First flown on 10 November 1937, the Z.509 was an enlarged Z.506, intended for air mail route to South America although LATI opened a landplane route in 1939. Project abandoned and the three aircraft built were impressed by the Regia Aeronautica in December 1939. Photo published in Flight in April 1939 after I-ATLA broke several FAI records for seaplanes. Photo from: Smithsonian Institution