- Design and development
- Operational history
- Variants
- Operators
- Specifications (P.23M)
- References
- External links
{{for|the unrelated Piaggio P.23R transport aircraft prototype of 1936|Piaggio P.23R}}| name=Piaggio P.23M | image=Piaggio P.23.jpg | caption= }}{{Infobox Aircraft Type | type=Commercial transport aircraft prototype | national origin=Italy | manufacturer=Piaggio | designer= | first flight=1935 | introduced= | retired= | status= | primary user= | more users= | produced= | number built=1 | variants with their own articles=
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The Piaggio P.23M was an Italian commercial transport aircraft prototype designed and built by Piaggio. Design and developmentPiaggio designed the P.23M specifically for flights across the North Atlantic Ocean, intending it to have potential for development as a commercial transport.[1] It was a four-engine shoulder-wing monoplane with inverted gull wings and twin tail fins and rudders.[1] To allow an easier landing if the aircraft had to ditch at sea, its fuselage was designed like a boat hull, which Piaggio termed an avion marin ("marine aviation") design, although the aircraft was not a flying boat. The main landing gear was retractable. The P.23M{{'}}s four {{convert|671|kW|hp|abbr=on|0}} Isotta-Fraschini Asso XI R. V-12 engines were mounted on the wings in two tandem pairs, each engine driving a two-bladed propeller; two of the propellers were mounted as pushers and the other two in a tractor configuration. Piaggio claimed a top speed of 400 kilometers per hour (249 miles per hour) for the P.23 and projected its maximum range at a cruising speed of 300 km/h (186 mph) as 5,100 kilometers (3,169 statute miles). Operational historyThe P.23 first flew in 1935. No attempt to fly the Atlantic Ocean ever took place, and its predicted maximum range capabilities never were tested. The aircraft soon was disassembled and never flew again. VariantsNo variants of the P.23 were produced. The Piaggio P.23R of 1936, although also a commercial transport prototype and confusingly numbered as if it were a variant of the P.23, was an entirely new design. Operators- {{flag|Kingdom of Italy}}
Specifications (P.23M){{Aircraft specs
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|length ft=54
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|span ft=88
|span in=6.75
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|wing area sqft=1049.1
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|empty weight lb=16,251
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|gross weight lb=40,566
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|eng1 number=4
|eng1 name=Isotta-Fraschini Asso XI R.
|eng1 type=V-12 liquid-cooled piston engines
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|eng1 hp=900
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|max speed mph=248
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|cruise speed mph=186
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|range miles=3167
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}}References1. ^1 {{cite web|last1=Pearce|first1=William|title=Piaggio P.23M Transport Prototype|url=https://oldmachinepress.com/2013/06/24/piaggio-p-23m-transport-prototype/|website=oldmachinepress.com|accessdate=20 June 2016}}
2. ^{{cite book|last=Thompson|first=Jonathan W.|title=Italian Civil and Military aircraft 1930-1945|location=New York|year=1963|pages=220–221|isbn=0-8168-6500-0}}
External links{{commons category|Piaggio P.23M}}- AR Aircraft Manuals Blueprints Video Publications: Piaggio P.23
{{Piaggio aircraft}} 6 : Italian airliners 1930–1939|Italian cargo aircraft 1930–1939|Piaggio aircraft|Four-engined push-pull aircraft|Shoulder-wing aircraft|Aircraft first flown in 1935 |