SIAI S.67

SIAI (Società Idrovolanti Alta Italia)

Industry	Aerospace, Aircraft manufacturing
Founded	1915
Headquarters	Italy

Template:Infobox aircraft

The SIAI S.67, also known as the Savoia Marchetti SM.67, was an Italian flying boat fighter developed and produced by SIAI during the early 1930s.

Design and development

In 1929, the Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy) commissioned SIAI to create a prototype flying boat fighter intended for catapult launches from Condottieri-class cruisers. Responding to this request, SIAI engineered the S.67 as a wooden, single-seat monoplane flying boat powered by a liquid-cooled Fiat A.20 V12 engine delivering 313 kilowatts (420 horsepower). This engine drove a three-bladed pusher propeller mounted atop steel tube struts above the hull, each secured to the engine mount via a single pin. The wing spars were affixed directly to the fuselage structure. For armament, the S.67 was equipped with two fixed, forward-firing 7.7-millimeter (0.303-inch) Vickers machine guns positioned in the bow. The aircraft’s design enabled a ground crew of six aboard a cruiser to assemble it on the catapult and prepare it for launch within five minutes.

Operational history

The maiden flight of the S.67 took place on 28 January 1930. Testing commenced at Il Centro Sperimentali (The Experimental Center) in early March of that year; however, the prototype was lost in a crash on 3 April 1930.

Despite this setback during evaluation, SIAI secured an order to produce three additional units. Of these, one was cancelled before completion, while the remaining two were assigned to the 162ª Squadriglia (162nd Squadron) within the 88° Gruppo Caccia Marittima (88th Maritime Fighter Group). These aircraft remained in operational use until their retirement in 1935.

Operators

Template:Country data Kingdom of Italy

Regia Marina (Royal Italian Navy)

162ª Squadriglia, 88° Gruppo Caccia Marittima

Specifications

Template:Aircraft specs Notes:

• Climb to 3,000 m (9,842 ft): 9.78 minutes

References

• Green, William, and Gordon Swanborough. The Complete Book of Fighters: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Every Fighter Aircraft Built and Flown. New York: SMITHMARK Publishers, 1994. ISBN 0-8317-3939-8.