Agusta AZ.8L

The Agusta AZ.8L, also called the Agusta-Zappata AZ.8L, was an Italian airliner prototype that first flew on 9 June 1958. It was designed by Filippo Zappata and grew out of an earlier twin-engined transport project, the AZ.1, which was never built. The aircraft was a conventional low-wing monoplane of all-metal construction with a tricycle undercarriage, powered by four Alvis Leonides 503/2 nine-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines driving three-bladed constant-speed propellers. It had a crew of two and was laid out to carry 22 first-class or 26 economy-class passengers over a range of about 2,500 km at a maximum speed of 427 km/h. The AZ.8L failed to attract customers, and Agusta abandoned the project to concentrate on its helicopter manufacturing business, in particular another Zappata design, the A.101. Its only listed operator is the Italian Air Force, and it was never developed beyond the prototype stage.