Officine Ferroviarie Meridionali

Officine Ferroviarie Meridionali – OFM

File:Carruagem privada da CCFNP - GazetaCF 1062 1932.jpg Private carriage of the Companhia dos Caminhos de Ferro do Norte de Portugal (Portuguese Northern Railways Company). This unit was part of a batch constructed by Officine Ferroviarie Meridionali, Naples, and delivered in September 1931.
Company type	Railway and Aircraft manufacturer
Founded	1904 (1904)
Defunct	1936 (1936)
Successor	IMAM
Headquarters	Naples , Italy
Number of locations	Naples
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Nicola Romeo, Alessandro Tonini, Giovanni Galasso
Products	locomotives, airplanes, sailplanes, trams

Officine Ferroviarie Meridionali (abbreviated as OFM) was an Italian firm manufacturing railway vehicles and rolling stock, headquartered in Naples, Italy.

History

In 1915, the company Ing Nicola Romeo and Co Ltd, owned by Nicola Romeo, acquired Officine Ferroviarie Meridionali along with two other factories engaged in producing railway locomotives and rolling stock—one located in Rome and another in Saronno. This acquisition aimed to support his automotive ventures and his aspirations in aviation.

By 1922, OFM's operations were focused solely on manufacturing railway locomotives and related rolling stock components. Observing Fiat's achievements closely, Nicola Romeo deemed the OFM facility in Naples and its workforce capable of transitioning to aircraft component production, eventually leading to complete aircraft assembly. The initial aircraft parts produced by OFM were under contract for Fiat, with production commencing soon after. Due to Fiat’s factories being fully occupied with other projects, OFM undertook manufacturing of the sesquiplane Fiat CR.1 fighter in 1923 as a subcontractor.

Simultaneously, under the guidance of the Banca Italiana di Sconto, Romeo managed Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili (ALFA), which merged with OFM in 1918 to form Alfa Romeo. Although Alfa Romeo swiftly became renowned globally as an automaker, the collapse of Banca Italiana di Sconto compelled Romeo to regain control over OFM. This move marked his entry into aviation in 1925 through the OFM – Aeroplani Romeo brand.

Driven by his ambition for an aviation enterprise, Nicola Romeo appointed Alessandro Tonini as chief designer at OFM. Tonini brought considerable expertise in aerodynamics and aircraft design from his tenure at Aermacchi working on flying boat fighters. OFM secured a production license from Fokker to build the Fokker C.V, which was manufactured at the Naples plant in 1927 as the OFM Ro.1. With the Ro.1 production underway, OFM then concentrated on developing proprietary designs such as the Ro.1 Ridotto.

On October 27, 1934, significant restructuring occurred when Nicola Romeo separated the railway workshop from the aviation division, establishing or formally recognizing the aviation company as Societa Anonima Industrie Aeronautiche Romeo (abbreviated "IAR"), commonly known as Aeroplani Romeo. This designation had been informally used for some time prior.

Aircraft produced by OFM since 1925 have often been mistakenly attributed to its successor company IMAM. The airplanes manufactured at the Naples facility from that year onward typically bore the inscription Aeroplani Romeo on their airframes. These aircraft were commonly referred to both as OFMs and Romeos and carried designations beginning with the prefix Ro. For instance, the Ro.37 featured a data plate affixed to the cockpit instrument panel displaying the Aeroplani Romeo - SA Industrie Aeronautiche Romeo branding.

In 1935, the railway sector of OFM was sold to Società Italiana Ernesto Breda. Subsequently, between 1935 and 1936, Romeo also divested Societa Anonima Industrie Aeronautiche Romeo to the same company. On October 1, 1936, these two entities were merged into a single subsidiary named Industrie Meccaniche e Aeronautiche Meridionali (Southern Mechanical and Aviation Industries), widely recognized as Meridionali or IMAM.

Aircraft

OFM Ro.1

Licensed production of the Fokker C.V, first flight in March 1927, equipped with a single 420hp Alfa Romeo Jupiter IV engine.

OFM Ro.1 Ridotto

Fighter variant of the OFM Ro.1 featuring a shortened wingspan of 12.5m, introduced in late 1927. Only one prototype was constructed.

OFM Ro.1bis

Powered by a 550 hp Piaggio Jupiter VIII engine and fitted with a four-blade propeller; total production reached 132 units.

OFM Ro.5

(1929) Open cockpit model.

OFM Ro.5bis

(1929) Version featuring a fully enclosed canopy.

OFM Ro.6

(1929) Variant of the Ro.5 powered by an 85 hp Fiat engine.

OFM Ro.10

Licensed build of the Fokker F.VII, equipped with three 215hp Alfa Romeo Lynx engines, with three units produced for Avio Linee Italiane and Ala Littoria operations.

OFM Ro.25

(1930) Trainer aircraft available in both single-seat and two-seat configurations, marking Giovanni Galasso’s first complete design for OFM. Two prototypes were made—one configured as a landplane and the other as a seaplane.

OFM Ro.26

(1931) Two-seat aerobatic biplane trainer, manufactured in limited quantities as both landplane and seaplane versions.

OFM Ro.30

(1932) Three-seat reconnaissance biplane powered by either a 530hp Alfa Romeo Mercurius or a Piaggio 126-RC35 Jupiter engine; produced in small numbers.

OFM Ro.35

(1933) Single-seat glider with a wingspan of 14.5m; only one unit was built and registered as I-ABBB.

OFM Ro.37

(1933) Light bomber and reconnaissance two-seat biplane, powered by a 600hp Fiat A.30 V-12 engine, with 294 units manufactured.

OFM Ro.37bis

(1933) Updated version of the Ro.37 featuring a 610hp Piaggio P.IX RC.40 engine, totaling 325 aircraft produced.

OFM Ro.41

(1934) Open cockpit biplane fighter originally designed and produced by OFM, later acquired by Societa Anonima Industrie Aeronautiche Romeo and subsequently continued under IMAM.

Trams

• Multiple tramcar models were produced, including a total of 246 units supplied for the Naples tram network between 1912 and 1935.

See also

• Directory of Italian firms