Aircraft Dashboard, Italian Royal Air Force, 1937
Aircraft Dashboard or Control Panel supplied to the Royal Air Force, made of aluminum by the "S.A. Industrie Meccaniche e Aeronautiche Meridionali di Napoli" in 1937, as shown on the plate on the panel which also indicates the date of manufacture, other numbers and wordings referring to the characteristics of the aircraft.
The control panel, which is approximately 111 cm long, is complete with engine control instruments and other useful ones for flying made by various Italian companies, Salmoiraghi, Veglia etc etc, each of which shows the date of production or revision. The peculiarity of this panel is characterized by the presence of a lever with a pressure knob on which "Ordnance Hatch Opening" is indicated: this indication leads us to support the thesis according to which the aircraft on which this panel was installed could having been built as a reconnaissance aircraft (such as Piper or Cicogne) but equipped with a device through which, if necessary, it would have been available for dropping bombs.
After many research attempts, to date, it has not been possible to identify the aircraft model on which this dashboard or control panel was installed, therefore the production of a small number of examples or even at prototype level cannot be ruled out; this hypothesis could be supported by the technical data reported on the aircraft's identification plate which also states the definition "Ref. Prot. 11/V02/P.
In fact, a few years before the second conflict, the first experiments began on airplanes, usually used for reconnaissance. They had the distinctive element of not being considered aircraft suitable for bombing, both due to their size and characteristics as well as their type of use. These considerations meant that during the conflict, these planes carried out many surprise attacks which occurred without the enemy anti-aircraft guns being able to intervene appropriately.
The experimentation for the dropping of bombs was extended, on a completely experimental basis, also to military aeroscooters and gliders.
Its state of conservation is excellent.
From the Saturday Evening Newspaper of 22 April 2018
The story of the «Pippo» and «Cicogna» reconnaissance planes, terror of the population during the war
In April 1945 the first airplanes landed in Imola; the first and the last, probably. These were those reconnaissance planes with the wing on top, also called "Storks", equipped with photographic cameras, which also carried out the postal service, transported the wounded, etc. They flew high in the sky, both day and night, solitary, flying over the combat zones and above all the German rear areas to identify the presence of troops, moving vehicles, bases and supply depots and then, every now and then, they dropped a bomb, sowing panic among the German soldiers and of course also among the civilian population.
In Guglielmo Cenni's book entitled Imola under the terror of war, the author promptly notes the city news events between July 1943 and April 1945. Those aircraft were called "Pippo" by the people of Imola because the technical name was Piper, which in English is pronounced "paiper", but in German is pronounced "piper". So, every time the characteristic and unmistakable roar was heard, the German soldiers said: «Piper! Piper!», meaning the plane that was spying from above. The word "piper" for the people of Imola then became pleasantly and affectionately "Pippo". The presence of that plane became familiar, even though its actions often led to damage and deaths. After all, we were at war, in that terrible winter of 1944-45 which we spent closed within the city walls, with minefields all around, food rationing, the black market and thousands of displaced people from the countryside. So welcome the flights of the Goofys over our heads; at least they gave hope. There was also a curfew, the obligation to maintain darkness, with officers going around to check even private homes.
They were everyday actions, those carried out by the Pippos, who in the winter of 1944-45 set off from Castel del Rio, from a roughly leveled track on a large natural terrace about a kilometer north of the town. They took off and landed in a short space. Castel del Rio was not the only camp of its kind set up in the Santerno valley, since as the front advanced the rear services also moved. When Imola was liberated, there were actually two landing fields: one alongside the Montanara road, where the rugby fields are today, the other towards Faenza, in via Gratusa. Only the Pipers landed on the Montanara field, while some twin-engine planes also landed on the Via Gratusa field.
On April 15th, the bulldozers arrived early in the morning on the Santo Spirito farm, where the supply base was located. They began to cut down the plants, fill in the ditches and level the ground and in the afternoon the first planes landed. There was always considerable traffic of planes arriving and departing. When there was too much mud, to dry the ground the soldiers used to sprinkle it with petrol and set it on fire. Even in those parts a plane was shot down by anti-aircraft fire placed on the Zello road and landed right where the Olimpia hotel now stands. Those landing fields remained in operation for perhaps twenty days, then everything moved north. Life very slowly began again, the farmers went back to work, the ditches were reopened and nothing remained of the Santerno "airports".