The Piaggio PD.808 was an Italian business jet built by Piaggio. It was designed as a joint venture between Piaggio and

Douglas Aircraft Company The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and military, defense company based in Southern California. Founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas Sr., it merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell D ...

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, United States.

Design and development

Originally named the PD.808 Vespa Jet the business jet was designed in a joint venture between Piaggio and the Douglas Aircraft Company. The basic design work was carried out by Douglas and the prototype was built at the Piaggio factory at Finale Ligure.Simpson 1991, pp. 232–233 The PD.808 was a low-wing cantilever cabin-monoplane with tip-tanks and powered by two rear-mounted Bristol Siddeley Viper 525 turbojets. It has retractable

tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', that is arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has one or more nose wheels in a single front undercarriage and two or more main wheels slightly aft of th ...

and was originally designed with a cabin for a pilot and six-passengers. The first Viper 525-powered

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...

(with Italian Serial Number ''MM577'') first flew on 29 August 1965, this was followed by a second Viper 525 powered prototype and two civil demonstrators. The company tried to interest commercial operators (including offering a General Electric CJ610 variant) but the only interest was from the

Italian Air Force The Italian Air Force (; AM, ) is the air force of the Italy, Italian Republic. The Italian Air Force was founded as an independent service arm on 28 March 1923 by Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, King Victor Emmanuel III as the ("Royal Air Force ...

as a liaison, training and radar calibration aircraft with an order for 25. The Italian Air Force aircraft were powered by Viper 526 turbojets.

Variants

*PD-808VIP: VIP transport. *PD-808TA: navigation trainer. *PD-808RM (''radiomisure''): radio calibration, four-built *PD-808GE (''guerra elettronica''): aircraft modified for Electronic warfare, PD-808GE1 entered service in 1972, the PD-808GE2 in 1977. *PD-808TF: Proposed

turbofan A turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft engine, aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a combination of references to the preceding generation engine technology of the turbojet and the add ...

-powered version. Not built.

Operators

; *

operated 22 Piaggio PD.808 from 1970 until 2003

Accidents and incidents

On 18 June 1968 one of the demonstration aircraft ''I-PIAI'' crashed in bad-weather when it flew into the side of Mount Jaizkibel, near San Sebastian, Spain, all six on-board including the Italian businessman

Lino Zanussi Lino Zanussi (Pordenone, 15 February 1920 - San Sebastián, 18 June 1968) was an Italian businessman and appliance manufacturer. Company history Beginnings Antonio Zanussi (Lino's father) was the son of a blacksmith. At the age of 26, in 1916, ...

and the Piaggio chief test pilot Davide Albertazzi were killed.

Aircraft on display

;Italy * MM62015 – PD-808GE on static display in Lucca, Tuscany. It was previously operated by the Italian Air Force. * MM61961 - PD-808GE on static display outside the Museo Storico dell'Aeronautica Militare di Vigna di Valle ( Italian Air Force Museum in

Vigna di Valle ''Vigna'' is a genus of plants in the legume family, Fabaceae, with a pantropical distribution.Aitawade, M. M., et al. (2012)Section ''Ceratotropis'' of subgenus ''Ceratotropis'' of ''Vigna'' (Leguminosae–Papilionoideae) in India with a new ...

), with "Ultimo Volo 17.5.03 (Final Flight 17-5-'03)" titles.

Specifications (PD.808)

References

Bibliography

{{Portal bar, Italy, Companies, Aviation PD.808 Douglas aircraft 1960s Italian business aircraft 1960s Italian military utility aircraft Twinjets Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1964 Cruciform tail aircraft Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear