The SIAI S.67 or Savoia Marchetti SM.67 was an Italian

flying boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...

fighter of the early 1930s designed and manufactured by SIAI.

Design and development

In 1929, the ''

Regia Marina The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the Italian constitutional referendum, 1946, birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' ch ...

'' (Italian Royal Navy) awarded a contract to SIAI to produce the

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...

of a new flying boat fighter for use as a

catapult A catapult is a ballistic device used to launch a projectile a great distance without the aid of gunpowder or other propellants – particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. A catapult uses the sudden release of stored p ...

-launched aircraft aboard ''Condottieri''-class cruisers. In response, SIAI designed the S.67, a wooden, single-seat,

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

flying boat powered by a 313-kilowatt (420-horsepower)

Fiat A.20 The Fiat A.20 was an Italian aero-engine of the 1920s. It was a water-cooled V12 engine that was used by early versions of the Fiat CR.20 fighter and the Macchi M.41 seaplane. In 1923, FIAT built the A.15, a 430 hp (320 kW) water-co ...

V12 V12 or V-12 may refer to: Aircraft * Mil V-12, a Soviet heavy lift helicopter * Pilatus OV-12, a planned American military utility aircraft * Rockwell XFV-12, an American experimental aircraft project * Škoda-Kauba V12, a Czechoslovak experim ...

liquid-cooled engine driving a three-bladed pusher

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

. The

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

spars were attached to the

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

, and the engine was mounted on steel tube struts above the hull, each attached to the engine mount by one pin. The S.67s armament consisted of two fixed, forward-firing 7.7-millimeter (0.303-inch)

Vickers machine gun The Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a Water cooling, water-cooled .303 British (7.7 mm) machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army. The gun was operated by a three-man crew but typically required more me ...

s mounted in the bow. The S.67s design allowed a team of six men aboard a

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

to erect it on its catapult and have it ready for launch within five minutes.

Operational history

The S.67 made its first flight on 28 January 1930. ''Il Centro Sperimentali'' (The Experimental Center) began testing of the prototype in early March 1930, during which it crashed on 3 April 1930. Despite this unfortunate end to the testing program, SIAI received a production order for three more aircraft. One of these was cancelled, but the other two entered service with the 162ª ''Squadriglia'' (162nd Squadron) of the 88° ''Gruppo Caccia Marittima'' (88th Maritime Fighter Group). They were retired in 1935.Green and Swanborough, p. 527.

Operators

; :''

'' (Italian Royal Navy) ::162ª ''Squadriglia'', 88° ''Gruppo Caccia Marittima''

Specifications

Notes: *Time to 3,000 m (9,842 ft): 9.78 min

Notes

References