Piaggio's P180 Avanti II is best known as a stylish business aircraft - its sleek and striking design with twin canards and rear-facing twin turboprop engines give it serious ramp presence, and the edge over jet competitors when it comes to operating costs.
But with the VIP market in the doldrums - especially in the light to medium cabin category the P180 competes in - the Italian maker has been examining new markets. One of these is special missions.
Piaggio thinks the P180 platform gives it a serious edge in this area because of the combination of cabin size and operating economics.
In this week's Flight International, I travelled to Rome to go on a special mission with one of Piaggio's existing customers, Italian civil aviation agency ENAV. It uses configured P180s as flight inspection aircraft, taking readings and calibrating ground-based navigation equipment at the country's airports.
Find out about the mission, and Piaggio's plans in this week's issue, available in all good newsagents now. You can also read the article online - and watch a video of my flight - on www.flightglobal.com/enav
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