Sportavia P.68 Observer

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Sportavia P.68B Observer
f2
Type: Reconnaissance plane
Design country:

Germany Federal RepublicFederal Republic of Germany BR Germany

Manufacturer:

Sportavia-Pützer
today: Vulcanair

First flight:

February 20, 1976

Commissioning:

1998

Production time:

1976
and since 1998

Number of pieces:

1

The Sportavia P.68 Observer was a variant of the six-seat Partenavia P.68 touring aircraft for observation and surveillance flights that was further developed by Sportavia-Pützer .

history

In 1973, Sportavia-Pützer took over the sales and maintenance of the twin-engine, six-seat P.68 touring aircraft in Germany for the Italian manufacturer Partenavia. In response to a customer request for an observation aircraft, Alfons Pützer Partenavia proposed the development of a special observer variant of the Partenavia P.68B in 1975, which, instead of helicopters, was to perform observation tasks without special requirements for take-offs and landings in open terrain or stationary hovering.

On behalf of a customer, Sportavia-Pützer then created a completely redesigned, helicopter-like full glass pulpit that replaced the entire cockpit section of the P.68B. Under the name Sportavia P.68 Observer, the first flight of the D-GERD prototype took place on February 20, 1976 on the Dahlemer Binz . In May 1976 the machine was presented to the public for the first time at the ILA 1976. A subsequent series production of the observer was to take place at the Sportavia parent company Rhein-Flugzeugbau in Mönchengladbach, where fuselage and tail unit segments were to be manufactured under license. The full glass pulpit was to be supplied by Sportavia-Pützer from Dahlemer Binz. Partenavia submitted the application for type approval to the Italian aviation authority RAI on December 4, 1978. Partenavia received the final type approval with RAI TC No. A151 on June 12, 1980.

For a short time in 1976, the Observer was also tested by the Koblenz police squadron to monitor the Autobahn. However, the fixed-wing aircraft was rejected by the helicopter pilots because of the lack of foreign landing options. The Observer was also tested for surveillance flights of pipeline systems. The observer's lack of outlanding capabilities turned out to be a disadvantage compared to conventional helicopters when it came to marketing. Partenavia abandoned the plans to start series production of the observer in early 1979 due to the lack of sales success. The Sportavia P.68 Observer initially remained a one-off.

Further developments

As part of the marketing of the P.68 Observer, the machine was also presented to the Bundeswehr . There was no need for a military reconnaissance aircraft on the part of the army, but they were interested in further development as a tactical transport aircraft . This development was continued at Sportavia under the name Sportavia Leisetransporter .

Partenavia P.68 Observer, Institut Cartografic de Catalunya, EC-DTS

After the takeover of Partenavia by the Italian state-owned company Alenia , P.68 production was largely discontinued in 1981 in favor of the supply of parts for Boeing . Nevertheless, individual further developments of the P.68 took place at Partenavia in the 80s, some of which were also transferred to the Observer variant. At Partenavia, as part of the general P.68 further development, a Partenavia P.68TC Observer turbocharger variant was also designed for the Observer , for which the Italian approval authority RAI expanded the existing P.68 type approval A151 on June 18, 1985. A fundamental revision of the original Sportavia design took place at Partenavia in 1988. The Partenavia P.68 Observer 2 was designed for an increased take-off and landing weight and received winglets on the wing tips. The cockpit instrumentation has been redesigned and the landing gear has been enlarged. For this revised observer, the RAI granted an extended approval of the existing type certificate A151 on November 30, 1989.

Only after the company was taken over by a private investor, from 1992 onwards the P.68 production started again. In addition to several touring aircraft variants of the P.68C, the Partenavia P.68 Observer 2 should also go into series production. However, until the company went bankrupt in 1998, production did not start. After the Partenavia bankruptcy, Vulcanair, founded in Naples in 1996, took over the rights to the Partenavia developments. On November 25, 1998, the previous type approvals issued on Partenavia for the P.68 were approved by the Italian certification authority ENAC under the ENAC TC No. A365 transferred to Vulcanair. This also included the three Observer versions of the P.68. The P.68TC Observer and P.68 Observer 2 are now among the best-selling P.68 products from Vulcanair. They are mainly used by government institutions, e.g. Operated by the US Department of the Interior or the Chilean Air Force.

Technical specifications

Parameter Sportavia
P.68 Observer 		Partenavia
P. 68 Observer 		Partenavia
P.68TC Observer 		Partenavia
P.68 Observer 2
crew 2
length 9.35 m 9.43 m 9.15 m 9.15-9.54 m
span 12.00 m
height 3.40 m
Wing area 18.60 m² 18.60 m²
Wing extension 7.75
payload 760 kg 510 kg 664 kg
Empty mass 1200 kg 1450 kg 1420 kg
Max. Takeoff mass 1960 kg 2084 kg
Cruising speed 281 km / h 285 km / h
Top speed 322 km / h 357 km / h 360 km / h
Service ceiling 6100 m 6096 m 5490 m
Range 1787 km 2280 km 2960 km
Engines 2 × 200 PS (147 kW)
Lycoming IO-360-A1B 		2 × 200 PS (147 kW)
Lycoming IO-360-A1B6 		2 × 210 PS (154 kW)
Lycoming TIO-360-C1A6D 		2 × 200 PS (147 kW)
Lycoming IO-360-A1B6

literature

Web links

Commons : Partenavia P.68 Observer  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sportavia-Pützer: Operation Concept Observer , 1975
  2. ↑ a b Paul Zöller, Hanns-Jakob Pützer: Pützer aircraft , Dec. 2018, ISBN 978-3-7481-2096-4
  3. ↑ RFB / Sportavia-Pützer / Partenavia meeting minutes for cooperation in twin-engine aircraft from May 8, 1978, Mönchengladbach
  4. ↑ a b c d e f EASA-TCDS-A.385 of July 31, 2013
  5. ↑ Alfons Pützer Homepage , P.68 Observer Image Archive
  6. ↑ Partenavia / Sportavia: P. 68 Observer sales brochure , Naples, 1978