- Yes
- Maybe
- No
History.
In 1934, the Regia Aeronautica issued a call for tenders for a new twin-engine medium land bomber, and many aircraft companies responded to the competition, including CRDA, Caproni, and also Piaggio, which had made several highly advanced prime movers in recent years. Engineer Giovanni Pegna of Piaggio designed a twin-engine bomber powered by Isotta-Fraschini, which was first flown in 1936; thus the Piaggio P.32 was born. The plane, however, proved to be too slow due to its poor motorization and very unmaneuverable due to its overly advanced wing design, so it was decided to redesign the plane by upgrading its engines. A Piaggio engine was chosen for availability (also by choice of the new designer who took over from Pegna, i.e., Giovanni Casiraghi) far more powerful than the I.-F.'s engine (about 200 hp more), and this improved the plane’s rate of climb and lessened the plane’s maneuverability problems, but it resulted in a larger frontal engine footprint and a shorter range for the plane. This vehicle, renamed the Piaggio P.32 II Series, was tested and built in 12 examples (one of which also appeared at the II Milan Air Show in October 1937), which, however, in 1938 were scrapped from the squadrons to which they had been assigned as a result of various accidents (one of which was fatal) and were subsequently scrapped in order to salvage what they could from the aircraft carcasses.
Armaments and propulsion.
The plane was defended by as many as five Breda-SAFAT machine guns in 7.7 mm caliber with each gun equipped with 500 rounds and could carry up to 1,600 kg of bombs in various configurations.
As engines, the plane was powered by two Piaggio P.XI RC.40 engines of 1,000 hp, which could propel the plane up to 385 km/h.
Specifications.
Spoiler
Crew: 5
Maximum weight: 9,604 kg
Wingspan: 18 m
Length: 16.3 m
Height: 5.1 m
Wing area: 60 m2
Tangency: 6,250 km
Autonomy: 1,700 km
Engine: 2x Piaggio P.XI RC.40 (1,000 hp power each)
Maximum speed: 385 km/h
Armament: 5x Breda-SAFAT 7.7 mm and up to 1,600 kg of bombs
Pictures and drawnings.
Sources.
Spoiler
Piaggio P
Piaggio P.32 - Wikipedia
Piaggio P.32 - Wikipedia
https://www.extra-reports.it/2021/10/11/il-p-32-un-bombardiere-di-concezione-troppo-avanzata/
Piaggio P.32 Medium Bomber - Italy
Italian Aircraft of WWII: Piaggio P.32
Piaggio P.32, Aerei militari, Schede tecniche aerei militari italiani e storia degli aviatori