AUSA MB.901 & MB.902

The AUSA MB.901 and AUSA MB.902 were a project dating back from 1939, later modified in 1941 of a heavy fighter project made entirely out of metal and twin-engined. It was designed by the Captain Engineer Andrea Bellomo and built by Aeronautica Umbra SA, based in the city of Foligno and with only one incompleted prototype built.

The first prototype of the MB.901 (which we left it undrawn as we couldn't find a trustable pic or drawing of how it looked like) was born from a request made by the Italian Air Ministry for a multi-role airplane which could be used as an escort fighter, fighter-bomber, attack airplane and fast reconnaissance airplane. It was required in the request to be powered by two engines placed in tandem behind the cockpit. The wings were placed low at the cockpit sides.

The peculiarity of the MB.901 project was the placement of the two engines which initiall they were expected to be the Isotta Fraschini L.180, placed in tandem inside the fuselage which powered two pairs of counter-rotating propellers mounted in nacelles placed on the wings with the radiators placed also in the wings by the fuel tank hatch. The expected propellers were two metalic pair of co-axial propellers at variable pitch with two propellers on each axis. Such system was designed by Bellomo himself, together with the complex mechanical transmission mechanism at 90º in order to connect the axis with the engines placed inside the fuselage.
Given the tehcnological difficulty of such mechanism, was rarely employed, even if it offered certain advantages like a significant reduction of the weight, with the possibility of including the inversion of the propellers, something very important for the piloting during the dive bombing maneouver, and during landing. It also gave more in-flight stability.
The MB.902 prototype was powered by two Alfa-Romeo RA 1000 RC.41 delivering each of them 1050hp of power. That engine was a Italian version of the German Daimler-Benz DB 601, however, other sources claim that the installed engines were the Italian FIAT 1050 RC.581. The expected armament, as it was never installed on the prototype, were four 12,7mm Breda-SAFAT caliber machine guns, placed at the wings and fuselage plus two 20mm MG151/20 cannons. Most probably it also had some bomb delivering capability.

On 7th September 1939, a non flyable model was requested to the designer, having working engines, in order to check the effectivity of them.
Later in 1941, the designer reached an agreement with AUSA for building the first prototype, which it's maiden flight was expected for the summer of 1943. At this stage some radical designs were made to the original design of the MB.901, which is therefore known as the MB.902. The wings were modified which were placed high in the fuselage and was built with a trycicle undercarriage, but the most important modification were the place of the propellers which were placed on the wings, behind the cockpit in order to improve the visibility of the pilot.
Of the two expected prototypes, only the first wind tunnel one, made out of wood, was built. On 8th September 1943, the date of the Italian armistice, the project was cancelled and the prototype model was destroyed.

Sources:
1. https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/AUSA_MB.902 (translated)