Macchi M.33

Macchi

Industry	Aerospace
Headquarters	Italy
Products	Racing flying boats, including the Macchi M.33

The Macchi M.33 was an Italian racing flying boat that took part in the 1925 Schneider Trophy competition.

Design and development

The Macchi M.33 was a single-seat monoplane flying boat constructed primarily from wood, featuring a shoulder-wing configuration and an aerodynamically refined profile for its era. Its cantilever wing, relatively thick in cross-section, was equipped with stabilizing floats mounted on each side. Due to Italy's shortage of competitive racing engines in 1925, the M.33 utilized a secondhand 1923 Curtiss D-12 engine delivering 378 kilowatts (507 horsepower). This powerplant was housed within a streamlined nacelle positioned on struts above the fuselage and drove a two-bladed tractor propeller. Instead of adopting contemporary surface radiators, the aircraft incorporated a flat-plate radiator, which by 1925 was considered outdated technology.

The D-12 engines installed in the M.33s were both worn and unreliable, lacking the power output of more modern foreign engines. Additionally, pilots reported experiencing wing flutter during flight.

Operational history

File:Macchi M.33 on ground.jpg

M.33 on ground

Despite its drawbacks, Italy entered two Macchi M.33 aircraft in the 1925 Schneider Trophy race held in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. One aircraft, flown by Riccardo Morselli, was withdrawn from competition due to ignition system failures. The other, piloted by Giovanni de Briganti, did not operate at full throttle during the race because of concerns about engine reliability and wing flutter. Furthermore, de Briganti made a navigational mistake on the second of seven laps, which caused additional delays. He ultimately finished third with an average speed of 271 kilometers per hour (168 miles per hour). This result trailed behind the runner-up—a British Gloster IIIA flown by Hubert Broad averaging 321 kilometers per hour (199 miles per hour)—and the winner, an American Curtiss R3C-2 piloted by Jimmy Doolittle, who achieved an average speed of 374 kilometers per hour (233 miles per hour).

Notably, de Briganti’s Macchi M.33 was the final flying boat to participate in the Schneider Trophy contests.