Pomilio PE
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Pomilio PE | |
|---|---|
| Type | Two-seat armed reconnaissance biplane |
| Manufacturer | Pomilio |
| Maiden flight | 1917 |
| Introduced | 1917 |
| Primary user | Regia Aeronautica |
| Number built | 545 (PC and PD 1071 (PE) |
The Pomilio PE was a First World War Italian armed reconnaissance biplane designed an built by the Pomilio brothers. It was developed from the earlier Pomilio PC and PD.
[edit] Development
The Pomilio brothers first armed reconnaissance biplane was the Pomilio PC which appeared in 1917. It was a conventional biplane of mixed construction with a fixed tailskid landing gear. It had two open cockpits in tandem and was powered by a nose-mounted 260hp (194kW) Fiat A.12 engine. It first entered service in 1917 and was found to dangerously instable which led to an improved design the Pomilio PD. The PD had a revised engine cowling and to help with the stability a ventral fin. Production of both the PC and PD was 545 aircraft, mainly PDs.
A further improvement was the Pomilio PE which had a re-designed tail unit with an increase in area of both the fin and tailplane. It was also fitted with a more powerful variant of the Fiat A.12. Changes were made throughout the production run of 1071 aircraft with later aircraft fitted with synchronized forward-firing machine-guns as well as observer's Lewis machine gun.
[edit] Variants
- Pomilio PC
- Initial production variant
- Pomilio PD
- Modified production variant with ventral fin, 575 PC and PDs built.
- Pomilio PE
- Improved production variant with new tail unit and more powerful engine, 1071 built.
[edit] Operators
[edit] Specifications (PE)
Data from The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing, 2759.
General characteristics
- Crew: 2 (pilot, observer)
- Length: 8.95 m (29 ft 4¼ in)
- Wingspan: 11.80 m (38 ft 8½ in)
- Height: 3.35 m (11 ft 0 in)
- Gross weight: 1535 kg (3384 lb)
- Powerplant: 1 × Fiat A.12bis six-cylinder inline piston engine, 224 kW (300 hp)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 195 km/h (121 mph)
- Endurance: 3 hours 30 min
- Service ceiling: 5000 m (16,405 ft)
Armament
- 1 x synchronised forward-firing 8 mm (0.315 in) Revelli machine-gun
- 1 or 2 x 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Lewis machine-gun on Scarff ring in rear cockpit
[edit] References
- Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions.
- The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing, 2759.
|
||||||||||||||
