JOHAN VISSCHEDIJK COLLECTION No. 7013. Piaggio P.119 (MM497) Italian Air Force
Photograph from Military Aircraft Photographs (MAP), taken at Villanova d’Albenga, Italy
10/31/2007. The P.119 was offered to the Ministry of Aeronautics in
March 1939, being special having the radial engine placed aft of the
cockpit, near the center of gravity. Advantages of this concept were
improved maneuverability; the substantial reduction in drag; improved
visibility from the cockpit, due to the tapered forward fuselage, and
the possibility of close-grouping the forward-firing guns.
A prototype and a static airframe were ordered late 1940. Finding a
suitable engine cooling took some time, the solution was a large air
scoop beneath the forward fuselage, with trunks leading the air to
the engine, an 1,700 hp Piaggio P.XV R.C.60/2V eighteen-cylinder
air-cooled radial. First flown by Nicolò Lana from Villanova d’Albenga,
on December 19, 1942, the last company test flight took place on
August 2, 1943. Subsequently the P.119 was to be flown by the Italian
AF, but with the Armistice further development was abandoned.
