In a piaggio avanti!

I recently found myself sitting behind the controls
in one of these:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ae...180_Avanti.jpg

Too bad we were sitting on the tarmac, not moving.
Heh! I asked the captain, "I bet you typically cruise
this thing about 32K feet?" He smiled and said,
"No, try 43K ft." Nice plane, pusher prop, fast as
hell! We hung out for a bit in the plush cabin and
the co-captain told me stories about Caribbean
runways with broken asphalt, and Mexican airports
where they'll steal your wheels.

I tried, but they would't let me take it once around
the block. (as if I could)

---
Mark