The Savoia-Marchetti SM.83 was an Italian civil

airliner An airliner is a type of aircraft for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an ...

of the 1930s. It was a civilian version of the Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 bomber.

Design and development

It was a monoplane, with retractable undercarriage, and a slim fuselage. Though the cabin was provided with heaters, oxygen provision and sound insulation it was large enough for the 4 crew and only four to 10 passengers. The construction was of mixed materials in the typical Savoia-Marchetti style of the time: steel tubes for 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 ...

, wood for the wings, and the outer skin made up of wood, fabric or metal. 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 ...

s had slats. The powerplant was three AR.126 engines giving a total of about 2,300 hp. The maximum range stated was . The maximum speed was slightly better than the bomber at due to the absence of the gondola and hump machine gun positions. First flying on 19 November 1937, it entered into production for LATI,

SABENA The ''Societé anonyme belge d'Exploitation de la Navigation aérienne'' (French; ), better known by the acronym Sabena or SABENA, was the national airline of Belgium from 1923 to 2001, with its base at Brussels National Airport. After its ba ...

and other companies, but it had less success compared to the more economic and capable 18 seater Savoia-Marchetti S.73 even if had much improved performance. As a result, only 23 were built in two main series.

Service

When war broke out, the Italian aircraft were impressed into the ''

Regia Aeronautica The Italian Royal Air Force (''Regia Aeronautica Italiana'') was the name of the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946. In 1946, the monarchy was abolis ...

,'' and used in transport units. One S.83 was used near the end of the war to flee Italy.

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

had forbidden aircraft both military and civilian of the Axis powers from landing there so S.83 was painted with

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n insignia and purportedly owned by a Croatian citizen. Carrying 5,000 litres of fuel (50% more than standard) and 14 men and women including the parents of

Claretta Petacci Clara Petacci, known as Claretta Petacci (; 28 February 1912 – 28 April 1945), was a mistress of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. She was killed during Mussolini's execution by Italian partisans. Early life Daughter of Giuseppina Persich ...

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

’s mistress), the aircraft took off at 4:30 on 23 April 1945 from

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. It landed at

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

just three hours later. It was not until September that the crew and aircraft were repatriated.

Operators

Civil operators

; *

- four aircraft (three delivered) Coates, edcoatescollection.com. ; *

Ala Littoria Ala Littoria S.A. was the Italian national airline that operated during the fascist regime in the 1930s and 1940s. History ''Ala Littoria'' was formed by a merger of Società Aerea Mediterranea (SAM), Società Anonima Navigazione Aerea (SANA) ...

* LATI ; *

LARES Lares ( , ; archaic , singular ''Lar'') were guardian deities in ancient Roman religion. Their origin is uncertain; they may have been hero-ancestors, guardians of the hearth, fields, boundaries, or fruitfulness, or an amalgam of these. Lares ...

- three aircraft * Prince Bibesco of Romania - one aircraft

Military operators

; *

Belgian Air Force The Belgian Air Component ( nl, Luchtcomponent, french: Composante air) is the air arm of the Belgian Armed Forces, and until January 2002 it was officially known as the Belgian Air Force ( nl, Belgische Luchtmacht; french: Force aérienne belg ...

; *

Royal Romanian Air Force The Air Force branch of the Royal Romanian forces in World War II was officially named the (ARR), or the Romanian Royal Aeronautics, though it is more commonly referred to in English histories as the (Royal Romanian Air Force, FARR), or simply ( ...

Specifications (S.83)

Notes

References

* * * * * * * {{Portal bar, Italy, Companies, Aviation SM.083 1930s Italian airliners World War II Italian transport aircraft Trimotors Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1937