End of the Road
As the war progressed, many of the existing passenger airliner models were eventually converted to the military-minded P.108T transport types within time. By the time of the Italian surrender in September of 1943, only about 5% of the entire P.108 bomber force remained intact, many falling to Allied guns in the air or whilst they rested on the ground. Some were sabotaged to avoid them being used further by Axis powers moving to the north. Whatever systems remained with the Axis were pressed into service with the relocated Fascist Italian forces under Mussolini in Northern Italy with at least nine serving with German Luftwaffe groups as emergency transports until Germany's finale in May of 1945.
Piaggio P.108 Walk-Around
Design of the Piaggio P.108 was conventional of bombers of the time. She sported a smooth long fuselage with a stepped forward section. The nose featured glazing and showcased some of her defensive armament. The cockpit rested along the third highest "step" and her crew was made up of six or seven personnel to include a pilot, co-pilot, bombardier and machine gunners. Cabin blisters were easily identifiable along the top side of the fuselage, these housing the crewmembers charged with manning the remote-controlled wing machine gun turrets. Wings were fitted as low-mounted assemblies ahead of amidships. The fuselage tapered off into the empennage which was affixed with a conventional tail system. There was a single, large-area vertical tail fin and low-mounted stabilizers. All wing surfaces were rounded in shape, consistent with many of the other Italian aircraft designs of the war. Each wing held a pair of engines along their leading edges. There was slight dihedral to each wing, giving a pronounced upward angle from wing root to wing tip. The undercarriage featured two retractable single-wheeled main landing gear legs and a fixed tail wheel. The main legs retracted forward into and under the inner most engine nacelles.
Power for the P.108
Power was derived from four Piaggio PXII RC.35 radial piston engines delivering approximately 1,500 horsepower from each. This provided for a top speed of 267 miles per hour with a service ceiling of about 28,300 feet and a range out to 2,185 miles. The engines never proved wholly reliable, limiting the P.108B in every area. She maintained an empty weight of 38,161lbs but could take-off weighing nearly 66,000lbs.
P.108B Armament
As a bomber, armament for the P.108 was both defensive and offensive in nature. Her defensive armament consisted of a mix of 12.7mm heavy- and 7.7mm rifle-caliber machine guns in various positions along the fuselage and wings. Unique to the P.108 was its use of remote-controlled 12.7mm Breda-SAFAT heavy machine guns fitted to the rear of her outermost engine nacelles - the thought being that these systems could protect the aircraft's rear from incoming enemy attacks. In theory, this proved a sound measure and other bomber types experimented with such emplacements as well. In practice, however, their usefulness remained to be seen and never effectively utilized by any warplane by war's end. Beyond the wing armament, there was a 1 x 12.7mm machine gun position in the nose, 1 x 7.7mm along each beam waist side and 1 x 12.7mm in a retractable ventral turret at the base of the empennage.
Despite her size, the P.108 's offensive forte was limited to a maximum internal bomb load of up to 7,709lbs across three separated bays. This could be made up of seven heavy-class bombs and up to thirty-eight light-class bombs. Torpedoes would only have been carried by the anti-shipping version (P.108A), two underwing and one held under the fuselage.
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