IMAM Ro.37

IMAM Ro.37
	; IMAM Ro.37bis
Type:	Reconnaissance plane
Design country:	Italy
Manufacturer:	IMAM
First flight:	November 6, 1933
Commissioning:	1935
Production time:	1934-1939

The IMAM Ro.37 was a reconnaissance aircraft produced by the Italian aircraft manufacturer IMAM . The lower wing of the biplane had a significantly smaller wingspan than the upper wing.

history

The development and production of this aircraft began in 1933. The machine was manufactured in a wood-metal composite construction. The tail wheel landing gear was not retractable. The main landing gear wheels were aerodynamically clad. The basic design envisaged a 600 hp Fiat V engine - the Fiat A.30 RA - as the drive source. Overall, however, they were not satisfied with the drive, and so production was stopped after 160 machines.

To improve the performance close to the ground, 9-cylinder radial engines of the types Piaggio P.IX RC.40 or Piaggio P.XR RC.40 with 412 and 515 kW respectively were used. After further detail improvements, the type was given the designation Ro.37bis. With this version the end of the development of this type was reached, of which another 475 machines were manufactured. A total of about 620 machines were built of the Ro.37 and the Ro.37bis.

The machines were also exported. Customers were Hungary , Afghanistan and some countries in South and Central America, including Ecuador .

use

The machines were initially used in the Spanish Civil War and also played a certain role in World War II , especially in North Africa, on the Eastern Front and in the Balkans. Later they were mainly used as liaison and ambulance aircraft and withdrawn from service at the front. At the time of the Italian surrender, no Ro 37 was used in active formations.

Military users

Afghanistan Kingdom 1931 Afghanistan : 16 Ro.37bis from 1937 to 1941
Ecuador Ecuador : 10 Ro.37bis from 1937 to 1941
Italy 1861 Italy : Regia Aeronautica
Austria Austria : Federal Army , 8 Ro.37bis from 1937 to 1938
Spain 1938 Spain : 68 Ro.37bis from 1936 to 1945;
Uruguay Uruguay : 6 Ro.37bis from 1937 to 1945
Hungary Hungary : 14 Ro.37bis from 1939 to 1941

Technical specifications

Parameter	Data
crew	2
length	8.56 m
span	11.08 m
height	3.15 m
Wing area	35.15 m²
Empty mass	1587 kg
Takeoff mass	2420 kg
Top speed	330 km / h at an altitude of 4500 m
Service ceiling	7200 m
Range	1120 km
Engine	a Piaggio P.IX RC.40 with 618 PS (455 kW)
Armament	2 forward-facing machine guns caliber 7.7 mm, one machine gun mounted on a mount to be operated by the observer, bomb payload up to 180 kg

Received aircraft

IMAM Ro.37 before restoration

An aircraft is in the Italian Aviation Museum Vigna di Valle .

literature

Gregory Alegi: Found in the scrapyard in Kabul . In: Flugzeug Classic . No. 8 , 2006, ISSN 1617-0725 , p. 4-5 .

Web links

Commons : IMAM Ro.37 - collection of images, videos and audio files

Image in Italian Wikipedia

Individual evidence

^ Ministero della Difesa: Museo Storico di Vigna di Valle. In: Imam RO-37 to “Lince”. Aeronautica Militare, archived from the original on March 22, 2011 ; Retrieved January 25, 2011 (Italian).

[1] Ministero della Difesa: Museo Storico di Vigna di Valle. In: Imam RO-37 to “Lince”. Aeronautica Militare, archived from the original on March 22, 2011 ; Retrieved January 25, 2011 (Italian).