The wing was semi-elliptical and was mounted high on the fuselage. Landing gear was retractable and had a spatted, non-retractable tailwheel. It had a payload of 1000Kg (2205lb) and an armament of two fixed 7,62mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns placed in the leading edge of the wing and two defensive ones. One of them was placed in a dorsal retractable turret and another one in the rear fuselage mounted beneath the tail.
It was powered by three Piaggio Stella P.IX R.C.40 9 cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine rated at 700hp (520Kw) each of them which drove each of them a two-bladed wooden variable-pitch propeller, the first Italian aircraft to feature that. The bomb-aimer manned a compartment set behind the nose engine on the underside of the fuselage.
It was officially ordered on 4th July 1933, however construction had already started before that date. The only prototype beared the serial number of MM 226 and flew for the first time in November 1934 at Villanova d'Albenga Airport with test pilot Mario Gama at the controls. In February 1935 the bomber was evaluated by the Regia Aeronautica (Royal Italian Air Force) and in October of that same year it was presented to the public at the first Salone Internazionale Aeronautica (International Aviation Display) in Milan, where it attracted a lot of attention and interest.
Twelve machines were ordered by the Regia Aeronautica but the order was cancelled shortly after in favour of the more promising and conventional Piaggio P.32 bomber, designed in 1935. Even with just one P.16 built, it helped Piaggio to learn the skills required to build large all-metal aircrafts which eventually ended in the Piaggio P.108.
Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piaggio_P.16
2. https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piaggio_P.16 (translated)
3. https://oldmachinepress.com/2015/11/29/piaggio-p-16-bomber/
4. La Bancarella Aeronautica - Ali d'Italia 15 - Piaggio P.108
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