Piaggio P.121M: Gibraltar bomber!

[comrade harps]

Piaggio P.121M
6-1, 6° Stormo, 1° Squadriglia
Perpignan Rivesaltes, France, 5 June 1944



With the their P.120 long-range reconnaissance plane proving successful, Piaggio undertook a private venture development of a multi-role model as the P.121. to fulfill reconnaissance, fighter-bomber, escort fighter, night fighter and torpedo-bomber roles. First flown in 1941, it quickly became apparent that the type's performance exceeded its Italian rivals, but it  received little support from the Regia Aeronautica, which wanted Piaggio to concentrate on larger aircraft. Seeking export orders, Piaggio sent the P.121 on a tour of Axis nations and gained a Hungarian order for 200 as the P.121M, the Italian plane wisely being chosen in preference to the Messerschmitt Me 210. The P.121M fighter-bomber was built by MÁVAG and featured a combination of Italian, German and Hungarian equipment, including licence-built BMW 801 engines. It was armed with four nose-mounted 12.7 mm Gebauer machine guns with another on a flexible mount in the rear cockpit, two 20mm MG 151s and bomb racks were mounted beneath the fuselage and wings. A proposed radar-equipped night fighter version was never built.




Although rejected on largely bureaucratic and political grounds by the Italian Fascists, the P.121 was looked upon favourably by the Luftwaffe and the RLM. Following the Italian Armistice, the German re-organisation of the Italian aero industry saw all of the P.121's rival types immediately cancelled. When an Italian puppet-state was formed and its armed forces organised, the Germans ordered 50 P.121Ms from Hungary for its air arm, the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana (ANR).



The  6° Stormo, 1° Squadriglia, became operational with the P.121M in January 1944, most of its missions being against Allied ships and land targets in and around the Anzio beachhead. Initially, these were conducted at dawn or dusk, but by early February the unit was operating exclusively at night, resulting in a the planes being painted with black undersides. Although scoring some notable successes against Allied ships, by May Mussolini had grown tired of the campaign and was demanding a propaganda victory from his commanders. To demonstrate that they still had strategic reach, the ANR tasked their P.212M crews with a mission against Gibraltar.




12 P.121Ms staged through Istres in France on 3 June as they deployed to Perpignan, near the Spanish border. From there, 10 aircraft mounted a raid on Gibraltar on the night of 5/6 June, slightly damaging four Allied ships without loss (although two aircraft landed at Ampuriabrava in Spain due to navigational errors). For this mission, in additional to the usual internal arnamentt, each aircraft was armed with four German SC50 and two Italian 100 kg bombs. Save for the aircrew interned in Spain, all other aircrew involved in the mission received decorations for their valor. It is of note that this was the last Axis attack on Gibraltar in WW2.

[Tophe]

Beautiful!

[Captain Canada]

Nice one ! Looks rather sinister in those colours eh ?! Is that the Airfix kit with the Airfix 110 nose ?

[comrade harps]

Nice one ! Looks rather sinister in those colours eh ?! Is that the Airfix kit with the Airfix 110 nose ?

Yep. Airfix Dinah with Bf 110C nose (the new tool Airfix 110 comes with 2 noses) and the engines are from the Matchbox Ju 188E. The centreline bomb rack is also from the Airfix 110C with bombs from the Special Hobby Seafire FR.47 and the SC50s and wing racks are from the Revel Ju-87DG kit. The props snd spinnrrs are from Hobby Boss Bf 109Gs.

[Dizzyfugu]

Very cool!  The paint scheme is nice, too! 

[NARSES2]

I like that