what is it?
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 on 24 November 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.
How to recognise it: 4 piston engines with propellers · low wing · retractable tailwheel (taildragger) · 32 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 87 years ago, in 1939.
- Top speed is 3.7× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 32 m: about 7 cars parked nose to tail.
- Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 5 African elephants (~6 t each).
- Range of 3,295 km: 18× Amsterdam to Brussels.
- Can fly 1.2× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1939
- introduced
- 1941
- retired
- 1945
- status
- retired
- number built
- 36
- role
- heavy bomber or attack aircraft
- origin
- Kingdom of Italy
- makers
- Piaggio
- engines
- 4× Piaggio P.XII R.C.35
- crew
- 6
- length
- 22.3 m
- wingspan
- 32 m
- height
- 6 m
- max take-off weight
- 29.9 t
- top speed
- 475 km/h
- range
- 3,295 km
- ceiling
- 10,500 m
- wings
- low wing
- landing gear
- retractable conventional landing gear
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q1540052, Wikipedia: Piaggio P.108 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.