Piaggio P-108 vs. Boeing B-17 -- Heavy Bomber Comparison

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

(don't worry sys i know the B-29's were accurate, they had computers the P.108 didn't)

Thankyou for emphasising that! If you had not we would have gone into a whole 2 more months of argueing why the B-29 was better than the Lancaster or P.108, even though everyone knows the B-29 was the best bomber of wW2.

 

[cheddar cheese]

P.108's did have some kind of sighting system, im sure of it - and if Automated turrets arent as effective as manned turrets then why did they put them on the B-29? Sure, they had computers, more technology and a few more years worth of advances, but from what your saying manned turrets would be better. Look at the other side though, for the the cost of one turret, you have 2 turrets on the wings which should give more field of fire. Kind of like waist gunners if you think about it. Also it means less crew lost when a plane goes down.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

P.108's did have some kind of sighting system, im sure of it - and if Automated turrets arent as effective as manned turrets then why did they put them on the B-29? Sure, they had computers, more technology and a few more years worth of advances, but from what your saying manned turrets would be better. Look at the other side though, for the the cost of one turret, you have 2 turrets on the wings which should give more field of fire. Kind of like waist gunners if you think about it. Also it means less crew lost when a plane goes down.

Manned turrets would of been better for that time period. The concept was there, I don't think the engineers who designed the system had the technology to back it up...

 

[cheddar cheese]

Agreed - lots of new, supposedly better technology always seems to be a flop when it first arrives on the scene. It takes time and development for it to be recognised as a success.

Piaggio designers had the right idea but lacked the technology to make it work effectively. Gotta applaud em for trying though.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

YEP!

 

[Gnomey]

That you do.

 

[loomaluftwaffe]

it would be freaky sitting in a cramped little manned turret behind the roaring engine!
and like u cant get out 'till after landing

 

[cheddar cheese]

You dont sit in those turrets. They're controlled by men in the observation posts on the dorsal part of the fuselage.

 

[loomaluftwaffe]

i know that... i was just trying to interpret how it would be if they were manned turrets

 

[P38 Pilot]

You dont sit in those turrets. They're controlled by men in the observation posts on the dorsal part of the fuselage.

Seems like shooting down allied aircraft was a challenge for the gunners in the P.108. I think just having a airman just swivle the gun around seemed much easier.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

yeah i don't really see the advantages they offer over man operated turrets in the fusilage, not without proper sighting computers anyway.........

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Without some kind of computer assistance it would be very difficult. It was a decent idea just not quite there yet.

 

[Gnomey]

Without some kind of computer assistance it would be very difficult. It was a decent idea just not quite there yet.

Agreed, given more time maybe then it would have been perfected but that is something the Italians ran out of...

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Speaking of the Italians, Mussolinis last son died the other day. I know its off topic, but what you said made me think of that for somereason.

 

[Dogwalker]

The crashed P.108 of capt. Bruno Mussolini, 7 aug 1941.

DogW

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

survived it quite well really..........

 

[Gnomey]

The aircraft did but not the occupants all but the co-pilot died.

[quote="Witness to War" by Richard J. Aldrich P336]However Bruno died not in action but away from the front line at the large aircraft factory at Pontedera. Previously a specialist air-engine factory, it now produced a range of fighter, transport planes and bombers. One of these, the Piaggio 108, an experimental 4 engined heavy bomber, crashed in the countryside outside Pisa on it first test flight on 7 August 1941. Everyone on board died except for the co-pilot. The chief pilot was Bruno Mussolini[/quote]

 

[Dogwalker]

However, the aircraft of Bruno Mussolini was not "experimental". It was the first operative plane delivered to 274th Squadriglia.

DogW

 

[thezerech]

I'm just started to get interested in the P.108. I think however that it is impossible to say "which one is better". It is easier to simply recognize the P.108's accomplishments and her interesting and good design. From what I have heard she preformed well, no real problems with it. If it was for example used as a heavy daylight bomber during the second world war in large quantities I think she would have been successful, perhaps not as successful as the B-17, but who knows. I simply want to see and learn more about this interesting (at least to me) aircraft.

 

[pattle]

I think the thing with this and a lot of other later war Italian aircraft is that so few of them were produced that we will never know how much potential they possessed, I do think however that on the surface of it these later Italian designs look pretty sound.
I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that this aircraft was known as the Italian B17, I assume the likeness was only due to coincidence?