On guard of the Forest - partenavia P. 68 Aircraft

History of creation

The Partenavia P. 68 is an Italian twin-engine multi-purpose aircraft developed by Partenavia in 1970. The Partenavia P. 68 aircraft was designed by the Italian engineer and designer Luigi Pascal in 1967, while already at the development stage it was assumed that the aircraft could be used for various areas of its operation, including the transportation of passengers, cargo transportation, and perform a number of goals in the field of military aviation. The project of a new aircraft is quite strongly interested in future customers, which ultimately led to a fairly high popularization of this aircraft.

Its first flight-this twin-engine aircraft carried out in 1970, however, due to some technical nuances, went into production only in 1972, where almost immediately met with approving comments from the owners, because despite the multi-purpose use and good enough passenger capacity, the aircraft had quite a compact size, which provided it with high speed and good maneuverability. Depending on the version of the aircraft, the Partenavia P. 68 can accommodate up to 7 people, including one pilot and six passengers, while later versions of the aircraft could take on Board both more and fewer passengers. In addition, the partenavia P. 68 aircraft was also able to prove itself well in the field of transportation of various types of cargo, in particular, on Board the aircraft could be placed up to 660 kilograms of payload. The aircraft has a fairly good maneuverability, and for the entire period of operation of this aircraft was officially identified only four serious accidents, some of which were associated with an exclusively human factor.

Modifications

After fourteen pre-production was followed by an improved aircraft P. 68B with an extended 15 cm fuselage, entered production in early 1974; a total of 190 aircraft were built. 

It was then replaced by a variant of the R. 68C, which had an elongated nose, increased fuel capacity, and several internal changes. 

A special version for patrolling and observing the P. 68 observer was developed in 1975-76. It had a new front fuselage, including an organic glass nose section that provided excellent lower and forward visibility. The prototype aircraft made its first flight in February 1976 and was accepted into mass production, which amounted to about 20 aircraft. A variant of the P. 68R with a retractable landing gear of the R. 68D made its first flight in December 1976, but did not enter mass production.

The P. 68C-TC with 157 kW (210 HP) tio-360-C turbocharger engines was certified in June 1980, and 36 vehicles have since been sold. Later, the company began developing a variant with turboprop engines, initially designated as the P. 68 Turbo (Turbo). The result was a nine-seat aircraft AR.68TR, a prototype of which made its first flight on September 11, 1978. In total, about 400 R. 68 aircraft were built by 1992.

Flight characteristics

As the power plant for model aircraft Partenavia P. 68 there are two piston aircraft engine Lycoming IO-360-A1B6 (one plane), each of which has a capacity of 200 HP, which in turn provides the aircraft with a high flight speed of about 320 km / h (depending on modification), and high load capacity. Later versions of the Partenavia P. 68 can also use a turboprop powerplant, so that such characteristics as speed, flight range - up to 2110 km, maximum load capacity - up to 660 kg and maximum flight height - up to 5850 m are significantly increased. 

Operation

The Partenavia P. 68 found active use in military aviation, where it was used for a variety of purposes, ranging from the transportation of military personnel, and ending with the implementation of tasks for patrolling the area and conducting aerial photography. In Kazavialesoohrana plane Partenavia P. 68 is used for forest aviation works, as well as air raids aimed at identifying and suppressing the facts of poaching, violations of the rules of hunting and fishing, conducted in conjunction with environmental authorities.