Piaggio P.7

The Piaggio P.7, also called the Piaggio-Pegna P.c.7, was an Italian racing seaplane built by Piaggio for the 1929 Schneider Trophy contest. Engineer Giovanni Pegna tried to avoid the drag of conventional floats by giving it a long, slender watertight fuselage that floated with the wings resting on the water, and twin hydrofoils meant to lift it clear of the surface on take-off. A clutch system was to drive a small marine propeller under the tail for the water run, then hand over to the flight propeller. Only one was built. Water trials on Lake Garda were troubled by blinding spray and persistent clutch problems, the aircraft never became airborne, and it was withdrawn from the 1929 race, after which plans for a second example were dropped.