The strange looking S.55
The Savoia-Marchetti S.55 has to be one of the most distinctive airplanes ever to take to the skies. The S.55 was conceived to meet a Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force) requirement calling for a long range, heavy carrying flying boat capable of delivering a lethal combination of free fall bombs and/or torpedoes.
The aircraft first took to the skies in a cold afternoon of August 1924. At a glance, the S.55 has the look of a catamaran with wings placed on its upper structure. It was a monoplane with a twin, catamaran-looking hull, two fins and three rudders interconnected to the fuselage by two stripped down booms.
The pilot and navigator were accommodated in an open cockpit located in the front edge of the center wing area. Its twin tandem engine configuration (a tractor and pusher mechanism) were placed on three sets of struts above the wing and canted sharply at an upward position.
The first Savoi-Marchetti’s prototype was unpowered. Its two Isotta-Fraschini Asso engines gave the plane a total output of 300hp. As the series evolved, so did the power plant arrangement. In fact, the last produced S.55 was fitted with an Asso 880hp piston engine which gave the flying boat an adequate operational speed at mid altitude.
The Aeronautica, as well as the Italian Navy, the other prime candidate to pursue the S.55; were not impressed by its overall performance. This forced Alessandro Marchetti, the aircrafts chief designer, to develop a civilian transport version to incite overseas interest in the unique flying boat. The resulting platform, known as the S.55C, was a commercial blunder. Although it was able to carry up to ten passengers (five in each hull), it never gathered much attention from the nascent civilian aviation sector. What the version did was to rekindle the Italian military’s interest. Soon after the 55C version was introduced, the Aeronautica placed its first order.
The type went on to serve the Italian Air Force and Navy primarily as a long range, maritime reconnaissance platform until the early days of World War II. In fact, some S.55 units were still found on Italian squadrons in the summer of 1940.
Aside om frits uniqueness, the S.55 is best remembered for the spectacular long distances flight it undertook. Voyages like that taken by an Italian Lieutenant Colonel named Francesco de Pinedo who on February 13th 1927 took off from a rudimentary airfield in Sardine on an S.55C, codenamed Santa Maria, bound for Buenos Aires.
After visiting the Argentinean capital, Pinedo made its way to the United States and then back to Italy. The whole trip covered almost 48,300km, nearly 193 flying hours, fifty stops and four months. A remarkable feat, if one takes in consideration that Pinedo and his co-pilot, Carlo del Petre, did it three months before Charles Lindbergh’s historic transatlantic flight.
The aircraft also participated in one of the most impressive air showings in history. On July 1st 1933, Air Force officer Italo Balbo led a fleet of twenty four S.55s all the way to the American heartland. Passing through the famous Chicago Century of Progress International Exposition, Balbo’s flying boats moved into formation, the venerable ‘V’ was formed above Chicago’s bristling city.
Of the nearly 200 S.55s produced, only one example survives. It is currently undergoing restoration work in Sao Paolo, Brazil.
Power plant: Two 880hp Isotta-Fraschini Asso 750 Vee piston engines
Length: 16.75m
Height: 5.1m
Wingspan: 24m
Total wing area: 93m square
Maximum take off weight: 8,260kg
Top speed: 279hp
Operational range: 3,500km
Serviceable ceiling: 5,000m
Armament: Four 7.7mm heavy machine guns. Total bomb load estimated at 2,000kg
Versions: S.55, S.55C, S.55P, S.55A, S.55M, S.55 Scafo, S.55X
An article by Raul Colon: rcolonfrias@yahoo.com
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