Piaggio P.149
The Piaggio P.149 is a 1950s Italian utility and liaison aircraft designed and built by Piaggio. The aircraft was built under licence by Focke-Wulf in West Germany as the FWP.149D.
Development
The P.149 was developed as a four-seat touring variant of the earlier P.148. The P.149 is an all-metal, low-wing cantilever monoplane with a retractable tricycle landing gear with room for four or five occupants. The prototype first flew on 19 June 1953.Only a few were sold, until the German Air Force selected the aircraft for a training and utility role. Piaggio delivered 76 aircraft out of a total of 88 built in Italy to Germany, while another 190 were built in Germany by Focke-Wulf.
Operational history
The aircraft was operated by the German Air Force between 1957 and 1990.Swissair's Flying School based at Bern airfield used a small fleet of the type to provide primary instruction to trainee pilots.
Operators
- German Air Force
- Marineflieger
- Israeli Air Force
- Italian Air Force operated two Piaggio P.149Ds from 1953 until 1955
- Nigerian Air Force operated 12 Piaggo P.149D in 1967
- Swissair Flying School
- Tanzanian Air Force
Specifications (P.149D)