Piaggio Avanti Earns its Medevac Stripes in the USA

[cancidas]

from FlightGlobal:

14/10/10Piaggio Avanti Earns its Medevac Stripes in the USA By Kate SarsfieldAir Ambulance Worldwide has become the first operator in the USA to use a Piaggio P180 Avanti II for medical evacuation missions. The air ambulance-configured twin turboprop - which is based in Palm Harbor, Florida - is used to transport patients to hospitals or other care facilities across the USA and beyond. The unobstructed space available within the P180 stand-up cabin and the very low ambient noise levels of the aircraft, were key factors in Air Ambulance Worldwide's decision to purchase the aircraft," says Piaggio.

[Speedbagel_001]

Nice! I just saw an Avanti departing from FRG last week. Must be fun to fly in one.

[heeshung]

The P180 is one amazing plane. Couple shots here.

[hiss srq]

They look like a few mechanics got drunk in Genoa and tried to buld an airplane from Lear 60 and KingAir 350 parts they had laying around.... From every 180 pilot I have talked to though I hear that they are really impressive airplanes.... There is a big 180 base at PIE and they used to come to SRQ to do training bounces.....

[threeholerglory]

They look like a few mechanics got drunk in Genoa and tried to buld an airplane from Lear 60 and KingAir 350 parts they had laying around.... From every 180 pilot I have talked to though I hear that they are really impressive airplanes.... There is a big 180 base at PIE and they used to come to SRQ to do training bounces.....

the base at PIE is Avantair's main base for operations though all of the planes are registered out of CDW...great facility.

The P180 is a great bird for the mission being that it is VERY fast and very economical with decent range with a whisper-quiet cabin that even I, at almost 6'5" can stand up in without having to bend over uncomfortably far. They aren't cheap at around $10million or so a pop. They're also runway hogs.

[Gerard]

Nice! I just saw an Avanti departing from FRG last week. Must be fun to fly in one.

Yeah there is one I see there regularly, usually by Atlantic.