Engine mounts are titanium and look extremely cool up close.

I used to have a CNC shop and love seeing these applications. Do you know what material are they made from?

As much as I like a good 64 page thread, I do think it's time the Piaggio had it's own home. I'm not trying to take anything away from this or any other forum, but it's hard to organize thoughts and find information in one thread. I've setup http://www.PiaggioTalk.com over the last little while (shout out to Mark W.) and am hoping it provides a way for the community to find and share relevant information in a more organized fashion. Please feel free to stop by.
Chris

As much as I like a good 64 page thread, I do think it's time the Piaggio had it's own home. I'm not trying to take anything away from this or any other forum, but it's hard to organize thoughts and find information in one thread. I've setup http://www.PiaggioTalk.com over the last little while (shout out to Mark W.) and am hoping it provides a way for the community to find and share relevant information in a more organized fashion. Please feel free to stop by.
Chris

As much as I like a good 64 page thread, I do think it's time the Piaggio had it's own home. I'm not trying to take anything away from this or any other forum, but it's hard to organize thoughts and find information in one thread. I've setup http://www.PiaggioTalk.com over the last little while (shout out to Mark W.) and am hoping it provides a way for the community to find and share relevant information in a more organized fashion. Please feel free to stop by.
Chris

More Piaggio:
[youtube]https://youtu.be/i5MHGcf8vs4[/youtube]

On floats:

I am currently in a bulk hangar. Does Avanti require a special tow bar?

Aerostar is standard Bracket bar.

Carlo - The last picture is a CANT Z.506, not a Piaggio type.

Brad - The towing bar is pretty standard, but IIRC Piaggio suggest a TRONAIR P/N that will precisely fit the nose wheel dimensions.

Or, if you prefer, one could try this :

[youtube]https://youtu.be/FysyGGU0rFs[/youtube]

Brad,

I think Tronair adapter may come with the plane. My came with one and the POH specifies that it cannot be carried in the luggage compartment. It's a serious piece of gear and weighs 30-40 lbs and attaches to the wheeled bar that FBO's typically use with larger aircraft.

I finally got both my biplanes in the same hangar!

About the time I got my P180 under contract a 60x60 box hangar that I had wanted to buy for about 10 years became available. A friend used his CAM software to assure me that both the Avanti and Waco would fit with the small office and bathroom that was already constructed.

The issue I had was that the door is 14 feet tall, the tail of the Avanti is 13 feet and there is a 2.5 degree slope. The previous owners housed a 441 in it with a 13'2" tail and said they had to use a tug with a vertical lift to clear the door. Luckily for me the had a brand new Best Tugs B12 with 12 in. vertical lift they had just purchased before deciding to sell out of GA. So, I bought the tug with the hangar.

The only problem was the wheel plate on the B12 is only 11 inches wide but the P180 nose gear is 15.5 inches...

So, now I have two Best Tugs! The new one is a massive B18 model that Best custom designed for me. It took about 3 months to get it built and we had quite a bit of back and forth because they wanted to get it right. I cannot say enough about Mark Patey and his team at Best. They are awesome and their product is unmatched. I still have the B12 which may be the most overkill for a Waco tug in history...

While waiting for the tug to get built I decided to put in a Big Ass fan and remodel the bath and install a shower. I added some new high intensity LED lights and NewAge storage cabinets - while I was in there - and it's turning into a pretty nice man cave.

When we got home last night it was time to finally get the new plane in the new hangar with the new tug. Going in the door with the nose wheel lifted about 3 inches I had plenty of clearance and both planes fit in the hangar just like my friend said they would.

Here are some photos of the tug and the biplanes:

That's a great hangar and I'm a big fan of Best Tugs too - the whole setup looks great!

Sweet Tony!

Anyone else see what I see

Yoos gotz room fer anuthR Aeroplane

Flew in an Avanti I on Friday. On approach, flaps mid, the two pilots (both experienced Avanti pilots) noted a "strange/different" sound. They said they had never heard it in another Avanti, that it didn't sound bad, just different. Sound not noticed on departure nor flaps full.

Any of the Avanti folks have any experience with this or thoughts on it?

Matt, what did it sound like? Some planes flaps are very noisy when going from mid to landing.

Frankly, I couldn't discern it well from other "normal" noises. It wasn't noticed in transit, but once they reached mid position. It was a steady state sound, went away as soon as flaps started moving toward full. We did two approaches...happened on both.

Nice BAF in the hangar...I was wearing my BAF t-shirt while flying on Friday (we are an HVAC firm and recently started a partnership with BAF)

I've loved my Best Tug with the Mits. Those Pateys are great folks - worked hard to figure out how to make their tug fit/work with the Mits. That said...I sure wish I didn't have to crank it up on to the tray. I hope your effort level for cranking is low. Your winch looks different than mine, you likely have a different gear ratio/cranking advantage.