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Aviation History
1940
1940 - 1967.PDF
JULY II, 1940 If the above picture is held overhead an idea can be formed of the appearance of the Savoia-Marchetti S.M.85 dive- _• bomber as it delivers its attack with , air brakes lowered. On the right is a view of a formation of nine of these machines framed by S.M.79 bombers on the ground. The same formation of S.M.85S is illustrated on page 20. and the clouding of the screen with oil are two potential disadvantages. An experimental installation was made of two Isotta Fraschini liquid- cooled Vee twelve engines in place of the three radials, and a nose similar to that of the S.M.79B was incorporated. Although the S.M.81B, as the modi- fied machine was called, was tested at Guidonia,. it is not thought that quantity orders were placed. S.M.85 One of the latest products of the Savoia-Marchetti concern is the S.M.85 single - seater twin - engined dive- bomber, which first appeared in public on June 11, when Press representa- tives were entertained at Guidonia and a flying display given before the Duce. Flight reported: "The final event was a dive-bombing attack by a flight Q£ the new Savoia-Marchetti twin-engined single-seater monoplanes. These machines dived almost verti- cally, using air brakes, on an imaginary target in the centre of the aerodrome, and then roared overhead in a shallow dive, with their engines opened out and brakes off." The S.M.85 is easily recognised by the characteristic sweep-up of the bottom line of the fuselage to the single fin and rud- der, and the for- ward situation of the pilot's cockpit enclosure. Arranged as a shoulder - wing An officer of theItalian Air Force explains to SignorMussolini the bomb gear of the S.M.85.Forward of the bomb traps is aBreda SAFAT machine gun (theexternal fairing holds empty linksand cases) and the floor window. monoplane, the machine is mainly of wooden construction. The wing has a moderate taper toward its rounded tips, and inboard of the ailerons are trailing edge diving brakes which hinge downward so that daylight can be seen between the flaps and the wing when the machine is diving. The fuselage is slab-sided and has external longitudinal stiffeners. The rudder has a rounded contour, though the fin is straight edged, and the tail- plane is braced. In the bottom of the fuselage at the extreme nose is a window for the use of the pilot either during the run-up to his target or, should he double him- self up to minimise the effect of " G" during the pull-out, in the dive itself. It is believed that the engines are of the Piaggio PX RC 35 type.
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