When Italians design an aircraft

Italians already make some of the most beautiful automobiles. Here's happens when that passion gets applied to aircraft.

Just. Wow.

There used to be a Piaggio that flew in and out of ILG - my office is on the final approach for runway 19, about a mile out, so I get to see a lot of interesting aircraft.

Those things are loud.  Really loud.

You mean Piaggio as in scooter?

It's even got the skinny Italian waiter mustache!

I like that it has front canards, as well as a rear wing. Extra downforce!

In reply to Duke :

I know a guy who used to be the airport manager at Santa Monica airport.  He said they were so loud they are not allowed to land at Santa Monica.

When you have to route the turbine exhaust through the propellers, it makes NOISE.

There is also this Italian (Bugatti) design:

I'll just leave this here.

https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/tag/aeronautica-macchi/

They do a nice job with boats too:

Shawn beat me to it!

The Macchi MC.72 is gorgeous.  

I don't know if Bugatti exactly qualifies for "Italian aircraft" or not.  They would have been built in France.

Italian aircraft design has always been super interesting to me, especially the WWII flavor. They were, in a lot of respects ahead of the game in the field of aerodynamics (C.202 was a REALLY well respected aircraft). Nowadays, unless you like the look, you'd have to be really dumb to buy this over a faster, more fuel efficient, and cheaper Gulfstream G150 or like a Learjet 75. Source: Aero enthusiast and commerical multi-engined rated pilot.

Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) said:

You mean Piaggio as in scooter?

Piaggio was an aircraft company that ended up building scooters as a way to survive after the last Great Unpleasantness.

if you look at the front suspension of the original Vespa, it looks awfully like someone used a strut from a landing gear there for inspiration. 

goingnowherefast said:

Italian aircraft design has always been super interesting to me, especially the WWII flavor. They were, in a lot of respects ahead of the game in the field of aerodynamics (C.202 was a REALLY well respected aircraft). Nowadays, unless you like the look, you'd have to be really dumb to buy this over a faster, more fuel efficient, and cheaper Gulfstream G150 or like a Learjet 75. Source: Aero enthusiast and commerical multi-engined rated pilot.

Twin-engine turboprop aircraft are usually going to be noticeably less cost to own and operate vs. part 25 biz jets.  ROUGH quick checks online says a P180 costs around $7.2mil new; G150's are just over $15mil.  Fuel burn per hour is about 1/2 the G150 in favor of the P180, though cruise speeds are about 1/3rd higher for the G150.  Cessna "M2" (don't love that model name), the current CJ1, is actually a bit cheaper than the P180 but much smaller inside.  

I'm not a big fan of the P180 but I can understand how it has some positive aspects.  If they had gone with about 25% less novelty and put the engines in a more traditional configuration and basically made a modern copy of the King Air B200 or Cessna 441 they might have made a bigger splash in the market.  

In reply to kb58 :

What, it can't even fly upside down?

They make a very unusual, un-airplane-like sound. A friend has a house in Naples, FL and they fly overhead. The locals tried to get them banned from that airport due to noise pollution. 

The Avanti is absolutely gorgeous. It's all metal.  No plastic or fiberglass. And despite being deaf, I always know when one is overhead.  It is a very distinct sound.

Don't forget an Italian designed  this:

In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :

It still holds speed records too.

Saw this piaggio a few times. Was hangared next to a customer I visited in Louisiana. 

In reply to ShawnG :

Is the top photo from the Davinci museum in Milan?   Looks sorta kinda like it. And there was a building with a lot of similar things that move. Some of them absolutely stunning.    

In reply to aircooled :

The loud sound is the result of the turbulent air coming off of the wing going into the propellers.

Surprised no one has mentioned the Sequoia Falco.

Piaggio has a penchant for pushers. Even their flying boats are beautiful.

In reply to Appleseed :

All the noise is behind you so it's someone else's problem. 

Ok, I'm a little more impressed, it CAN fly upside down. 

Of course it can. Most aircraft can go inverted, briefly. As per Tex Johnston on barrel rolls: "If done correctly ,  the aircraft doesn't know its upside down." Its a 1G positive maneuver.

He should know. He rolled the Dash 80 prototype. Twice.