Piaggio P.3

Piaggio P.3
Type:	bomber
Design country:	Italy
Manufacturer:	Piaggio
First flight:	1923
Number of pieces:	1 prototype

The Piaggio P.3 was a night bomber made by the Italian manufacturer Piaggio .

History and construction

The P.3 was designed by Giovanni Pegna and was a four-engine biplane with wings of different wingspan. The machine was powered by four SPA-6A piston engines with 149 kW each, two of which were mounted in tandem on the lower wing and powered either a push or a pusher propeller. The stern of the P.3 was also designed as a double-decker and had three oars mounted in between. The two pilots sat next to each other in the open cockpit in front of the wings, the bow gunner in front and the stern gunner behind the wings. Three machine guns were used for defense; one could be used by the nose gunner and two by the rear gunner, with one of the two pointing upwards on the aircraft and one downwards through an opening so that the aircraft could also be defended downwards.

The P.3 took off on its maiden flight in 1923. Later, instead of the four SPA motors, four Fiat A.20Vs with 302 kW each were installed. However, the Regia Aeronautica did not order a single machine.

Technical specifications

Parameter	Data
crew	4th
length	12.40 m
span	24 m
height	? m
Wing area	? m²
Empty mass	? kg
Max. Takeoff mass	4860 kg
Cruising speed	142 km / h
Top speed	185 km / h
Service ceiling	5800 m
Range	560 km
Engines	4 × Fiat A.20V piston engines with 302 kW (411 PS) each
Armament	4 × 7.7 mm Vickers machine guns