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Ferrari-Branded Avanti II Is World's Fastest Turboprop Private Aircraft
Posted by Jesus Diaz at 2:40 AM on November 16, 2007
I sneaked into a Ferrari-branded P180 Avanti II, the fastest turboprop private aircraft in the world with a 450mph maximum speed, at the Dubai Air Show 2007. It has a 2,900-kilometre range and 41,000-foot maximum cruising altitude, which is similar to most private jets but consumes 30% less fuel. As you can see in the video, it looks amazing outside and inside, specially the stunning cockpit, with its all-digital glass panel avionics. So yes, for once and unlike all the stupid Ferrari products out there, this is actually worth having il cavallino rampante shield on it. And for more than one reason:
The Piaggio Aereo company, which is the manufacturer of the Avanti II, is actually owned in part by the Ferrari family. And not only that: One of these planes is actually used to transport the pilots of Ferrari's Formula 1 racing team.
Needless to say, I tried to steal it to fly the Giz crew to CES but when they caught me inside, things didn't pan out as planned. Fortunately, the Italian booth babe understood my reasons and just spanked me. Which quite frankly, I didn't mind at all.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Pinkmeister
Posted 3:17 PM 15/11/07
@Kaiser-Machead: @gotsmart:
Wonder why it isn't red?
Pinkmeister
atomx
Posted 2:25 PM 15/11/07
Looks great, too bad the video doesn't show the world's fastest turboprop...you know..going fast?
atomx
kevjohn
Posted 1:21 PM 15/11/07
I think it's fast because it has that little black horsey on the front.
kevjohn
JAV
Posted 1:06 PM 15/11/07
Ships have pilots too.
By the way. Anyone remember the Starship? This looks like a drirect decendant or rip off.
JAV
GizMadone
Posted 12:53 PM 15/11/07
>>>>30% fuel saving over a comparable sized jet. How does that compare to the new Honda Air Taxi?
The two aren't comparable, size-wise.
GizMadone
gotsmart
Posted 12:45 PM 15/11/07
Needs to be red.
gotsmart
sxt173
Posted 12:40 PM 15/11/07
@ANDYPENNELL, F1 'drivers' are referred to as Pilots. They are race-car pilots, even the broadcasters refer to them as pilots.
Just as a side fact, a F1 car is basically an inverted plane, which produces many times the downforce of the cars weight (so it would fly if it were upside down - not desirable during a race).
sxt173
wwalkersd
Posted 12:38 PM 15/11/07
@andypennell:
In Italian, drivers are "piloti", and it's common to use the term "pilot" in translation.
wwalkersd
andypennell
Posted 12:32 PM 15/11/07
Since when does the Ferrari F1 team have "pilots"?? I assume you meant "drivers". F1 cars are fast, but last I checked they don't actually fly.
andypennell
ulaq27
Posted 12:29 PM 15/11/07
30% fuel saving over a comparable sized jet. How does that compare to the new Honda Air Taxi?
ulaq27
Kaiser-Machead
Posted 12:24 PM 15/11/07
@ecmuller: How exactly is the Enzo stupid?
Kaiser-Machead
ecmuller
Posted 12:09 PM 15/11/07
"So yes, for once and unlike all the stupid Ferrari products out there, this is actually worth having il cavallino rampante shield on it."
The other ones...like that stupid Enzo
ecmuller
quiksilver180
Posted 12:02 PM 15/11/07
Jesus is back! Yay Jesus!
quiksilver180
BostonPimpDaddy
Posted 12:02 PM 15/11/07
V12 inside? LOL
BostonPimpDaddy
Aaron Stein
Posted 11:33 AM 15/11/07
funny, it doesn't look much like my avanti...
Aaron Stein
Razta
Posted 11:24 AM 15/11/07
@Munch: Maybe after the damn Roomba
Razta
daveNYC
Posted 11:09 AM 15/11/07
No pictures of the Italian booth babes?
daveNYC
Kaiser-Machead
Posted 10:58 AM 15/11/07
It needs to come in red, and needs to have more carbon fiber.
Kaiser-Machead
Munch
Posted 10:53 AM 15/11/07
Hopefully they'll have one in the Woot-Off today
Munch
theimmc
Posted 10:48 AM 15/11/07
I'll take 5. Can you load it into my A380?
theimmc
JChristopher
Posted 10:45 AM 15/11/07
The range is lacking as it would take several stops to make it to China.
JChristopher
jesusdiaz
Posted 10:44 AM 15/11/07
it does
jesusdiaz
Razta
Posted 10:38 AM 15/11/07
Does it have a mini bar?
Razta
Razta
Posted 10:38 AM 15/11/07
Nice!!!
Razta
HoseHead
Posted 10:31 AM 15/11/07
i've got my check book out, how much?
HoseHead
Nintenboy01
Posted 10:31 AM 15/11/07
@jesusdiaz: It does seem a bit narrow inside, but it sure is stylin'.
Nintenboy01
jesusdiaz
Posted 10:26 AM 15/11/07
Screw the SUV. I want one :-)
jesusdiaz
Noobs-R-Us
Posted 10:21 AM 15/11/07
Looks like a SUV for the sky.
Noobs-R-Us
whiteknight
Posted 4:23 PM 15/11/07
@JAV: The Beechcraft Starship had all these great things going for it until they discovered it cost too much to own and operate. So technically Beechcraft bought all of them back and tried to cut some replacement deals with King Airs. Burt Rutan of Scaled Composites owns the only fully operational Starship I know of. The Piaggio Avanti is a completely different company and aircraft. They completely started from scratch when designing this airplane. It just turned out that as they worked on the models that this was the most aerodynamically efficient design for how big they needed it.
whiteknight
UGA
Posted 4:07 PM 15/11/07
It shares the canard and rear facing turboprop with the Beech Starship, but is much faster and graceful, and unlike the Starship, a commercial success. The Avanti is nothing new, though; its been out for years. They're built in Italy though the interiors are done in Greenville, SC (at least for models delvered in the US).
UGA
lummox
Posted 5:16 PM 15/11/07
~pitches a tent~
lummox
PHJ
Posted 7:39 PM 15/11/07
They need to hire a new interior designer. It looks like an over weight woman, bulky.
PHJ
Palestina
Posted 9:55 PM 15/11/07
Amazing, this plane is sexy.
Palestina
Unicorn911
Posted 12:23 AM 17/11/07
definately can do with more RED and carbon fiber :)
Unicorn911
Noner
Posted 11:04 AM 20/11/07
You can get into a lot of trouble by showing a tail number on the internet. I would try to edit the video to blur it out. Also, this aircraft is modeled off of the original Ferrari-branded P180 Avanti II which can be seen on Jet Aviation's website. Here ist he link: [www.jetaviation.com]
Noner
daspoint
Posted 1:05 AM 16/11/07
Kinda looks like a Burt Rutan product ---Wonder if it sounds as sweet as a Ferrari or if it beats the crap out of the air ( loud) like the Starship1 did.
anyway, canards rate very high on the coolness scale .
daspoint