7025 PIAGGIO PC-7

The Piaggio-Pegna PC7 (another designation: Piaggio P.7) was an Italian sports and performance aircraft in a fixed undercarriage monoplane system. Trials of this aircraft took place in 1929, but the machine was never actually flown. The plane was 8.86 meters long with a wingspan of 7.66 meters and a height of 2.45 meters. It is estimated that the maximum speed of the machine could reach 580-600 km / h. The 850hp Isotta Fraschini 12-cylinder engine was probably used as the power unit, but this is not entirely certain. The Piaggio-Pegna PC7 was developed by engineer Giovanni Pegna for the Piaggio aviation plant for participation in the Schneider Trophy air racing in 1929. The design of the plane was highly unusual, as it assumed that the plane would have a propeller at the rear to assist with take-off, and the fuselage was very streamlined and resembled the hulls of motorboats. The plane was also devoid of typical floats in order to reduce aerodynamic drag. The machine has never been flown, and tests carried out in Lake Garda have shown that it generates a lot of problems in piloting. As the plane could not be completed before the start of the Schneider Trophy in 1929, the entire project was abandoned.