Piaggio_P.16 Knowpia

Piaggio P.16
Role	Heavy bomber
National origin	Italy
Manufacturer	Piaggio
First flight	1934
Status	Canceled
Primary user	Regia Aeronautica
Number built	1

The Piaggio P.16 was an Italian heavy bomber designed and built by Piaggio for the Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force).

Design and development edit

The P.16 was a three-engine shoulder-wing monoplane of mostly metal construction, with inverted gull wings.^[1] Its wing was thick and semi-elliptical, and its tail was mounted high on the fuselage. It had retractable main landing gear and a spatted, non-retractable tailwheel.^[1] In addition to bombs, its armament consisted of four 7.62-millimeter (0.3-inch) machine guns, of which two were mounted in the leading edge of the wing, one in a retractable dorsal turret, and one in the rear of the fuselage beneath the tail.^[1] The bombardier (bomb-aimer) manned a compartment set behind the nose engine on the underside of the fuselage.

Operational history edit

The P.16 first flew in November 1934,^[1] and an order for 12 aircraft was placed and then cancelled,^[1] with preference given to the Piaggio P.32, which was produced from 1936 to 1939.^[1]

Operators edit

Kingdom of Italy

Regia Aeronautica

Specifications edit

Data from Italian Civil and Military aircraft 1930–1945 ^[2]

General characteristics

Crew: 4
Length: 13.35 m (43 ft 9.5 in)
Wingspan: 22.00 m (72 ft 2 in)
Height: 3.5 m (11 ft 5.75 in)
Wing area: 69.97 m² (753.2 sq ft)
Gross weight: 8,432 kg (18,590 lb)
Powerplant: 3 × Piaggio Stella P.IX R.C.40 9-cyl. air-cooled radial piston engine, 520 kW (700 hp) each

Performance

Maximum speed: 400 km/h (248 mph, 216 kn) at 3,170 m (10,400 ft)
Stall speed: 105 km/h (65 mph, 56 kn)
Range: 2,000 km (1,242 mi, 1,079 nmi) with 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) of bombs, or 1,500 km (930 mi) with 500 kg (1,100 lb) of bombs
Time to altitude: 6,000 m (20,000 ft) in 17 minutes

Armament

Guns:
2 x fixed 7.62 mm (0.300 in) Breda-SAFAT machine guns in wing leading edge
1 x flexible7.62 mm (0.300 in) machine gun in dorsal turret
1 x flexible 7.62 mm (0.300 in) machine gun in rear underside of fuselage
Bombs: 1,000 kg (2,205 lb)

References edit

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Pearce, William (29 November 2015). "Piaggio P.16 Bomber". oldmachinepress.com. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
^ Thompson, Jonathan W. (1963). Italian Civil and Military aircraft 1930–1945 (1st ed.). New York: Aero Publishers Inc. pp. 219–220. ISBN 0-8168-6500-0.