The Piaggio P.108 Bombardiere (The What?)

The Piaggio P.108 and 274th Long-Range Bombardment Group.
(Source) 

When one mentions World War II and four-engined bombers, most of you will no doubt think of these birds first, the order of course depends on one's nationality I suppose:

• The RAF Avro Lancaster
• The RAF Short Stirling
• The RAF Handley-Page Halifax¹
• The USAAF Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
• The USAAF Consolidated B-24 Liberator
• The USAAF Boeing B-29 Superfortress
• The USAAF Consolidated B-32 Dominator (wait, what?)

Note that I didn't mention the Consolidated PB4Y-1 Liberator, the PB4Y-2 Privateer, nor the Fw 200 Kondor. Those three, while they were indeed bombers, were primarily used for maritime patrol, anti-shipping, and anti-submarine work. They did not operate in vast fleets filling the skies over enemy cities as did the aircraft in the list above.

Wait a minute Sarge, what's that Dominator you mention? Oh, alright, I suppose I'll mention that now. I never heard of that aircraft until today (well, yesterday as of the date of publication of this here post).

Consolidated B-32 Dominator

The B-32 was designed as a fallback plan in case the B-29 didn't work out. As it did, the B-32 saw limited service late in the war. You can read more about that here. The bird sort of looks like a four-engined B-26 to me. (YMMV)

So yes, I suppose that's what folks think of when you mention "four engined, WWII bomber," at least I always did. Until today of course (er, yesterday, freaking time travel!).

Now what do you think of when I say "Italian military"?

Now, now, behave. Sure there are thousands of jokes about the Italian armed forces in WWII -

• Sale on Italian infantry rifles, never been fired, only been dropped once
• Italian tanks, one gear in forward, five in reverse
• Why do Italian Navy ships have glass bottoms? So they can see the old Italian Navy.
• Sir Winston Churchill, on being informed that the Italians had entered WWII on the side of the Germans, is alleged to have said, "It's only fair, they were on our side in the last war."

I'm sure there are more but that's not the subject of today's post. I should mention that the Italians have a bad reputation from their participation in WWII. The great Desert Fox (Erwin Rommel) himself was impressed with the average Italian soldier, noting that they were often poorly supplied, their equipment was terrible, and their officers, especially in the more senior ranks, were terrible. The Italian artillery had an excellent reputation in North Africa, they would die at their guns rather than abandon them.

But it is true that Italian military prowess suffered a great deal after the fall of the Roman Empire. I mean a people who can produce the likes of a Caesar (Julius and a couple of others) cannot lack a certain military aptitude. Am I right?

But (again) I'm getting off topic.

I'm not sure how I stumbled across the Piaggio P.108 depicted in that opening photo. Might have been an email from John in Philly which sent me chasing across the Internet for something. No doubt I saw a photo and said, "What the heck is that?"

Well, the P.108 was the only four-engined bomber to see service with the Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force) in WWII. It didn't have much of an impact on the war as there weren't that many of them built. The Pedia of Wiki has this to say about the Bombardiere -

The Piaggio P.108 Bombardiere was an Italian four-engine heavy bomber that saw service with the Regia Aeronautica during World War II. The prototype first flew in 1939 and it entered service in 1941. It was one of a handful of Italian combat aircraft that could match the best manufactured by the Allies. Four versions of the P.108 were designed, but only one, the P.108B bomber, was produced in any quantity before the armistice. The other variants included the P.108A anti-ship aircraft with a 102 mm gun, the P.108C, an airliner with an extended wingspan and re-modeled fuselage capable of carrying 32 passengers, and the P.108T transport version designed specifically for military use. Only one P.108A and 24 P.108Bs were built. The combined total number of all versions (and prototypes) was at least 39, almost certainly more than 44. Most of the P.108Cs were subsequently modified for use as military transport aircraft and could accommodate up to sixty passengers. Nine P.108 Ts were used by Luftwaffe transport units until the end of the war. (Source)

Less than fifty were built, so I guess it shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as the Lancasters, Fortresses, Liberators, and others of that ilk.

This source had this information on the Bombardiere, part of a larger (and interesting) article -

The Piaggio P.108 was the only heavy four-engine bomber to see service with the Regia Aeronautica during World War Two. Too few were built to play a significant role in the war. The bomber version was identified as the Piaggio P108B and Piaggio built just 24 units. The P.108 was an all-metal, low-wing monoplane with a retractable undercarriage. The Piaggio P.108 powerplant consisted of four 1,350 hp Piaggio P.XII radial engines. The Piaggio P.108 was an expensive aircraft to build and cost 3x as much as the SM.79 Sparviero.

The first prototype was completed in October 1939 and contained very advanced defensive armament for its day. The aircraft armament included two 7.7 mm machine waist guns, a 12.7 mm machine gun in the lower turret and a similar weapon in the nose turret. The P108 also had some innovative technology such as two remotely-controlled twin gun turrets in the outer engine nacelles. The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was the first Allied bomber with a similar armament but developed four years later. The bomb load of the Piaggio comprised of 7,700 lbs housed internally in the bomb bay.

Innovative, expensive, and not many of them. What a very modern concept!

Looks very modern, well, except for the nose and the unfinished-looking propeller hubs.
(Source)

The manufacturer of that aircraft, Piaggio Aero Industries, (now called Piaggio Aerospace) has been in business for a long time, manufacturing their first aircraft in 1915. You can read more about them here.

Anyhoo, I thought it was an interesting aircraft, so I decided to share it with you. It's what I do, I share.

So juvat, what do we call this, "Weird Aircraft Week"?

While the P.108 isn't weird (the guy who designed it, Giovanni Casiraghi, worked in the United States from 1927 to 1936) it was certainly advanced for it's time. Good thing the Italians didn't have more of them. I mean, they were on the wrong side for most of WWII!

¹ This aircraft was initially not listed, but I had a visit from the police, UK variety, which made me mend my ways and add it in. Thanks Hogday!