was spot on. Hah, you think the owners don't care about safety? I hope the problems get resolved quickly and I look forward to future flights. As a result, the engine management chores on the P.180 are more complicated than those in todays fadec-equipped light jets. After wed checked figures at 380, we headed down briefly to FL 320 on the way back to Dallas. It wasnt the only fast turboprop twin with a forward wing the Beech Starship was a contemporary, though that company stopped production of the composite cabin-class twin shortly after it started it, admitting later that the composite model was so time-intensive to build that it was simply unprofitable. Have been looking everywhere for these. http://aerossurance.com/safety-management/guilty-plea-obstructing-ntsb/, Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi, Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency], Updated [Time, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative], Updated [Time, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative], Updated [Other fatalities, Source, Embed code, Narrative]. AOPA Members DO more LEARN more SAVE more - Get MORE out of being a pilot -. Stylish use of mirrors, six good-size windows on either side, and use of light colors ensure the cabin has a roomy feel. Now, to the flight deck and our seats. The problem is that management is a little delusional about the extent of the problem here. We exited left at the end, and Lorenzo cleaned the aircraft up as I got my last chance to handle the Avanti Evo while we taxied back toward the ramp. The problem with the aft mounting is that the Avanti II has a very distinct exterior noise signature that is problematic while by all accounts the Avanti II is no noisier than other PT6-powered twins. The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by: 27 occurrences in the ASN safety database, Battle Mountain-Lander County Airport, NV (BAM/KBAM), Piedmont Triad International Airport (KGSO), Greensboro, NC, St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport (KPIE), Florida, Flint-Bishop International Airport, KFNT/FNT, MI, Dickinson-Theodore Roosevelt Reg'l Airport (KDIK), Dickson, ND, Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport (KSPI), Springfield, IL, Essex County Airport (KCDW), Caldwell, NJ, Mineta-San Jose Int'l Airport (KSJC), San Jose, California, Genoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport (GOA/LIMJ), Denton Enterprise Airport - KDTO, Denton, TX, Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport (BJC/KBJC), Jefferson County, CO, Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, MD (BWI/, Aircraft Guaranty Corp Trustee (Operated by Aerovanti, Marathon-Florida Keys Airport, FL (MTH/KMTH), 28 km off Puerto Limn Airport (LIO/MRLM). The lower section, containing two integral carpeted steps, is released by a handle on the left and lowered into position. If the fleet was grounded last saturday then why were pilots sent out assignments to fly? Other parts, mainly fairings and the like, are composite, but for the most part, Piaggio Aeros Avanti II is a sheet metal airplane. Occupants can converse easily, as can the pilots. The voluntary action is being taken in coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration. Grant has been flying the Avanti for years with thousands of hours of experience in the airplane, much of it under typical charterlike conditions. I followed the start procedure with one eye as I did this and observed Villi checking the power lever at idle, switching on the fuel pump, and setting the start switch to start. At 13 percent Ng, he moved the condition lever to ground idle with the starter switch shut off at 40 percent Ng and the power lever to flight idle. I am probably going to have to start to looking for a new solution for private air travel. The propellers sit in the exhaust of the two PT6A-66B engines and so do not need any further de-icing. Contact me at Atomicapril @ gmail.com. View our Piaggio P.180 Avanti II photo gallery. To demonstrate the low-speed aileron control, Lorenzo then pulled back to the buffet and effortlessly rolled on 80 degrees of bank and then recovered to level flight. Comments since yesterday, Oct. 25, seem oblivious to the safety of flight issues. Well, pretty much all sold out. Anyone interested in the truth can re-read Piaggio drivers 4 part post. I flew with him last month. They are understandably bitter and we don't blame them.). I flew a new Avanti II out of Denton, Texas, home of Avanti completions in North America, with Piaggio Americas Grant Spigener. If anyone has any insight please share it. Closing the power levers to idle sounds the gear warning horn, which is canceled using a button on the RH power lever. In simpler terms, that means the engines maintain their 850 shaft horsepower to a higher altitude thereby increasing true airspeed of the airplane through the thinner air. As the flaps travel, there is a nose up pitch that is easily counteracted with slight forward pressure on the column and trim. I turned due south and climbed toward the military training area. Safety is Avantairs top priority. I was pleasantly surprised at how nicely the Avanti II handles. FlightAware General. Though the very basic levers dont look as though they have reverse capability, they do, though it requires a healthy lift on the levers to get them back over the gate to provide propeller braking to slow things down on the ramp and taxiways. Avantairs demise, parts scarcity, and maintenance headaches combine to make P180 ownership a challenge. No sooner had we done this, when Villi took control, performed an airshow-style liftoff, and turned to clear the runway for the next aircraft. The Avanti is has been around since 1990, providing the luxury of a jet with the versatility of a turbo prop. At that level we were seeing 380 knots or Mach 0.664 on 600 pounds of jet-A per hour, not per side but total. Using the intuitive FMS CDU, I programmed a route toward BERAB, the initial approach