The Piaggio P.50 was an Italian

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 ...

heavy

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

designed and built by

Piaggio Piaggio & C. SpA (Piaggio ) is an Italian motor vehicle manufacturer, which produces a range of two-wheeled motor vehicles and compact commercial vehicles under seven brands: Piaggio, Vespa, Gilera, Aprilia, Moto Guzzi, Derbi, and Scarabeo. Its ...

for the ''

Regia Aeronautica The Italian Royal Air Force (''Regia Aeronautica Italiana'') was the name of the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946. In 1946, the monarchy was abolis ...

'' (Italian Royal Air Force).

Design and development

The P.50 was the first design by Giovanni Casiraghi—following an outline for the project laid out by Piaggio designer

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Giovanni Pegna—for the Piaggio company.

P.50-I

The first model, the P.50-I, was a four-engine shoulder-

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

monoplane with a single large tailfin and

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...

. It was powered by four 544-

kilowatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

(730-

horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...

) Isotta-Fraschini Asso XI.RC

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engines mounted in tandem pairs on the wings, with each engine driving one three-bladed

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

; two of the propellers were mounted in a pusher and two in a tractor configuration. For defense, the P.50-I had three

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...

positions, including a nose turret Piaggio built two P.50-I prototypes, the first of which—MM369—flew in 1937. The second—MM370—was damaged in an accident while landing at Malpensa airfield in 1938. No production order for the P.50-I materialized.

P.50-II

A new model of the P.50, the P.50-II, appeared in 1938. It was re-engined with four 746-kilowatt (1,001-horsepower)

Piaggio P.XI The Piaggio P.XI was an Italian 14-cylinder radial aircraft engine. The P.XI was a licensed derivative of the French Gnome-Rhône Mistral Major 14K produced in Italy.Gunston 1989, p.110. Isotta Fraschini also produced a version of the 14K cal ...

RC.40

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ca ...

s, each driving a three-bladed propeller, dispensing with the tandem-engine, pusher-puller configuration of the P.50-I, instead mounting the engines separately with all four propellers as tractors. Its defensive armament was upgraded to five 12.7-millimeter (0.5-inch) machine guns. Piaggio produced a single P.50-II prototype designated MM371. No production ordered resulted for the P.50-II, but Piaggio later applied the experience it gained from the design and construction of the three P.50 prototypes to the development of the

Piaggio P.108 The Piaggio P.108 ''Bombardiere'' was an Italian four-engine heavy bomber that saw service with the Regia Aeronautica during World War II.Matricardi 2006, p. 257. The prototype first flew on 24 November 1939 and it entered service in 1941. I ...

heavy bomber of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Variants

;P-50-I :Four-engines in tandem push-pull nacelles - two built. ;P-50-II :A single more powerful P.50 with four engines in separate tractor nacelles Piaggio P 50 I

Operators

; * ''

Specifications (P.50-I)

Notes

References

* Donald, David. ''The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft''. Leicester, UK: Blitz Editions, 1997. . * Thompson, Jonathan W. ''Italian Civil and Military Aircraft 1930–1945'', New York: Aero Publishers Inc., 1963. .

External links

AR Aircraft Manuals Blueprints Video Publications: Piaggio P.50
{{Portal bar, Italy, Companies, Aviation P.050 1930s Italian bomber aircraft Four-engined tractor aircraft Shoulder-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1937 Four-engined piston aircraft