Flight, April 1925

THREE "SAVOIA" SEAPLANES

   ONE of the best-known, and perhaps the most active, of the Italian aviation concerns is the Societa Idrovolanti Alta Italia (S.I.A.I), which has its works at Sesto Calende and offices in Milan. During the War the original Savoia company was responsible for an enormous output of aircraft and components. Since then the S.I.A.I. has produced a number of successful and interesting machines, mainly of the flying boat type.
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   The Savoia S.57bis is a high-speed reconnaissance two-seater flying boat, and differs from the previous machine (S.16ter) not only as regards size, but in the general design, although in most respects it follows usual Savoia practice. It is a pusher biplane of the two-bay type, and the top plane, which is "straight," is very slightly larger in span and chord than the lower plane. The latter is set at a dihedral angle and is provided with wing-tip floats. The single pair of interplane struts on each side is inclined slightly outwards, so that the overhang of upper and lower planes is about the same. Unbalanced ailerons are fitted to the top planes only.
   The 300 h.p. Hispano-Suiza engine is mounted in a semi-enclosed nacelle, as on the S.16ter. The tail surfaces include a raked, rectangular, stabilising surface with divided but unbalanced elevators, and a triangular, vertical fin and unbalanced rudder.
   As regards the hull, this is very much the same as that of the S.16ter, the pilot's and gunner's cockpits being arranged in tandem well forward of the main planes.
   The principal characteristics of the S.57bis are :-
   Span 36 ft. 10 ins. (top), and 33 ft. 9ins. (bottom).
   Chord 6 ft. (top) and o ft. (bottom).
   Overall length 30 ft.
   Wing area 387-3 sq.ft.
   Weight empty 2,315-25 lbs.
   ,, loaded 1,212-75 lbs.
   ,, per square foot 9 lbs.
   ,, per horse-power 11-3 lbs.
   Speed range 59-145 m.p.h.
   Climb to 3,000 ft 2 mins. 55 secs.
   ,, to 16,000 ft. 48 mins.
   Range of action 5 hrs.

Flight, July 1925

THE SAVOIA S.52 AND S.58 BATTLE 'PLANES

   In our issue for April 9 last we published an illustrated description of some of the aircraft constructed by the Societa Idrovolanti Alta Italia (S.I.A.I.), of Sesto Calende, including the S.16 ter. flying boat on which Col. di Pinedo recently accomplished a successful flight from Rome to Australia. We also referred to certain other types constructed by this firm, and, in view of the fact that the .splendid flight referred to above has brought into prominence the name of S.I.A.I., we think it may be of interest if we give this week some brief particulars, with illustrations, of two of these other "Savoia" machines - both of the fighter class.
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   We now come to the second Savoia machine, the S.58; this is a single-seater flying boat fitted with a 300 h.p. Hispano-Suiza engine. It follows typical Savoia practice, and in many respects it is similar to the S.57 (a two-seater fast reconnaissance) which we described in our previous article (FLIGHT, April 9, 1925), so that we need not do more than refer to its principal features.
   Apart from the fact that it is a single-seater, the S.58 differs from the S.57 mainly in an improved "cleanness” in design. Also, the lower plane of the "58" is smaller, both in chord and span, than that of the "57," although the dimensions of the top plane are much the same in both types. This results in adding to the stagger effect in the "58," for the trailing edges of the top and bottom planes being practically in line, the leading edge of the top plane is well forward. The wings are of the two-bay-with-dihedral-on-lower-plane type, and the 300 h.p. Hispano engine is enclosed in a neat streamline radiator-in-nose nacelle mounted high up close to the top plane. The hull is of the single-step, concave-bottom Savoia type.
   The first model of this type, as soon as it was completed, established a world's altitude record (5,831 m. = 19,125-6 ft.) for seaplanes with 250 kgs. load, on August 25, 1924, piloted by pilot Bacula.
   The principal characteristics of the S.58 are :-
   Span 36 ft. 10 ins. (top), 32 ft. 7 ins. (bottom).
   Chord 5 ft. 11 ins. (top), 5 ft. 5 ins. (bottom).
   Gap 5 ft. 10 ins.
   O.A. length 30 ft.
   Height 8 ft. 9 ins.
   Wing area 356-35 sq. ft.
   Weight, empty 2,205 lbs.
   „ fully laden 2,932-6 lbs.
   „ per sq. ft. 8-1 lbs.
   „ per H.P. 9-7 lbs.
   Speed range 50-155 m.p.h.
   Climb to 3,280 ft. 1 min. 45 secs.
   „ to 16,400 ft. 20 mins. 15 secs.
   Range 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 hrs.

Flight, October 1928

Berlin Aero Show 1928

The Savoia S.59

Strictly speaking, the Savoia S.59 flying-boat exhibited on the Italian stand is not a commercial machine in that it is evidently a training type, and it is not therefore proposed to give a detailed description of it here. One of our photographs will show the general appearance of the machine.