Tebaldi-Zari

Società Italiana Ernesto Breda

Industry	Aerospace
Founded	1919
Headquarters	Bovisio-Masciago , Italy

The Tebaldi-Zari was an Italian fighter aircraft prototype developed in 1919. Subsequently, the rights to this design were acquired by the firm Società Italiana Ernesto Breda.

Design and development

Designed by engineer Tebaldi, the Tebaldi-Zari was a single-seat wooden sesquiplane characterized by strongly staggered wings. It was powered by a 142 kilowatts (190 hp) water-cooled, six-cylinder in-line Isotta Fraschini V.6 engine, which drove a two-bladed tractor propeller. Its landing gear was fixed with a tailskid and featured an unconventional layout: the main wheels were oversized and set on a very wide track, with their axle integrated into the lower wing structure.

The prototype was constructed in 1919 at the Zari brothers' factory located in Bovisio-Masciago, near Milan. Shortly thereafter, Breda purchased both the prototype and its associated design rights from Zari. Breda replaced the original powerplant with a more powerful 224 kilowatts (300 hp) water-cooled Hispano-Suiza HS-42 V-8 engine. In 1922, Breda negotiated an agreement with the Italian government to manufacture three additional units; however, this did not result in any production orders.

Persisting with development, Breda equipped the original prototype with two fixed, forward-firing 7.7 mm (0.30 in) Vickers machine-guns and altered the upper wing to have an increased span but a narrower chord. The wing stagger was reduced, the gap between upper wing and fuselage enlarged, and the angle of the outer struts adjusted so they connected to the main wheel axle. This configuration permitted removal of the outer panels of the lower wing for testing purposes as a sesquiplane. Following these changes, Breda undertook further redesign work by enlarging both the ailerons and the chord of the upper wing while permanently removing the outer sections of the lower wing.

With these modifications completed, the original Tebaldi-Zari prototype participated in Italy’s 1923 fighter competition. Despite this effort, the Regia Aeronautica declined to place any production orders, resulting in no additional aircraft being produced.

Operators

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