August 19, 1935-the first flight of the seaplane CANT Z. 506 Airone.
A / k Ala Littoria in 1934 ordered a transport seaplane for operation on its routes. The company CANT offered its project Z. 505, developed by the designer Filippo Zappata (Filippo Zappata). But, even before the first flight of the Z. 505, Zappata began working on an enlarged version of it — the Z. 506.
It was an all-wood medium-sized plane with a float landing gear and a crew of 3-5 people. In the Z. 506B version, it was equipped with 3 × Alfa Romeo 126 R.C. 34 engines (750 hp), the maximum speed was 350 km/h, the flight range was 1998 km. I took 12-14 passengers on board. In the military version, it was armed with 1 × 12.7-mm machine guns + 3 × 7.7-mm machine guns + up to 1200 bombs (or a torpedo).
314 of the 356 released Cant Z. 506 were built in the military version. They were in service with the Italian Air Force and Navy, as well as Spain and Poland. Civilian modifications were flown in the Ala Littoria a/c. The last Z. 506 seaplanes were decommissioned in 1960.
