Piaggio P.166
| P.166 | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Type | Utility aircraft |
National origin | Italy |
| Manufacturer | Piaggio Aero |
| Number built | ~154 |
| History | |
| First flight | 26 November 1957 |
Developed from | Piaggio P.136 |
The Piaggio P.166 is an Italian twin-engine pusher-type utility aircraft developed by Piaggio Aero. The aircraft model name was Portofino, and is also known as Albatross in South African military service.
Design and development
[edit]The basic P.166 was a development of the P.136 amphibian and flew for the first time on 26 November 1957.[1] The P.166 had a new fuselage and tail unit but retained the wing and engines from the P.136. Several were purchased for use as executive transports or as feeder and taxi aircraft. The improved P.166B was more powerful and had up to ten seats; a prototype was first flown on 27 March 1962.
A further version, the 12-seater P.166C with improved undercarriage, first flew on 2 October 1964.
A turboprop-powered variant, the P.166D, was developed with Lycoming LTP101 engines and it first flew on 3 July 1976.
Variants
[edit]- P.166
- Prototypes powered by 340Â hp (254Â kW) Lycoming GSO-480-B1C6 engines, three built.[2]
- P.166AL1
- First production version with non-slanted cockpit side windows. Accommodation for two pilots and sixâeight passengers. Powered by 340Â hp (250 kW) Lycoming GSO-480-B1C6 engines,[3] 29 built.[2]
- P.166B Portofino
- Revised, more powerful version with longer nose. Powered by two 380Â hp (283Â kW) Lycoming IGSO-540-A1C engines.[4] Five built.[5]
- P.166BL2/APH
- Photo survey aircraft for Italian Air Force. Two built.[6]

- P.166CL2
- Feederliner version of P.166B with external landing gear pods to allow a revised cabin giving room for up to 12 passengers.[7] Two built.[5] or another source gives four built[2]
- P.166DL3
- Light utility transport version, powered by two 450Â kW (600Â hp) Lycoming LTP101-600 turboprop engines.[8] 14 built including sub-variants.[2]
- P.166DL3/APH
- Photo survey aircraft version of -DL3. Six built for Italian Air Force.[9]
- P.166DL3/MAR
- Maritime patrol version of DL3. Two built for Somalia.[10]
- P.166DL3/SEM
- Paramilitary maritime patrol (SEM - Sorveglianza Ecologia e Marittima - Maritime and ecological surveillance) version of DL3. 12 aircraft built for Italian Coast Guard and ten for Guardia di Finanza.[11]
- P.166DP1
- Re-engined version with 615Â shp (459Â kW) Pratt & Whitney PT6A-121 turboprops. Eight converted (two from -DL3 and six from -DL3/SEM) for Guardia di Finanza.[12]
- P.166M
- Military version of P.166A, 49 built for Italian air force.[6]
- P.166S Albatross
- Coastal patrol, search and rescue version of the South African Air Force with longer P.166B-type nose and larger tip tanks, 20 built.[10]
Operators
[edit]- Air Associated
- Air Research
- Ansett-ANA
- Ansett-MAL

- Australian Federal Government
- Confederate Airways
- East Coast Airways
- Forrester Stephen Aviation
- GAAF Air Charter
- MacRobertson Miller Airlines
- Motif Air
- Papuan Air Transport
- Papuan Airlines
- Queensland Airlines
- South Pacific Airways - SPA
- Tasman Airlines

