Savoia-Marchetti SM.83

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Savoia-Marchetti SM.83
Savoia-Marchetti SM.83
Type: Airliner
Design country:

Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Italy

Manufacturer:

Savoia-Marchetti

First flight:

November 19, 1937

Production time:

1937-1940

Number of pieces:

23

The Savoia-Marchetti SM.83 was a fast three-engine passenger aircraft from the 1930s. The aircraft built by the Italian manufacturer Savoia-Marchetti was intended for the South Atlantic air traffic.

history

The SM.83 was based on the SM.79 bomber . The wings and the engines Alfa Romeo 126 RC.34 of the SM.79 were taken over unchanged. Only the fuselage was slightly modified by installing windows and omitting the fighting stalls. The first flight took place on November 19, 1937.

A total of 23 aircraft of the SM.83 were built between 1937 and 1940. The aircraft could carry between four and eleven passengers, with a range of up to 4800 km. The top speed was 444 km / h.

use

Civilian use

After Sabena had successfully used the SM.73 in its European traffic since 1935, it procured three SM.83s for its colonial traffic in mid-1938. A fourth copy was delivered in April 1940. The aircraft were used on the route from Brussels via Algeria , French West Africa and French Central Africa to Elisabethville and Leopoldville in the Belgian Congo . The route length was 7175 km, which were flown in five days.

The Romanian LARES also procured three aircraft for its European traffic. The FAI President, Prince Bibescu , bought another copy .

The Italian airline LATI procured twelve aircraft from the second series, which differed from the first series in terms of their fuel load. On December 15, 1939, LATI began operating on the route Rome - (Lisbon) - Villa Cisneros (Spanish Sahara) - Isola do Sal (Cape Verde) - Recife - Rio de Janeiro. Up to the Italian entry into the war on June 10, 1940, 59 flights were carried out, until the final cessation of traffic on December 18, 1941 a total of 211 flights, 132 of them by SM.83. The cruising speed was over 300 km / h, although the payload was limited to 500 kg.

Second World War

After the Italian entry into the war, the planes of the Italian airlines were taken over by the Regia Aeronautica . Air traffic was militarized, but continued to be operated by the companies ALI, LATI and Ala Littoria. The SM.83 were assigned to the 615a Squadriglia of the SAS. But since traffic to South America was resumed on June 22, 1940, the aircraft required for this were removed from the squadron. In August 1940, the SABENA aircraft that had escaped there were confiscated in Algeria and given to Italy. Among them were three SM.83, which represented a welcome reinforcement for the SAS. The Romanian SM.83 were also purchased in the second half of 1941.

At the Armistice of Cassibile on September 8, 1943, twelve SM.83 still existed, five of them with the LATI. Deutsche Lufthansa confiscated three of these aircraft, one of which was passed on to the RACSA, a liaison unit of the Italian Air Force. The other two were scrapped. As part of the occupation of Italy, the Air Force took over a LATI aircraft and probably three other SAS SM.83s. One plane flew on the Allied side. The remaining four were probably destroyed in September 1943. The planes that the Luftwaffe took over were probably all scrapped.

On April 23, 1945, high-ranking personalities, including the parents of Mussolini's lover, Clara Petacci , fled from Milan to Barcelona with an Italian Air Force SM.83. The aircraft had the Croatian registration number NDH-301, as Spain had closed the airspace to German and Italian aircraft. Possibly it was the W.-Nr. 34008 I-MITU of RACSA.

variants

  • First series (material no. 34001–34008)
Prototype 34001 I-LUCE
SABENA 34003-34005 OO-AUC to -AUE
LARES 34006-34008 YR-SAC to -SAE
  • Second series:
Version A (W. No. 34009-34011 and possibly 34022), fuel 3865 liters
Version T (W. No. 34012-34015), fuel 6105 liters
Version T (mat. No. 34016–34020 and probably 34021), fuel 5080 liters
W. no. 34023 OO AUJ differed from the other by the modified SM.83 fin (of the SM.82)

Technical specifications

Parameter Data
crew 4th
Passengers 11
length 16.20 m
span 21.20 m
height 4.60 m
Empty mass 6,900 kg
Takeoff mass 11,500 kg
Cruising speed 400 km / h
Top speed 444 km / h
Service ceiling 7,000 m
Range 2,800 km
Engines 3 radial engines Alfa Romeo 126 RC.34 with 552 kW each

swell

  • Documents from the Federal Archives / Military Archives, Freiburg
  • Brotzu / Cosolo: Dimensione Cielo, No. 7th
  • Reich air course book, summer 1939