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Flown for the first time on 19 December 1942 from the company's Villanova d'AIbegna airfield, the Piaggio P.119 was
an all-metal low-wing monoplane single-seat fighter with a remarkably slim fuselage. This was made possible by enclosing the 1230kW Piaggio P.XV RC.60 radial engine in the fuselage behind the pilot's fully enclosed cockpit, the three-blade propeller being driven by an extension shaft. The clean lines were broken only by the engine air intake located beneath the fuselage, forward of the wing. Proposed armament was four nose-mounted 12.7mm machine-guns and one 20mm cannon firing through the propeller hub.
Test flights indicated a maximum speed of 640 km/h (398 mph), but the aircraft was plagued by engine vibration problems and after relatively slight damage suffered during a landing accident, on 2 August 1943, further development was abandoned and no attempt made to repair it.
 | A three-view drawing (1280 x 880) |
| ENGINE | 1 x Piaggio P.XV RC.60, 1230kW |
| PERFORMANCE |
| Max. speed | 640 km/h | 398 mph |
| ARMAMENT | 1 x 20mm cannon, 4 x 12.7mm machine-guns |
SM, istvan1999(@)virgilio.it, 25.09.2007
AFAIK the Piaggio P.119 was equipped with a Piaggio P.XV RC45, and meant to be re-engined with a RC50, 1,650hp. I don't know how 640-644 km/h are (perhaps with the test flight with an lightened prototype) but it was capable of 620 kmh, and with RC 50 previed capable of 630 kmh. 640 kmh it's so a definitively too high value.
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Do you have any comments concerning this aircraft ?
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