 Italy
- Alitalia
- Italian Air Force received 49 P.166M between 1960 and 1968,[13] two P.166BL2/APH photo survey aircraft[6] and six P.166-DL3/APH photo survey aircraft.[9]
- Corps of the Port Captaincies - Coast Guard received 12 P.166-DL3/SEM between 1988 and 1990.[11] Retired July 2017.[14]
- Guardia di Finanza received two ex-Alitalia P.166-DL3 as trainers/utility aircraft in 1990 and ten new-built P.166-DL3/SEM between 1991 and 1995.[11] Eight aircraft converted to P.166DP1 standard.[12] Planned to remain in service until 2020.[14]
- Italian Ministry of Merchant Marine
 Somalia
- Somalian Aeronautical Corps purchased two P.166-DL3 utility aircraft and two P.166-DL3/MAR maritime patrol aircraft in 1980.[8]
Notable accidents and incidents
[edit]- On September 1982, a Piaggio P.166 was struck by a Socata TB10 Tobago light aircraft stolen by 26-year-old student pilot Philip Henryk Wozniak, who committed suicide by intentionally crashing on Bankstown Airport, also destroying a parked Douglas DC-3 in the process.[15][16][17][18][19]
- On 14 August 2011 two privately owned P.166s (formerly with the South African Air Force) flying in formation crashed near Tzaneen in South Africa when they both flew into a cliff face near the summit of Mamotswiri Peak in dense mist.[20] All thirteen on board the two aircraft were killed.
Specifications (P.166-DL3)
[edit]
Data from Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1988â89 [21]
General characteristics
- Crew: 2
- Capacity: 8 passengers (standard) / mission crew
- Length: 11.88Â m (39Â ft 0Â in)
- Wingspan: 13.51Â m (44Â ft 4Â in) without tip-tanks
- 14.69 m (48 ft 2.5 in) with tip-tanks
- Height: 5Â m (16Â ft 5Â in)
- Wing area: 26.56 m2 (285.9 sq ft)
- Aspect ratio: 7.3
- Airfoil: NACA 230 series[22]
- Empty weight: 2,650Â kg (5,842Â lb) equipped
- Maximum zero-fuel weight: 3,800Â kg (8,378Â lb)
- Maximum fuel: 1,139Â kg (2,511Â lb)
- Maximum payload: 1,073Â kg (2,366Â lb)
- Maximum ramp weight: 4,320Â kg (9,524Â lb)
- Maximum landing weight: 3,800Â kg (8,378Â lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 4,300Â kg (9,480Â lb)
- Fuel capacity: 2 x 212 L (56 US gal; 47 imp gal) outer wing tanks + 2x 312 L (82 US gal; 69 imp gal) tip-tanks + 1x 118 L (31 US gal; 26 imp gal) fuselage collector-tank
- Auxiliary fuel system: 1 x 236 L (62 US gal; 52 imp gal) optional fuselage tank, with provision for 2x 177 L (47 US gal; 39 imp gal) or 284 L (75 US gal; 62 imp gal) under-wing drop tanks
- Powerplant: 2 Ã Lycoming LTP 101-700 turboprop engines, 447.5Â kW (600Â shp) each
- Propellers: 3-bladed Hartzell HC-B3TN-3DL/L10282-9.5, 2.36Â m (7Â ft 9Â in) diameter constant-speed fully-feathering metal pusher propellers
Performance
- Maximum speed: 400Â km/h (250Â mph, 220Â kn) at 3,050 m (10,000 ft)
- Cruise speed: 300Â km/h (190Â mph, 160Â kn) at 3,660 m (12,000 ft)
- Stall speed: 160Â km/h (99Â mph, 86Â kn) flaps up, gear up
- 139Â km/h (86Â mph; 75Â kn) flaps down, gear down
- Never exceed speed: 407Â km/h (253Â mph, 220Â kn)
- Range: 1,390Â km (860Â mi, 750Â nmi) with maximum payload
- 2,084Â km (1,295Â mi; 1,125Â nmi) with max standard fuel (wing and tip tanks)
- Service ceiling: 8,535Â m (28,000Â ft)
- 4,270 m (14,000 ft) on one engine
- Rate of climb: 11Â m/s (2,200Â ft/min)
- 3 m/s (580 ft/min) on one engine
- Wing loading: 162 kg/m2 (33 lb/sq ft)
- Power/mass: 0.208Â kW/kg (0.127Â hp/lb)
- Take-off run to 15Â m (50Â ft): 665Â m (2,180Â ft) at MTOW
- Landing run from 15Â m (50Â ft): 457Â m (1,500Â ft) at MLW
See also
[edit]Related development
References
[edit]- â Taylor 1961, p. 105.
- 1 2 3 4 Simpson 1991, pp.232-233
- â Taylor 1961, p. 106.
- â Taylor 1965, p. 97.
- 1 2 Taylor 1976, p. 114.
- 1 2 3 Nicolli 2012, p. 88.
- â Stroud 1994, p. 66.
- 1 2 Nicolli 2012, p. 89.
- 1 2 Nicolli 2012, pp. 88â90.
- 1 2 Nicolli 2012, pp. 88â89.
- 1 2 3 Nicolli 2012, p. 90.
- 1 2 Nicolli 2012, pp. 90â91.
- â Nicolli 2012, pp. 87â88.
- 1 2 Marcellino 2018, p. 88.
- â "ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 33040 - Socata TB10 Tobago VH-BXC 16-SEP-1982". Retrieved 6 January 2020.
- â "VH-AEU. Douglas C-47-DL. c/n 6108. Badly damaged during crash of a suicidal pilot at Bankstown Airport". Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
- â "Plane crashes at Bankstown, pg5, The Age, 16 September 1982". The Age. Newspapers.com. 16 September 1982. p. 5. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
- â "WOZNIAK, Philip Henryk (death notice), pg30, The Sydney Morning Herald, 22 September 1982". The Sydney Morning Herald. Newspapers.com. 22 September 1982. p. 30. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
- â "No inquest on plane death, pg14, The Sydney Morning Herald, 09 February 1983". The Sydney Morning Herald. Newspapers.com. 9 February 1983. p. 14. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
- â "All 13 people dead in crashed planes".
- â Taylor, John W.R., ed. (1988). Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1988â89 (79th ed.). London: Jane's Information Group. p. 165. ISBN 0-7106-0867-5.
- â Lednicer, David. "The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage". m-selig.ae.illinois.edu. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
- Marcellino, Dino. "Piaggione". Air International, Vol. 94 No.2, February 2018. ISSNÂ 0306-5634. pp. 88â91.
- Niccoli, Ricardo. "Piaggione! The Varied Career of Piaggio's P.166 Pusher". Air International, Vol. 82 No. 4, April 2012. ISSN 0306-5634. pp. 86â91.
- Simpson, R.W. Airlife's General Aviation, Shrewsbury, England: Airlife Publishing, 1991, ISBNÂ 1-85310-194-X
- Stroud, John. "Post War Propliners: Piaggio P.134 & P.166". Aeroplane Monthly, Vol 22 No 4, April 1994. pp. 64â67.
- Taylor, John W. R. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1961â62. London: Sampson Low, Marston and Company, 1961.
- Taylor, John W. R. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1965â66. London: Sampson Low, Marston and Company, 1965.
- Taylor, John W. R. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1976â77. London: Jane's Yearbooks, 1976. ISBNÂ 0-354-00538-3.