The Z.506 Airone (Heron) began life as a commercial transport in the mid-1930’s. It set numerous records for speed and altitude in the years leading up to the war. The Z.506 was the largest operational, purpose-built floatplane (the float version of the Junkers Ju 52 was slightly larger, but was a conversion of a land plane).
Some five planes were sent to Spain in 1938. At the start of WWII, the Z.506 was used in the bombing and torpedo attack roles. However, it was very vulnerable to Allied fighters and was used more for reconnaissance, air-sea rescue and convoy escort. About 324 were built. Of an order of 30 for Poland, only 1 was delivered before August, 1939. Sources disagree as to who took the remaining 29, the Italians or the Germans.
The Z.506B had a crew of five: pilot, co-pilot, bombardier (who manned the ventral gun), radio operator/navigator (who manned either beam MG), and gunner (who manned the turreted MG). The Z.506B uses 50 gallons of aviation gas at routine usage.
Cant Z.506B Serie XII
Subassemblies: Medium Fighter-Bomber chassis +3, Heavy
Fighter-Bomber
Wings with Biplane option +3, two Large Weapon Engine Pods [Wings:F]
+2,
two sealed Medium TD pontoons [Body:U] +2, two fixed skids +1.
Powertrain: 3¥559-kW HP aerial gasoline engines with 559-kW
props [Pod#1, Pod #2, Body] and 900-gallon standard fuel tanks [Wings];
3¥2,000-kW batteries
Occupancy: 4 CS Cargo: 34 Body
Armor
Body: 2/2W
Wings: 2/2W
Pods: 2/2
Pontoons: 2/3
Weaponry
Medium Aircraft HMG/12.7mm Breda-SAFAT Mod 31[Turret:F] (300 rounds)
Aircraft LMG/7.7mm Savage-Lewis Mod 16 [Body:L] (582 rounds)
Aircraft LMG/7.7mm Savage-Lewis Mod 16 [Body:R] (582 rounds)
Aircraft LMG/7.7mm Savage-Lewis Mod 16 [Body:U] (582 rounds)
Equipment
Body: Medium range radio transmitter and receiver, navigation
instruments, autopilot, inflatable liferaft, 2,600-lb bomb bay.
Statistics
| Size: 63'x87'x24' | Payload: 1.6 tons | Lwt: 14 tons |
| Volume: 640 | Maint.: 24 hours | Price: $68,700 |
HT: 9.
HPs: 525 Body, 413 each Wing, 225 each Pontoon, 150 each Engine
Pod.
| aSpeed: 217 | aAccel: 4 | aDecel: 21 | aMR: 5.25 | aSR: 2 | Stall: 62 |
| wSpeed: 26 | wAccel: 4 | wDecel: 10 | wMR: 0.1 | wSR: 2 |
Design Notes
The historical wing area of 929 sf has been used. The weight (and thus
cost and HPs) of the pontoons and wings were divided by two to reduce
weight.
The body, wings and pods use the wooden armor option.
At full load, the Z.506B needs a 12 mph headwind in order to take off. Without bombs or torpedo, this drops to 9 mph.
Variants
The Z.506A (1936) was the commercial transport version with a capacity
of 12-14 passengers. It used 455-kW engines. Some 38 were built.
A single Z.506 was fitted with wheels instead of pontoons for an endurance record attempt, which was eventually cancelled.
The Z.506B (1937) was the first military version, used for bombing and reconnaissance. Serie I lacked the beam guns and could only carry a 1,700-lb bomb/torpedo load. Loaded weight was 13.6 tons and top speed was 227 mph.
The Z.506S was built in very small numbers for air-sea rescue; it used the bomb bay space to carry downed aircrews. Some were used by Germany.
The Z.508 was an enlarged, heavy bomber version, with 627-kW
engines.
Only one was built. It reached a speed of 248 mph with a 5.5 ton
payload.