The Savoia-Marchetti SM.80 is a two-seat monoplane

amphibian Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...

tourer, with a single, tractor engine mounted above the wing, designed in Italy in the early 1930s. The SM.80bis is a four-seat variant, powered by two pusher engines.

Design and development

The SM.80 was a cantilever

high-wing 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 ...

. Like the fin and tailplane, the wing was a fabric covered wooden structure, but one subdivided into sealed cells to provide buoyancy in case of

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

flooding. Its tips were rounded; the fin was broad and also rounded with the tailplane, braced from below, mounted a little way above the fuselage. All control surfaces, the

differential ailerons An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around t ...

, split elevators and rounded rudder, were steel tube framed and fabric covered. The fuselage of the SM.80 was flat sided, with a single stepped, double planked underside, copper riveted for corrosion resistance. It became slender aft. The side-by-side cockpit was set slightly into the wing leading edge and a baggage space or third seat was placed in the trailing edge. On the water, lateral stability was provided by fixed, flat bottomed floats mounted on the wing at mid-span on pairs of parallel struts. The wheeled undercarriage of the amphibian attracted contemporary notice for its neatness: the mainwheel legs were enclosed in fairings, rotated through about 180° rearwards then upwards along the fuselage sides, positioning the retracted wheels in the wing roots. The first SM.80 was originally powered by a 112 kW (150 hp) six cylinder inline engine Alfa-Romeo built Colombo S.63 engine, mounted centrally well above the wing on a parallel pair of forward leaning N-form struts, supplemented by a transverse V-shaped bracing. The mounting struts were tubes of chrome molybdenum steel, enclosed in alloy fairings for corrosion protection. They placed the engine forward of the wing leading edge and the two blade propeller well forward of the pilot's windscreen. This aircraft was flying with the Colombo engine when it attended the Egyptian Air Rally in December 1933. The SM.80 also flew with a 112 kW (150 hp) CNA C.VI six-cylinder in-line engine. The third aircraft, registered in 1934, was more radically re-engined; a four-seater, it was named the SM.80bis. This is powered by two

pusher configuration In an aircraft with a pusher configuration (as opposed to a tractor configuration), the propeller(s) are mounted behind their respective engine(s). Since a pusher propeller is mounted behind the engine, the drive shaft is in compression in nor ...

, 56 kW (75 hp) seven-cylinder radials

Pobjoy R The Pobjoy R is a British seven-cylinder air-cooled radial aircraft engine designed and built by Pobjoy Airmotors. Introduced in 1926, it was a popular engine for ultralight and small aircraft in the 1930s. A notable feature of the Pobjoy R was ...

engines, placed further aft than the single engine of the SM.80 but located above the wing on either side of the fuselage on very similar mountings. The cabin is positioned about 950 mm (2 ft) further forward but otherwise the two models were structurally identical. The SM.80bis was 80 kg (175 lb) heavier and significantly slower, with a decrease of maximum speed of (16 mph), though climb rates were similar. The speed decrease has been attributed to the extra drag of the twin engine arrangement, since the SM.80 and SM.80bis had the same overall engine power.

Operational history

Apart from its Egyptian visit in late 1933, the activities of the various SM.80s are not well recorded. An exception is a fatal landing accident which the Fiat heir and Juventas chair

Eduardo Agnelli Edoardo Agnelli (2 January 1892 – 14 July 1935) was an Italian entrepreneur and industrialist and principal family shareholder of the Italian car company Fiat. Early life Born in Verona, he was the son of Giovanni Agnelli, the founder of Fi ...

died on 14 July 1935. The aircraft, the first SM.80, was owned by

Giovanni Agnelli Giovanni Agnelli (13 August 1866 – 16 December 1945) was an Italian businessman, who founded Fiat car manufacturing in 1899. Early life The son of Edoardo Agnelli and Aniceta Frisetti, he was born in 1866 in Villar Perosa, a small town near ...

, the founder of

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...

and Eduardo's father. It seems that Eduardo was thrown forward into the propeller when the aircraft hit a floating obstacle as he was preparing to disembark. Normal cockpit access on the SM.80 was via separate forward folding windscreens for passenger and pilot. The SM.80bis survived World War II and, re-registered, flew again after it.

Variants

;SM.80: Single tractor configuration Colombo S.63 or CNA C.VI 6-cylinder in-line engine. 2/3 seats. ;SM.80bis: Twin

7-cylinder radial engine. 4 seats.

Aircraft on display

The SM.80bis c/n 3 and registered as ''I-TATI'' before World War II and as ''I-ELIO'' afterwards was later on static public display at the Gianni Caproni Museum of Aeronautics but has moved to Parco Museo del Volo Volandia at Vizzola Ticino.

Specifications (SM.80, Colombo engine)

References

{{Portal bar, Italy, Companies, Aviation Savoia-Marchetti aircraft Amphibious aircraft 1930s Italian sport aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Twin-engined pusher aircraft High-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1933