Flight, October 1929

The Piaggio "P-9"

   THE "P-9" is a light touring high-wing monoplane constructed by the well-known Italian shipbuilding firm of Soc. Anon. Piaggio and Co., of Genoa, which firm also constructs Dornier machines under licence. It has a cabin ДальшеMore>>> fuselage, accommodating two persons in tandem, and is fitted with a 75-80 h.p. "Cirrus II" engine.
   Wings. - Of fairly thick section, with wood construction covered with fabric. They are in three units, comprising a short centre-section forming the top of the fuselage and cabin-roof, and two outer sections attached to the latter. The wings are externally braced to the fuselage by two sloping steel-tube struts on each side of the fuselage - the attachment to the latter being on the bottom longerons. Short vertical struts also extend up to the wing from the centre of the main bracing struts. Control surfaces are unbalanced and the tail unit is also of wood and fabric construction.
   Fuselage. - Of wood construction, with ply-wood covering. It is of rectangular cross section, very deep at the cabin section and tapering sharply thence to the tail; the engine section however, is not very deep, and so the view forward is obstructed as little as possible. Sloping windows, extending from the engine cowling up to the top of the cabin in front, and large side windows, provide a fair range of vision. Access to the cabin is by means of four doors, two on each side of the fuselage. The seats are arranged in tandem, the pilot's being in front. Dual control is, however, provided, and the rear controls can be disconnected from the front ones when desired.
   Undercarriage. - This is of the "V"-cum-divided straight axle type, the axle being hinged at the centre to a pyramid of three struts, two going to the lower side longerons of the fuselage (where the front struts of the side V-members are attached), and the third to a point slightly forward and in the centre of the fuselage bottom (at the rear engine-section transverse member). The outer ends of the axle are carried by the apex of the side V-members, the front struts of which embody a rubber-block-in-compression shock absorber.
   If desired, a float undercarriage may be fitted in place of the wheel type.
   Power Plant. - While the engine fitted in the machine shown in our illustration is a 75-80 h.p. 4-cyl. inline aircooled "Cirrus II," the P-9 has been designed to take any type of engine of 60 to 150 h.p. Petrol is supplied to the engine by gravity feed, from a tank in the right-hand wing root.