Special Hobby 72397 Breda Ba.88B Lince

The Breda Ba.88 Lince (Italian lynx) was an Italian medium high-wing bomber with an all-metal structure and retractable landing gear. The drive in the basic version was provided by two engines Piaggio P-XI RC40 1000 HP each. The prototype flight took place in 1936. Mass production lasted in the years 1937-1940, ending with the production of 149 machines of this type. The aircraft was armed with 3 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns, 1 7.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine gun and a load of up to 1000 kg of bombs.

The Breda Ba.88 aircraft was created in response to the Italian aviation's demand for a new twin-engine bomber capable of dive bombing. The plane was created as a distant development of another design of this company - the Breda Ba.75 machines. Initially, the Breda Ba.88 was a very promising aircraft - it had a large excess of power, good performance for this class of aircraft, was aerodynamically refined and had a large load capacity of bombs. However, during the service and operation of Ba.88, he did not live up to the hopes placed in them. It was a mechanically underdeveloped structure with a high failure rate. It also turned out to have inadequate lift for a dive bomber. It was also difficult to pilot at full load. Despite these disadvantages, the aircraft of this type were initially used by units stationed in Sardinia, and later took part in the fighting in North Africa in the period 1940-1943. By 1943, all Breda Ba.88 machines had been withdrawn from the line or lost in combat.