Piaggio P.149

The Piaggio P.149 is a 1950s Italian utility and liaison aircraft designed and built by Piaggio. The aircraft was built under licence by Focke-Wulf in West Germany as the FWP.149D.

Development

The P.149 was developed as a four-seat touring variant of the earlier P.148. The P.149 is an all-metal, low-wing cantilever monoplane with a retractable tricycle landing gear with room for four or five occupants. The prototype first flew on 19 June 1953.

Only a few were sold, until the German Air Force selected the aircraft for a training and utility role. Piaggio delivered 76 aircraft out of a total of 88 built in Italy to Germany, while another 190 were built in Germany by Focke-Wulf.

Operational history

The aircraft was operated by the German Air Force between 1957 and 1990.

Swissair's Flying School based at Bern (Belp) airfield used a small fleet of the type to provide primary instruction to trainee pilots.

Operators

Germany

German Air Force
Marineflieger

Israel

Israeli Air Force

Italy

Italian Air Force operated two Piaggio P.149Ds from 1953 until 1955

Nigeria

Nigerian Air Force operated 12 Piaggo P.149D in 1967

Switzerland

Swissair Flying School

Tanzania

Tanzanian Air Force

Uganda: Ugandan Air Force

Specifications (P.149D)

Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1958-59

General characteristics

Crew: 2
Capacity: 2-3
Length: 8.8 m (28 ft 10 in)
Wingspan: 11.12 m (36 ft 6 in)
Height: 2.9 m (9 ft 6 in)
Wing area: 18.81 m² (202.5 sq ft)
Aspect ratio: 6.6
Airfoil: root: NACA 230 series; tip: NACA 4412
Empty weight: 1,160 kg (2,557 lb)
Gross weight: 1,680 kg (3,704 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Lycoming GO-480 B1A6 , 200 kW (270 hp)

Performance

Maximum speed: 304 km/h (189 mph, 164 kn) at sea level

285 km/h (177 mph; 154 kn) at 2,000 m (6,600 ft)

Cruise speed: 266 km/h (165 mph, 144 kn) at 2,300 m (7,500 ft) and 67% METO power
Stall speed: 92 km/h (57 mph, 50 kn) at sea level with flaps
Range: 1,090 km (680 mi, 590 nmi) with 30 minutes reserve
Service ceiling: 6,050 m (19,850 ft)
Rate of climb: 5 m/s (980 ft/min)
Wing loading: 89.3 kg/m² (18.3 lb/sq ft)
Power/mass: 0.120 kW/kg (0.073 hp/lb)
Take-off distance to 15 m (50 ft): 405 m (1,330 ft) in nil wind
Landing distance from 15 m (50 ft): 315 m (1,030 ft) in nil wind

Citations

References

Donald, David. The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. Leicester, UK: Blitz Editions, 1997. ISBN 1-85605-375-X.
Gandet, Erich. "'Wulf' in Sheep's Clothing: Farewell to Swissair's P.149s". Air Enthusiast. No. 92. March/April 2001. pp. 42–43. ISSN 0143-5450.
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982–1985), 1985, Orbis Publishing, Page 2714.
Simpson, R. W. Airlife's General Aviation. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing Ltd., Second edition, 1995. ISBN 1-85310-577-5.
Stevens, James Hay. "Fully Aerobatic Four-Seater". Flight, 18 July 1958, p. 73.
Wheeler, Barry C. "World's Air Forces 1980". Flight International, 4 October 1980. pp. 1323–1378.