The Piaggio P.136 is a small, five-seat amphibious aircraft with an all-metal hull, a gull wing, and retractable landing gear,
powered by two rearward-facing (pusher propellers) engines mounted atop its high wing. This twin-engine seaplane was the first
post-WW2 aircraft design produced by Industrie Aeronautiche e Meccaniche Rinaldo Piaggio S.p.A. in Genoa, Italy, with the prototype
flying first on 29 August 1948, and completed certification tests in spring 1949. After the certification tests had been completed,
one machine was ordered by the Italian Government, and after testing it, they ordered in 1950 fourteen P.136s for the Italian Air
Force for coastal patrol and air-sea rescue. Next to the military machines the P.136 found its way to the civil market. The aircraft
was also marketed in the United States as the Royal Gull, by Royal Aircraft Corporation, a subsidiary of Kearney and Trecker Corporation,
Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Trecker received three aircraft, and components for another 29, but they also built a few under license.
Among the first civil operators of the Italian built P.136 were King Faruk and Mr. Aristotle Onassis, who used the P136 as a tender
for his yacht Christina. The shipping magnate replaced this machine first by a P.136L-1 and later by a P.136-L2, powered by the
supercharged Lycoming GSO-480 engines giving 340 hp each. The last P.136-L2 built was s/n 246 that as SX-BDC was delivered on 22 December
1976 to Olympic Airways: this machine crashed on 22 January 1973 after reached 100 ft altitude on takeoff for a local check flight,
by which fatal incident the son of Mr. Onassis, the pilot Alexander-Socrates Onassis died. In the period 1948 - 1966 only 63 aircraft
were built including 22 for the Italian Air Force / AMI and four P.136L-2 for FA Peru. The ICAO Aircraft Type Designator for all variants
of the Piaggio P.136 is P136.
Piaggio P.136 versions built:
P.136 — Prototype and initial production model powered by 135 hp Lycoming O-290-D2B engine. 4 built;
P.136F — Production model with 215 hp Franklin 6A8-215-B9F engines, produced for the Italian AF / AMI. 14 built;
P.136L — Modified version of the P.136 with 260 hp Lycoming GO-435-C2B engines, one built and one P.136 (s/n 103) converted to prototype P.136L;
P.136L-1 — Five-seat amphibian flying boat, powered by two 270 hp Avco Lycoming GO-480-B engines. P.136L s/n 195 converted to P.136L-1 and 29 built and/or assembled in the United States from Italian supplied kits.
P.136L-2 — Five-seat amphibian flying boat, powered by two supercharged 340 hp Lycoming GSO-480 six-cylinder air-cooled piston engines, 15 built and/or assembled in the United States from Italian supplied kits.
Gull : the P.136L was marketed in the US by Royal Aircraft Corp. / Kearney and Trecker Corp. as Royal Gull; the P.136-L1 as Gull and the P.136-L2 as Super Gull
In 1961, the 1958-built Piaggio P.136L-2 s/n 240 was registered N40041 in the USA with A. L. Mechling Barge
Lines Mechmar Development Inc, Joliet, IL. Late 1967, the 'Trecker Gull' N40041 was registered with Lloyd G.
Longmire, Seattle, WA. On 10 July 1968, the aircraft was damaged when it landed gear-up on the runway at Missoula, MT.
In July 1962, registration CF-DAC was allotted to Dominion Aircraft Industries, Calgary, Alberta. In December 1972, the
CF-DAC was sold to Golden West Aviation, Vancouver, British Caledonian, where the CF-DAC entered service in May 1973.
In 1976, the Piaggio P.136L-2 was registered N1449Z in the USA with Aeromar Inc, Miami, FL, with the US CofA renewed on
8 April 1976. On 22 December 1982, registration N1449Z was cancelled and the aircraft was stored at Opa Locka airport near Miami.
In March 1989, the N1449Z was restored to the US register, this time with Air Andaman Corp., Wilmington, DE. On 8 October 1993, the
Piaggio P.136-L 'Trecker Gull' N1449Z was registered with Robert Hahl, Falls Church, VA. On 31 December 2012, the CofA expired and
registration N1449Z was cancelled on 16 May 2013. The same day, registration N1449Z was reserved for the seaplane, but after two
years this notice expired too. On 31 March 1983, Piaggio P.136L-2 N1449Z was seen stored at Opa Locka airfield near Miami, Florida.
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