Design & Artwork by Mario Noriega 2003
Animated gears, dampers, propellers, doors, and control surfaces, Dynamic Click able VC. The third of the coming P-166 aircraft series. I’m going to built the whole family of these graceful twins. The Piaggio P-166A is a light small twin. An Exotic two-engine prop that sold all over the world including America, UK, and Australia. The S version is used by South African Air forces. Comes with a longer nose and larger tip tanks for greater range, as it’s a maritime patrol version. Its origin is traced Back to the Piaggio P-136, a light amphibian, witch the P-166 keeps the wings, the engines and the tail planes. The first P-166A flew in November 1957. The aircraft is still in production in a slightly modified turboprop version, the P-166D-P1. This model is 788 Kbs with c.a. 23000 polygons in c.a.170 assemblies. Features Click able Dynamic VC with non-planar throttle quadrant. Detailed internals. Fully compatible with FS 2002.
HISTORY
The prototype of Piaggio P 166 flew for the first time on November 26th of 1957. Its was made like light civil transport plane and had the same wing of the seaplane P 136 L with the same two engines, Avco Lycoming GSO 480 of 338 HP ( 345 CV) that gave the power to pushed propellers in the high GABBIANO wing. P 166 had a retractable landing gear, mono-tail and showed good performance in semi prepared short airstrips, so in the military version was used in some wings, like 2nd wing of Italian Air Force to carry engines or spare parts for Fiat G 91; again, the range could be extended with the adding of two fuel tanks in the edge of the wings. First thirty – two examples were delivered to civil companies and later the engines had more power and more capacity to carry passengers.
PIAGGIO P 166 : VARIANTS
Piaggio P 166 : first serial version with a lot of examples built, sold to Australia and New Guinea. Distributed in USA from Tracker Corp. Two pilots and six passengers
Piaggio P 166 B : version appeared on 1962 and christened ” Portofino “, Avco Lycoming IGSO 480 injection engines of 377 HP ( 385 CV ). Only six examples, most of them exported
Piaggio P 166 C : central section of the fuselage with the adding of four seats, main landing gears retractable in each side of the fuselage. Production started in 1964
Piaggio P 166 M : version used from Italian Air Force in fifty-one examples and employed at the multiengine school in Latina ( Italy ), unit that trained the pilots designated to cargo and passengers planes of Italian Air Force. With a bigger cargo door and with a stronger floor, this plane was able to carry engines for planes ( Orpheus engine of Fiat G 91 fighter ) and spare parts in the battle fields . Version also used in the three main aerial commands in Italy and in some Wings, like the 2nd Fighter Wing of Italian Air Force
Piaggio P 166 S Albatross : twenty examples made and delivered to South Africa that employed it for the coast patrol and for search and rescue duties
Piaggio P 166 BL2 : powered from Avco Lycoming IGSO-540-A1H engines with bigger fuel tanks
Piaggio P 166 DL3 : turboprop version powered from Avco Lycoming LTP 101 engines that flew for the first time on July 3rd 1976. Two examples were used from Alitalia Airlines ( 2 ) like trainers and from Somalia Aerial Corp ( 2 ) for military transport. This was a version that could be configured in different configurations
Piaggio P 166 DLR-MAR : this is a special version of P 166 DL3 for maritime surveillance, can be employed in all weather conditions, night and day with the feature to be able to take off from airstrips. Inside can carry instruments to identify every kind of suspect target
SPECIFICATIONS
Primary Function : Light Transport and Liaison plane
Contractor : Piaggio (Italy)
Power Plant : nr. one Avco Lycoming turboprop engine LTP-101-600 of 595 HP (607 CV)
Maximum Speed : 248 mph at 10004 feet
(3050 meters at 400 km/h)
Ceiling : 29028 feet
(8850 meters)
Range : 1264 mi.
(2035 kilometers)
Equipped Empty Weight : 5830 lbs.
(2650 kilos)
Maximum Takeoff Weight : 9460 lbs.(4300 kilos)
Wingspan : 48,18 feet
(14,69 meters included edge wing fuel tanks)
Length : 38,97 feet (11,88 meters)
Height : 16,4 feet (5 meters)
Wing Area : 285,86 sq.ft.
(26,56 m2)
Armament : none
COMMENT
Allow me to introduce myself:
My name is Jim Childs, and I live in Cleveland, Ohio. I have enjoyed being an arm chair pilot for many years and have thousands of aircraft in my personal collection from FS95 on to the wonderful FS9 (2004). I responded to FS Planet’s request for reviewers to give back to the flight sim community for all the superb aircraft, scenery, and utilities good folks take the time to create. Like any enthusiast, I enjoy them all. I sincerely hope you enjoy my honest and straight forward reviews of the newer FS files I have downloaded.
Have a safe flight!
The Piaggio P-166S is a very nice model, slightly blocky, but makes up for it with some great textures. I found the South African Air Force version to be much more appealing than the XPS Service version. The instrument panel is plain but has some unique gauges. The virtual cockpit I found to be lacking a few details like moving rudder pedals and yoke, however nicely detailed cabin and passenger / cargo area. Flight characteristics are superb and genuinely match the size and weight of the aircraft. The Piaggio P-166S uses the default Beechcraft Baron 58 sounds. This file is a must have for flight simmer who likes to collect unique one of a kind aircraft. Some notable features are four opening doors, good lighting and reflection characteristics, detailed engine and prop textures, and correctly retractable landing gear. I would very much like to see an updated version of this file.
My Rating 7/10
