Cant Z-506 Airone was initially a civil floatplane that established numerous speed, payload and distance records between 1936 and 1937. After observing its excellent qualities the Italian Air Ministry decided to take advantage of them for the military field, giving rise to the Cant Z- 506B in 1938.The military version Z-506B also enjoyed some magnificent performances and broke several previous records. The Series I carried three Alfa Romeo 127 RC.55 750 hp engines that would be replaced in the Series XII by new Alfa Romeo RC.24 engines of similar power.The Z-506B Series I could carry up to 900 kg of bombs or a torpedo in the bomb bay, which would be modified in the Series XII to increase its capacity to 1,200 kg. The defensive armament consisted of a 12.7mm machine gun in a dorsal turret and three 7.7mm machine guns, one in the ventral position and two in the sides of the fuselage.The Airone served with the 31st and 35th Maritime Bomber Wings until 1941, and with the 139th, 147th, 170th and 199th Maritime Reconnaissance Squadrons until the Italian Capitulation of September 1943. Some Z-506B participated in the Spanish Civil War framed in the Aviazione Legionaria with the Nationalist Forces.Although the Z-506B had its baptism of fire in the Spanish Civil War, was in June 1940 during an attack against French Forces in North Africa when it was released in WWII. Later, they fought in France and Greece, and after the Capitulation, the Germans captured numerous unots that used in Italy, Yugoslavia and Poland. Some examples were used after the Armistice by the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force against their former German allies.
