The Piaggio P.148 was a 1950s
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
two-seat primary or aerobatic
training
Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or Physical fitness, fitness that relate to specific practicality, useful Competence (human resources), competencies. Training has specific goals of improving on ...
monoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes.
A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...
designed and built by
Piaggio Aero
Piaggio Aerospace, formerly Piaggio Aero Industries, is a Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace manufacturing company headquartered in Villanova d'Albenga, Italy. The company designs, develops, manufactures and maintains aircraft, ...
.
Design and development
The P.148 was an all-metal low-wing
cantilever
A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a canti ...
monoplane with fixed
tailwheel landing gear
Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms ...
. It offered room for two occupants in side-by-side seating as well as an optional third seat. The
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 prototyp ...
first flew on the 12 February 1951 and after testing by the Italian Air Force was ordered into production for the air force primary training schools. A four-seat variant was developed as the
P.149.
Operational history
Although successfully introduced into the
Italian Air Force
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service, the P.148 was withdrawn from use with the introduction of an all-jet training programme. In 1970, the aircraft was re-introduced into the Italian Air Force Service, when the basic piston-engine aircraft regained a role in the selection of pilots. Some aircraft were sold by the Air Force to the
Somali Air Corps
"Lean Together"
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as trainers.
Operators
;
*
Italian Air Force
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operated 70 aircraft from 1951 until 1979
;
*
Somali Air Corps
"Lean Together"
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- Retired
Specifications (P.148)
See also
References
*
* The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985), 1985, Orbis Publishing, Page 2714
{{Portal bar, Italy, Companies, Aviation
P.148
1950s Italian military trainer aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1951
Low-wing aircraft
Single-engined tractor aircraft