Piaggio Aerospace (Booth T123) has partnered with Walterboro, South Carolina-based LowCountry Aviation to develop an STC for upgrading the P.180 Avanti I turboprop twin with the new landing gear developed for the current Avanti Evo. The Magnaghi Aeronautica main and nose landing gear features a digital steering system with an enhanced rack-and-pinion actuation mechanism, which provides improved reliability and extends time-between-overhaul (TBO) up to 15 years or 15,000 landings, whichever occurs sooner.

The STC should be available by the end of 2018 through the FAA, with EASA approval expected later. A similar program to update the Avanti II with the Evo landing gear was approved in 2017 and has already generated eight sales of the retrofit package, Piaggio said this week at EBACE 2018.

The digital landing gear comes with extended-life components, while anti-skid brakes and LED taxi and landing lights can be installed as options. Piaggio expects more sales for upgrades “as the fleet gradually reaches the mandatory overhaul interval of the current gear.”

Piaggio also announced at EBACE 2018 a factory option for retrofitting ADS-B Out—now standard on the Evo—to the Avanti II, integrated within the Honeywell Pro Line 21 avionics suite. The company said a service bulletin was issued recently for this.

The Italian company also has renewed its service center agreement with Banyan Air Service of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, for P.180 fleet maintenance in the U.S.

Piaggio Aerospace CEO Renato Vaghi said the company, which is 100 percent owned by Mubadala of Abu Dhabi, UAE, had gone through a “comprehensive financial restructuring with a complete repurchase of debt.” It hopes to break even in 2019 and be profitable in 2020.

The company also had a “significant relaunch of the P.180 with new potential opportunities for commercial and industrial cooperation that could open new markets.” It is also in early negotiations with Chinese interests with a view to manufacturing Avantis there, he added.

Vaghi also further detailed its planned P.180 production numbers: eight this year, 12 in 2019, 16 in 2020, 21 in 2021, and 30 in 2022, although Vaghi noted that the current production line alone had the capacity to produce 60 or more a year. “We’re planning double-digit growth over the next few years.”

Finally, Piaggio unveiled its 100th anniversary logo at EBACE 2018. It dates back to the company Rinaldo Piaggio S.p.A in Genoa in 1884 but was officially established in 1918, said Vaghi.