Milsurp After Hours

A friend sent me a batch of WWII photos that were supposedly found for the first time recently in a trunk....and taken with a Kodak Brownie. Not likely in either case....but most of them were interesting. Have a guess what these planes are? I got an answer...although maybe as bogus as the premise of where it came from.

I now know more about where the photo was lifted from by whomever sent my friend the photo email. If anybody is interested in guessing the plane identity I'll spill the beans with at correct answer.

Savoia-Marchetti S.M.79 Sparviero medium bomber in North Africa:
Nickname: Sparviero (hawk, sparrow, sparrow hawk)

The Savoia-Marchetti S.M. 79 was designed by Alessandro Marchetti to be a high speed passenger aircraft for a race from England to Australia.1,4 The S.M.79 started out to be a transport (with eight seats4) but later became a bomber.3,5 The S.M. 79 also was a torpedo bomber at which it excelled.
The S.M.79 was made from steel tube, light alloys, wood, and fabric.
Landing Gear
The landing gear retracted into the engine housing.
Cabin
The radio operator was also the rear gunner.1 There was armor protecting the crew.1
Bomb / Torpedo load
The bombs were stored in the bomb bay and the torpedo was mounted on the outside of the fuselage.
Ventral Gondola
The bombardier was located in the front of the ventral gondola.1 After the prototype a rear facing MG was added to the gondola.
Tail
The tail was made from tubular steel with a fabric cover.1
Wing
The wing was made from a wood structure with fabric covering.

The prototype S.M.79 first flew in October 1934 / late 19343.1,3,4 The flight to place at the Cameri Airport in Novara.

Deliveries of S.M.79-Is started in 1936.

Savoia-Marchetti S.M.79-I, Savoia-Marchetti S.M.79-II, Savoia-Marchetti S.M.79-III: 1,2303
Total: 1,2174, 1,3301,2, 1,3703
Manufacturer: SIAI Marchetti
Production: October 1936 - June 1943
Savoia-Marchetti S.M.79B: 313
Savoia-Marchetti S.M.79JR: 403, 1134
IAR built 16 of these
Savoia-Marchetti S.M.83: 233

Romania constructed about 80 S.M.79s.


Variants

Savoia-Marchetti S.M.79-I:
Savoia-Marchetti S.M.79bis / Savoia-Marchetti S.M.84: Had three Alfa Romeo 128 (850 HP)3 or three Piaggio P.XI radial engine (1,000 HP).2,3 Fuselage was longer.3 Twin fins and rudders were used.3 Very few built starting in 1940.
Savoia-Marchetti S.M.79ter / Savoia-Marchetti S.M.79-III: some constructed in 1944.
Savoia-Marchetti S.M.79B: Export model.3,4 Had two engines.3,4 Had two Fiat A.80 RC 41 (1,000 HP) or two Gnome-Rhône K.14 (950 HP) engines.
Savoia-Marchetti S.M.79C: VIP transport.3 16 converted from S.M.79-Is.
Savoia-Marchetti S.M.79JR: Built with two Junkers Jumo 211Da inverted V 12 engines (1,120 HP).
Two Junkers Jumo 211 D (1,220 HP) engines.
Savoia-Marchetti S.M. 79T: Transatlantic.
Savoia-Marchetti S.M.83: Civilian transport that carried 10 passengers.


Usage

The countries that used the S.M. 79 were:

Brazil3,4
S.M.79B: 33
Croatia3
Germany3
Iraq3,4
S.M.79B: 43
Italy
Romania3,
S.M.79B: 243
S.M.79JR: 243
IAR built 163,
Spain
Yugoslavia (45)3,4
S.M.79-Is exported in 1938.

The S.M.79 was nicknamed the Il Gobbo (the hunchback) due to the gun bulge above the cockpit.
Record Breaking

The first S.M.79 made a record breaking flight from Milan to Rome in June 1935.

In September 1935 the S.M. 79 broke six records flying distances of 625 and 1,250 miles while carrying loads from 1,100 lb to 4,400 lb.

Five S.M. 79 Cs flew from Istres to Damascus to Paris on August 20 - 21, 1937 and took 1st through 5th place.4 The distance was over 4,000 miles at an average speed of 220 mph.

In January 1938 three S.M. 79 Ts flew from Guidonia, Italy, to Dakar and then to Rio de Janeiro, over 6,000 miles, at an average speed of 250 mph.
Spanish Civil War

The Italians used the S.M.79s in the Aviazione Legionara that fought in the Spanish Civil War.1 It was first used in February 1937.
Regia Aeronautica

In 1937 the S.M.79-I joined the Regia Aeronautica.2 It was used as a medium bomber and then a torpedo bomber.

Eleven Stormi were equipped with 389 of the S.M.79-I by 1939.

By June 1940 there were 594 S.M.79-Is with 14 Stomi.2,4 They were deployed as follows:

Italy: 32
Sardinia: 22
Libya: 42
Sicily: 52

Royal Navy Loses

The Royal Navy lost four destroyers and had one battleship (HMS Malaya) and three aircraft carriers (Indomitable, Argus, and Victorius) damaged by S.M.79 attacks.
Italy Surrenders

When Italy surrendered there were only 36 airworthy S.M.79s at Capodichino, Littoria, Pisa, and Siena.
Lebanon

In 1950 three were sold to Lebanon as transports.

Full specs can be found here http://www.wwiivehicles.com/italy/airc ... viero.asp

Looks like you found the mother load of WWII Italian airplane information, Duncan.

The photo can be found with a lot of others here:

http://www.fredandruby.com/American-Sol ... &k=B5r7jn9

Niner wrote:Looks like you found the mother load of WWII Italian airplane information, Duncan.

The photo can be found with a lot of others here:

http://www.fredandruby.com/American-Sol ... &k=B5r7jn9

No, just a wild guess

I got that "box brownie" e mail too Robert, a lot of the foties were of foreign machines and obviously not from the same roll of film.

The SM 79 was always a favourite of mine since I was given a Airfix kit of the type when I was a youngster.

Here's another shot of the aircraft giving it beans in a low level pass.


http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7f8n ... 1_1280.jpg[/pic]

That picture, Joe, reminds me of the movie Patton. That white building over the fence looks like one in the movie... you know where Patton in North Africa runs out in the street and takes pot shots at attacking planes with his ivory handled pistol.

Speaking of toy planes. When I was a kid I got a toy plane for Christmas...a flying tiger look like...that had an engine that started with a battery and flipping the prop. It used a fuel that was pretty potent smelling that you would pump into the engine tank. There were guide wires running to the plane and you held a handle. Somebody held on to it while the "pilot" backed up to control distance. Then you could control it as you turned around in circles and the plane flew around the circle. I guess remote control planes now days have made such toys as I had as obsolete as the eight track tape player.

When I was a kid I can remember a few guys in my village flying those wire attached aeroplanes on the village cricket/football field Robert. That was a time long before the radio controlled kit we see nowadays.

As an aside the greyhound men used to train their greyhounds on the same field with a converted bicycle rigged up to pull a "hare" on a wire, we had loads of free entertainment in my childhood, no x-boxes and such like then we made our own adventures!

Joe