Development and Certification Flight Test on the Piaggio P.180 Avanti Aircraft: A General Overview

The aim of this paper is to present the program worked-out for the certification flight test of the Piaggio P.180 “Avanti” aircraft and the results obtained, with particular care to the test items devoted to the peculiar characteristics of the airplane (three lifting surfaces, rearback main wing, pushing propellers, high aerodynamics efficency) and requiring a specific project management.

During the whole flight test program such extensive investigations looked at:

• high angle of attack stability and control;
• longitudinal control during changes of lifting configuration;
• propeller stress;
• in-flight loads;
• artificial & natural icing tests;
• taxing and running on wet runway (splash tests);
• natural laminar flow tests.

Focusing these fundamental areas the present paper gives in the meantime a general overview of the development flight tests performed on the aircraft that achieved more than 2000 flight hours reaching the initial RAI (Italian) certification and FAA certification on spring 1990.