Wish I had a bit more time to look over the demo Avanti at EN today...nice looking machine in the flesh. I never realised the diameter of those five blade props were sooo small as compared to a normal PT-6 install...still, gotta hand it to the Italians...she looks like she's doing 200mph just sitting there...a real racer of an aircraft.
Location: The 'Bat Cave' @ HLP in the Big Durian Indo
Age: 51
Posts: 776
Susi Air just started flying one out of Halim in Jakarta , they have a unique sound compared to other turboprops , you don't need to look outside to tell it's an Avanti
Location: The 'Bat Cave' @ HLP in the Big Durian Indo
Age: 51
Posts: 776
Susi took delivery of the Avanti in July , maybe they've picked up the Asia Pacific agency as well or the factory is chartering it for a sales tour of Oz ? I think the registration is PK-VVP ?
I call it the Vespa-prop as Piaggo also make Vespas.
.................bumma would liked to have seen this beast up close. Anyone got any pix of this craft at EN? The airframe type was bantered around in the early days as a replacement for the old flying shed Beech 200 for med Ops. Would have been great from a pilots point of view but operationally near useless.
I wonder why they never 'took off' so to speak? I guess cost versus the fact they still have props perhaps?
From my understanding, the Avanti is "taking off" quite well in some parts of the world (i.e. Europe/US), where the aircraft is better suited to the types of fields more prevalent there. IMHO, 'tis a beautiful machine, but you only have to look at the wing design and undercarriage set-up as two examples of where it falls down when it comes to Oz ops. I can't imagine it being a short field aeroplane, or one that lends itself to unsealed runways - unlike the King Air, which although not nearly as fast or sophisticated, remains to this day the best turbo-prop all-rounder.
Its real noisy on the outside. And not so quiet on the inside, noisy I thought Climbs at 2000rpm / 180kts ias / 2000 fpm when fairly light cruises 1800 rpm 350kts+ at FL240 ( 400 at 31 I think ) 120 over the fence on approach 118psi main wheels Has gravel kit - a skirt behind the nose wheel Can't compare to B200 / 350 more against C441 or CJ Proline 21 Good sized cabin / baggage limited Cunard pretty strong ( pilot sat on it) Certainly makes a statement when it arrives on the tarmac
Location: The 'Bat Cave' @ HLP in the Big Durian Indo
Age: 51
Posts: 776
Sounds like a nice aircraft for 3 or 4 pax going between major or regional cities with sealed runways rather than a true utility aircraft like the King Air. Perfect for Europe and probably the USA