fix for the VOR approach to Runway 27 at Villanova. With regard to maintenance all you need to do is get an engineer to do you monthly checks and for the big ones send it to Dusseldorf. With a top speed of 400 knots (Avanti II/Evo), these airplanes cruise as much as 100 knots faster than traditional turboprops. @piaggiodriver, it's ok to be proud of working at a company but avantair treats its employees horribly. During the stand-down, Avantair will furlough some employees. I didnt alter it in any way I just cut and pasted what they sent me. Yes, it does have three lifting surfaces, a T-tail and two pusher propellers but its how they are put together that is the important thing. After two major incidents/accidents in eight months are not all fractional owners, their employees and their families scared to hell for their own safety??? And while I have spoken mainly about our pilots, I would like to commend my fellow employees, especially maintenance, in the other departments. Pilots are being pushed to the extreme limits of duty time and rest and general morale simply could not be lower company-wide. I am a fractional owner and the first I heard about this grounding was at 11pm last night when they sent me an email saying my flight for this morning was cancelled. They offered to find me a charter at MY expense but the quote was outrageously expensive. You can get a good 2003 model with the increased weights that make it an Avanti II for $5.3. The Avanti II, I should probably mention, is a single-pilot airplane; it doesnt need a crew. I know both crews involved in the Flint, MI and the elevator incident. Avanti II appeared for the 2006 model year with higher thermodynamically rated engines. WebFlightSafety offers the only formal pilot and maintenance training programs available for the Piaggio P.180 Avanti, the Avanti II and the Avanti EVO. If this had happened at a big passenger airline, they would have been lauded for getting the aircraft to the runway. Villi took control from me to give me a rest. The airplane has been constantly improved over the past decade, with new interiors, higher max takeoff weight, higher Vmo and avionics upgrades galore. It has delivered nearly 200. | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Content Policy. At FL 250 it was still better than 2,000 fpm at 170 knots indicated. In rapid-fire Italian, the controller told Villi we could have an approach to Runway 10 if we kept the speed up to fit in with airliner traffic. The co-pilot was not fired. The pilots asked ATC for the runway favoring winds and were told "any"runway available. Operationally this company is in big trouble. The external baggage area is not pressurized. The crew brought a crippled aircraft safely to the runway, but departed the runway with the crosswind condition. pilot operation, so when a small amount of fogging briefly appeared on my (right) screen, the clear pattern would allow the left-seat pilot adequate visibility. We are not infallible, and mistakes have definitely been made, but we do not deserve the acrid bile from those on this board who have obvious agendas and would celebrate our downfall. P180 Avanti Pitot and Static System. Wingspan / 46 ft 1 in This kind of range makes the P.180 a great bet as a regional airplane or one thats based in the Midwest. Villi switched on the V-bar flight directors on the PFD of the Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 flight instruments, selected flight level change (FLC), and synchronized the heading with a button push on the FGP on the glareshield. So happy I left this rag tag joint when I did! The seats are finished in black leather with the owners initials embossed into the headrest and with a cabin height of 5.74 ft, it is comfortable to move around the full length. Avantair loves the use of an ops check where the the crew tries to recreate the issue once and the maintenance department ignores it even after repeat issues with that same problem day after day. WebThe pilot said he was flying the RNAV GPS runway 36 approach in 3 miles visibility and that the wind was from 070 at 9 knots. There is no elevator in it; hence, its not a canard. Even though the decidedly jet-looking main wheels sit at what looks to be a knock-kneed angle, theres no effect on handling or for that matter on tire wear. Everyone at Owner Services couldn't have been nicer and the vast majority of the pilots were courteous and very professional, and I had zero complaints with them. Avantair and the Avanti have tremendous potential, if we make it. The upper fuselage curves to a peak height just in front of and above the main wing leading edge and then slopes downwards to join the lower fuselage upward curve at a point below the trailing edge of the T-tail that stands with its sharply swept back horizontal tailplane some 13.06 feet above the ramp. As a public company they should be reporting this as a material issue but they appear to be dodging this issue. The front office of the Avanti Evo is the Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21. Here is the sentence: Flying may receive financial compensation for products purchased through this site. Don. Avantair and the FAA may call it voluntary, but it's all semantics. The engines have pneumatic boots on the intake combining with an engine particle deviator door to avoid ice entering the engine core and a warm bleed air supply to the engine oil cooler intake. The Avanti feels very stable and is easy to maintain altitude in while hand-flying compared with other airplanes in and around its class. I just read about the one that flipped, but understand, it is only this issue that has me looking at ntsb reports, it is not something most fractional owners do before every flight. Compared to the Avanti II it has redesigned nacelles, winglets, and a reshaped front wing, leading to a 3% reduction in emissions along with a 3% increase in climb performance. I asked Grant to put the gear up on positive rate of climb, and soon thereafter I called for