Savoia-Marchetti p.53
| Savoia-Marchetti p.53 | |
|---|---|
| Type: | Flying boat |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
1923 |
| Number of pieces: |
1 |
The SIAI S.53 was an Italian flying boat . With it, SIAI wanted to expand the sale of civilian passenger flying boats based on the already successful SIAI S.16 in order to maintain market shares. However, the aircraft did not prove to be suitable for bad weather during testing.
history
After the successful S.16, SIAI wanted to manufacture another type of civilian flying boat in order to adapt the S.16 to the latest technology and also to maintain SIAI's market share. The SIAI S.53 project, planned as early as 1919 and launched in 1922, should not deviate significantly from S.16. The innovations included a new cross tail, metal suspension for the engine and an aircraft structure made of metal struts; the ailerons were placed on the upper wing. In September 1923 the S.53 started for the first time. The machine was presented in Paris in 1923 with two tandem Hispano-Suiza-34 engines with 180 hp and 2-blade propellers and SIAI received a lot of praise for the aircraft. SIAI finally decided to take part in a competition from Rome to Tripoli to demonstrate the capabilities of the S.53. However, participation was canceled due to family reasons and the bad weather. In an attempt to make the machine safer, they experimented with several engines until they decided on a tandem in-line engine that could ensure an emergency landing even if the engine failed.
technology
The S.53 was a double-decker flying boat with a canoe-shaped wooden hull, the engines were attached to the center of the upper wing, as in the previous models. The S.53 had a single-seat, open pilot cockpit with a windshield. The four passengers sat behind the pilot two rows behind each other (2 × 2). The wings were covered with linen and attached to the fuselage with spars and steel wires. The first engine was a Fiat A. 12bis with 300 hp and a 4-blade propeller, but for safety reasons and the applicable regulations for passenger transport, this configuration was changed to a tandem engine with two Hispano-Suiza-34s with 180 hp and 2-blade -Propellers, with one engine working as a pulling engine and the other as a pressure engine. The entire structure of the aircraft was made of metal spars and covered with plywood.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| crew | 1 |
| Passengers | 4th |
| span | unknown |
| length | unknown |
| height | unknown |
| Wing area | unknown |
| Empty mass | unknown |
| Takeoff mass | unknown |
| drive | two 2 × Hispano-Suiza-34s with 180 PS (132 kW) and 2-blade propellers |
| Cruising speed | unknown |
| Top speed | unknown |
| Range | unknown |
| Armament | none, since civil |
literature
- Bignozzi, Liebe: SIAI 1915–1935 Airplanes . Ed. Ed.AI
- G. Evangelists: Air - and people . Olimpia
