Piaggio Aero - Avanti II. The fastest turbo-prop made to date, cruising at over 400 knots. The aircraft go through their final outfitting locally at Denton Municipal Airport. (DTO) They are then ferried out, most going into charter service. My neighbor sent me this photo. He is an engineer/contractor with various aeronautical organizations and currently flies one of these. The aircraft in the photo is a prototype. According to the Chief Pilot at Piaggio Aero, Ferrari used to be a 20% owner of the company... thus the Prancing Horse on the vertical stabilizer. That would look cool in my hangar... uhhh... I'd have to get a much BIGGER hangar! Image Unavailable, Please Login
My assigned instructor at Marcair is a Avanti pilot for a local individual that's a big Mavericks fan, so most of the flights are to Mavericks games or out to his ranch. Instructor calls it the catfish. I asked him how it performs compared to all the jets he flys, but I don't remember the answer. Avanti has a jet version now too.
We have one based at our airport here at Hooks in Houston and for those who have never heard one, it has the most unusual sound of ANY turbo prop on take off!! Awsome airplane...
