what is it?
The Breda Ba.88 Lince ("Lynx") was a ground-attack aircraft used by the Italian Regia Aeronautica during World War II. Its streamlined design and retractable undercarriage were advanced for the time, and after its debut in 1937 the aircraft established several world speed records. When military equipment was installed on production examples, problems of instability developed and the aeroplane's general performance deteriorated. Eventually its operational career was cut short, and the remaining Ba.88 airframes were used as fixed installations on airfields to mislead enemy reconnaissance.
How to recognise it: 2 piston engines with propellers · 15.6 m wingspan
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 90 years ago, in 1936.
- Top speed is 3.8× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 15.6 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
- Range of 1,640 km: 9× Amsterdam to Brussels.
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1936-10
- introduced
- 1939
- retired
- 1941
- status
- retired
- number built
- 149
- role
- attacker
- origin
- 🇮🇹 Italy
- makers
- Breda
- engines
- 2× Piaggio P.XI RC.40 Stella
- crew
- 2
- length
- 10.6 m
- wingspan
- 15.6 m
- height
- 3 m
- max take-off weight
- 6,750 kg
- top speed
- 490 km/h
- range
- 1,640 km
- ceiling
- 8,000 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q904627, Wikipedia: Breda Ba.88 Lince (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.