Partenavia P.68

infobox Aircraft
name = P.68 Victor
type = Light transport
manufacturer = Partenavia



caption = Partenavia P.68 (D-GHAN) at Cambridge Bay Airport, Nunavut, Canada
designer = Luigi Pascale
first flight = 1970
introduced =
retired =
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primary user =
more users =
produced =
number built = 300+
unit cost =
developed from =
variants with their own articles =

The Partenavia P.68 is an Italian six-seat, twin-engined, high-wing monoplane built by Partenavia and later Vulcanair. Designed by Professor Luigi Pascale and originally put into production in 1972 and intended for private or business use but has also seen use as both a training and a transport aircraft. Originally named the Victor, although this name was not used for production aircraft. The P.68 Observer, which was an Italian/German development, has a transparent nose for use in police work and observation duties.

History

First flown on the 25 May 1970, the prototype P.68 was built at Arzano, Italy. Powered by two 200hp (149 kW) Lycoming I0-360 piston engines. Production of the P.68 started in 1972 at new facilities at Casoria with 14 pre-production aircraft. These were followed in 1974 by the P.68B with the fuselage lengthened by 6in (15.2 cm) to create more space in the cockpit. It was superseded in 1979 by the P.68C which had a lengthened nose to accommodate a weather radar. A turbocharged version (the P.68C-TC) was available in 1980. The type licence was obtained by Vulcanair and the P.68C is still in production by them.

partacus

With the help of Aeritalia development began of a nine-seat turboprop version, the first aircraft (an AP.68TP) first flew in 1978 using Allison 250 turboprops . Although the prototype had retractable undercarriage, production aircraft (named the Spartacus) had a fixed undercarriage. Later, a retractable undercarriage version was built as the Viator.

Observer

The German company Sportavia-Putzer modified the P.68 by replacing the nose section with a transparent structure, marketing it as an observation aircraft for law enforcement. Initially, Observers were simply conversions of existing aircraft, but later, they were entirely new aircraft built by Partenavia.

Variants

* P.68 - Initial production version, 14 built.
* P.68B - P.68 with fuselage lengthened by 6-inches and six-seat ineterior, 190 built.
* P.68 Observer - Modified P.68B with fully glazed nose, over 21 built or modified.
* P.68C - P.68B with longer nose and integral wing fuel tanks, over 114 built.
* P.68C-TC - P.68C fitted with 200hp Lycoming TI0-360-C1A6D turbocharged engines.
* P.68R - P.68B with retractable undercarriage, one built.
* P.68T - P.68R with lengthened fuselage, larger tail and Allison 250-B17B turboporops, four built.
* AP.68TP - First turboprop powered prototype. First flew on the 11th of September 1978. Original designation P.68 Turbo.
* AP.68TP-100 - Second turboprop powered prototype.
* AP.68TP-300 Spartacus - P.68T with fixed undercarriage, over 13 built.
* AP.68TP-600 Viator - Spartacus with retractable undercarriage, lengthened nose and stretched fuselage, over 6 built.
* Spartacus RG - Fitted with a retractable undercarriage.
* Spartacus -10 - stretched version of the Spartacus RG.

Other Facts

The ICAO designator for all versions with piston engine as used in flight plans is "P68", for the versions with propellerturbine it is "P68T"

pecifications (P.68C)

aircraft specification

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
crew=6 or 7
length main= 31 ft 4 in
length alt= 9.55 m
span main= 39 ft 4½ in
span alt= 12.00 m
height main= 11 ft 1¾ in
height alt= 3.40 m
area main= 200.22 ft²
area alt= 18.60 m²
empty weight main= 2,711 lb
empty weight alt= 1230 kg
loaded weight main=
loaded weight alt=
max takeoff weight main= 4,387 lb
max takeoff weight alt= 1990 kg
engine (prop)=Lycoming I0-360
type of prop= flat-four piston
number of props=2
power main= 200 hp
power alt= 149 kw
max speed main= 199 mph
max speed alt= 320 km/h
range main= 1,305 miles
range alt= 2100 km
ceiling main= 19,200 ft
ceiling alt= 5850 m
climb rate main=
climb rate alt=
loading main=
loading alt=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
armament=

References

*cite book |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985)|year= |publisher= Orbis Publishing|location= |issn=
*cite book |last= Simpson| first= R.W. |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= Airlife's General Aviation|year= 1991|publisher= Airlife Publishing|location= Shrewsbury, England|isbn=1 853180 194 X

External links

ee also

aircontent
related=
similar aircraft=
sequence=
P.66 • P.68 • P.70 Alpha
lists=
see also=