the flaps to be retracted. The Nov. 16, 2011 engine failure and emergency landing at Flint, MI and veering off the runway and flipping on its back (all 4 occupants suffered minor injuries) shows pilot poor skills for sure and serious concern about engine maintenance. As we tracked toward this point, Lorenzo handed me back control for the last approach. Its a hard transition for a pilot coming back to PT6s after having flown modern fadec turbofans from Williams and, yes, from Pratt & Whitney. To demonstrate the first stall, Villi leveled at 15,000 feet, and with the power levers remaining closed, we decelerated at 1.5 knots per second as shown by the purple trend vector on the PFD airspeed strip. Villi selected the Rockwell Collins RTA-800 weather radar on his nav display via the display control panel down the side of the PFD, to monitor a cell just inland. I followed Lorenzos example, if anything being a bit more aggressive with the speed decay. Whatever the outcome, it was and is an honor and a blast to serve our Owners and work with my fellow VNR employees. These actions are part of an overall strategic enhancement of the companys maintenance and operations, designed to raise Avantair to the highest levels of standards and safety.. The continuous curve of the fuselage generates approximately one-third of the overall lift, reducing the required size of the wings and thus minimizing drag. It just so happens to be one of the most unusual looking ones too. Again, the landing flare was very slight, and on touchdown, Lorenzo took control, selected beta on the props and we smoothly decelerated with plenty of runway remaining. Vref lists the value of a 1990 P180 at $846,600 ranging up to $6.1 million for a 2019 Avanti Evo. In fact, Avantair hired and added airplanes during the Great Recession. My friend, the Captain, requested the FO remain with the passengers, who continued their verbal tirade as the Captain DID complete a postflight, although abbreviated under duress. As we returned to our starting point alongside Villanovas smart, modern terminal, we allowed the PT6s to cool for the required two minutes before securing the airplane. This story is already out of date, as of today, 10/25/12, the entire is fleet is grounded for the foreseeable future. The plan for my flight was to climb to 30,000 up to the Wichita VOR to do something Id never done before, an RVSM check. New eVTOL Aircraft Set to Co-exist Alongside Helicopters, Safran Signals 'War for Talent' within Civil Engine Aftermarket, Newly Certified HAL 228 Variant Attracts Indian Lessor, Vision Systems Brings Dimmable-window Solutions to Heli-Expo, Cessna Citation II: The 'Family Truckster', Training Providers Gear Up for AAM Market, A modest proposal to boost general aviation, FAA Should Use Its Nuclear Option To Save Americas Airports, Analyzing the GAMA 1Q10 aircraft delivery numbers, Mid-Year Aerospace & Air Transport Report. Cash is cash, and paying another charter company would sink cash. For private owners, charter customers and fractional owners, the big cabin is a major selling point. We are enhancing our maintenance and operational infrastructure so that it surpasses every standard that applies to the aircraft we fly. Ive removed Kyles email address above since this is not a pilot placement service, and Ive also deleted a charter companys post trolling for business from Avantair customers. Web Conserve water to avoid overloading the septic system. I am under a recent lease agreement. At 73 inches across, the width allows for great shoulder room, easy entry though the airstair door and a very comfy hard-door lavatory. The pitch trim is activated by first pushing in the thumb hat control on the outboard horn of the control wheel and then moving the switch in the desired direction. Oh, and "coincidentally" perhaps, I got an email request for some documents that they were missing from my file yesterday, which I sent over. P180 Avanti Oxygen System. The approach speeds are very fast by turboprop standards. Furloughs.too bad. This airframe, T7-ASG, SN3007 was the first Avanti to be produced at the new manufacturing facility in Villanova DAlbenga, one year after production was moved from Genoa. I HOPE they make it but I'm already making plans for other options. Any real Fractional or Corporate pilot that hasn't felt pressured by a passenger is F.O.S. He was a good guide to have for my first flight in the airplane. That said, they never even sent me a quote, which I got elsewhere for a king air (and a Lear 55, I am taking the King Air). The shape, youll see, is not simply for show, though ironically it shows very nicely. Had Chuck Yeager and Sully Sullenburger, himself, flown the aircraft, the result would have been the same. Along with the wings, the engine inlets and wing leading edge are deiced by bleed air; the tail does without, as do the props, which are heated directly by the engine exhaust blowing over them. The anhedral of the forward wing ensures there is no aerodynamic interference with the engine intakes and assists in stall handling. We were cleared through 8,000 feet very quickly and then up to FL350, set up using the flight guidance panel (FGP) on the glareshield and appearing in cyan in the top right hand side of the PFD. For years, Avantis languished on the fringes of general aviation as a niche airplane. WebP180 Avanti General Description. Its a great formula. The crew arrived at the intermediate airport and quickly boarded the two waiting passengers.Theydid not perform an adequate preflight inspection and departed about 5 minutes behind schedule. While canard configurations like the Beechcraft Starship were gaining a lot of attention back then, the exotic Avanti begged to be even more different with its three-lifting-surface arrangement versus the canards tail-forward setup. They have a history of lying. Really thinking nothing of it, I booked a flight from LAS to Orange COunty Ca today (coming back tomorrow). 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