Warplanes of Italy: Regia Aeronautica, Savoia-Marchetti fighters and bombers

Italian Regia Aeronautica Warplanes of the Second World War: Savoia-Marchetti fighters and bombers

Savoia-Marchetti S.55X maritime patrol flying boat. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)

Savoia-Marchetti S.55X flying boat of Marshall Italo Balbo Sqn, visiting Victoria, Prince Edward Island in 1933. (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3651011)

(JCMA Photo)

Savoia-Marchetti S.55X maritime patrol flying boat. The last remaining example is preserved in the TAM "Asas de um sonho" museum, Sao Carlos, Sao Paulo, Brazil. The aircraft, registered I-BAUQ and named "Jahú", was the S.55 used by Commander Joao Ribeiro de Barros in his crossing of the South Atlantic in 1927.

Savoia-Marchetti S.56 flying boat trainer. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)

(Alan Wilson Photo)

(Smolik Photo)

Savoia-Marchetti S.56 flying boat trainer, on display in the Italian Air Force Museum, Vigna di Valle on Lake Bracciano in central Italy.

(Ad Meskens Photo)

Savoia-Marchetti S.56 flying boat trainer. Reg. No. NC349N, built under licence in the USA by AAC, was used by police during the prohibition years to intercept rum smugglers. It is on display in the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Long Island, New York.

Savoia-Marchetti S.56 flying boat trainer, restored, is on display at the Carolinas Aviation Museum, Charlotte Douglass International Airport, Charlotte, North Carolina.

Savoia-Marchetti S.66 search and rescue flying boat. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)

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Savoia-Marchetti SM.73 transport. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)

Savoia-Marchetti SM.74 transport. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)

Savoia-Marchetti SM.75 Marsupiale (Marsupial) transport. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)

Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero (Sparrowhawk) bomber/transport. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)

Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero (Sparrowhawk) bomber/transport, in RAF markings. Three of four Savoia-Marchetti S.M.79 Sparviero (Sparrowhawk)s flew into Heliopolis, Greece on 19 April 1941 carrying gold bullion. These were former Yugoslav Air Force aircraft which went into operation with No. 117 RAF Squadron in Khartoum on 30 April 1941. A fourth arrived shortly afterwards. Savoia-Marchetti S.M.79 Sparviero (Sparrowhawk) (Serial No. 3712), AX702, flew with the Yugoslav Air Force and was delivered to No. 117 Squadron on 26 May 1941. S.M.79K (Serial No. 3713), AX703 went to the same unit, then on to No. 117 Squadron. It crashed on 17 November 1941 near Takoradi, after the failure of one of its engines. S.M.79K (Serial No. 3714) arrived with AX702, final fate not known. S.M.79K (Serial No. 3702), AX705 was the third aircraft and served with No. 2 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit at Heliopolis from 3 January 1942, until it was damaged in a landing accident on 27 February 1942 and struck off charge.

Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero (Sparrowhawk), (Serial No. MM 22174) of the Regia Aeronautica, was taken over by No. 145 Squadron, RAF at Castel Benito on the unit’s arrival there on 8 February 1943. This aircraft was repainted in British markings with the Squadron code letters ZX, and used extensively as a Squadron communications aircraft and wore the name Gremlin HQ. The aircraft was later handed over to a USAAF unit, but was destroyed by fire before it could be flown. Another aircraft captured at Castel Benito was a Fiat G.50 Freccia single-engined fighter, which was also painted in RAF markings, but later handed over to the USAAF 79th Fighter Group. (RAF Photos)

Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero (Sparrowhawk) bomber/transport, in USAAF markings. (USAAF Photo)

(Alan Wilson Photos)

Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero (Sparrowhawk) bomber/transport, an ex-Lebanese aircraft on display at the Museo Storico dell' Aeronautica Militare Italiana at Vigna di Valle, north of Rome.