Piaggio P.6

Piaggio P.6
Role	Catapult-launched reconnaissance float plane
Manufacturer	Piaggio
First flight	1927
Primary user	Regia Marina
Number built	15 (P.6ter)

The Piaggio P.6 was an Italian catapult-launched reconnaissance floatplane designed and built by Piaggio for the Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy).

Development

To meet a Regia Marina requirement for a two-seat catapult-launched seaplane, Piaggio produced two designs. The first designated the P.6bis was a small biplane flying boat powered by a 190 kW (260 hp) Isotta Fraschini V.6 engine driving a pusher propeller. The second design designated, the P.6, was a floatplane with one large central float and two stabilising floats at the wingtips and a nose mounted A.20 engine. Both aircraft had the same biplane wing structure with rigid strut bracing and both were armed with a single machine gun (the flying-boat's in the bow and the floatplane's in the rear cockpit). In 1928, the P.6ter was produced based on the P.6 floatplane with the engine boosted to 306 kW (410 hp). A production run of 15 P-6ter aircraft was produced for the Italian Navy where it had an unremarkable career being used on battleships and cruisers.

Variants

P.6bis

Prototype flying boat.

P.6

Prototype floatplane.

P.6ter

Production floatplane, 15 built.

Operators

 Kingdom of Italy

• Regia Marina

Specifications (P.6ter)

General characteristics

• Crew: 2
• Wingspan: 13.50 m (44 ft 3½ in)
• Gross weight: 2,360 kg (5,203 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Fiat A.20, 306 kW (410 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 195 km/h (121 mph)

Armament

• 1 × machine gun

See also

Related lists

• List of Interwar military aircraft
• List of seaplanes and flying boats

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Piaggio P.6.

• Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. 
• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing. p. 2700.