Sergio Stefanutti (1906–1992) was an Italian engineer who specialized in the design of aircraft.

Biography

He joined aircraft manufacturer Società Aeronautica Italiana (later renamed

SAI Ambrosini __NOTOC__ SAI Ambrosini was an Italian aircraft manufacturer established in Passignano sul Trasimeno, Italy, in 1922 as the ''Società Aeronautica Italiana''. It became SAI Ambrosini when it was acquired by the Ambrosini group in 1934. Prior to ...

following a takeover) in the 1920s. He was the designer of the first Italian canard fighter, the Ambrosini S.S.4, and then a touring

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 con ...

, the

Ambrosini S.7 The Ambrosini SAI.7 was an Italian racing aircraft flown before World War II that entered production as a military trainer (designated simply S.7) after the war. It was of conventional configuration, constructed of wood, with a Conventional landi ...

. He developed the S.7 into the Ambrosini SAI.207 and Ambrosini SAI.403; these aircraft were lightweight fighters made entirely of wood. Stefanutti is also the first planner of a war aircraft of series operating by remote control, built by Aerolombarda and ready for operations during the period of armistice. In the postwar Stefanutti was applied to the reaction flight, coming to plan and then to realize the first hunting jet plane of national planning, that takings the name of

Aerfer Sagittario 2 The Aerfer Sagittario 2 (Italian for '' sagittarius'') was a prototype all-metal single-seat lightweight fighter aircraft built in Italy by Aerfer, intended to serve as an interceptor or light tactical support aircraft. First flown in 1956, it b ...

. This aircraft is visible in the

Italian Air Force Museum The Italian Air Force Museum is an aircraft museum at Vigna di Valle, on Lake Bracciano (Lazio), in central Italy. It is operated by the . The museum's collection has an emphasis on Italian machines and seaplanes. While maintaining the technical a ...

near Bracciano (

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

); together with the following development that it also foresaw the use of a

rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...

besides the

turbojet The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, an ...

to increase the push and the

speed In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a scalar quanti ...

of interception. This aircraft, in the second variation, is the first Italian aircraft to break the

sound barrier The sound barrier or sonic barrier is the large increase in aerodynamic drag and other undesirable effects experienced by an aircraft or other object when it approaches the speed of sound. When aircraft first approached the speed of sound, th ...

; subsequently it was not adopted by

Italian Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = (Ordinance March of the Air Force) by Alberto Di Miniello , mascot = , anniversaries = 28 March ...

Bibliography

Ciampaglia, Giuseppe: "Dal SAI Ambrosini Sagittario all'Aerfer Leone. Storia dei primi caccia supersonici italiani realizzati da Sergio Stefanutti". IBN editore Roma 2004 .

External links

Sergio StefanuttiImmagine del SAI Ambrosini 207
1906 births 1992 deaths 20th-century Italian people Italian aerospace engineers People from Udine {{Italy-engineer-stub