Savoia-Marchetti

From WOI Encyclopedia Italia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Savoia-Marchetti logo.gif


Savoia-Marchetti was an Italian aircraft company. Was founded in 1915 and originally named SIAI (Società Idrovolanti Alta Italia - Seaplane company of Northern Italy). After the first world war gained the name Savoia, when it acquired the Società Anonima Costruzioni Aeronautiche Savoia, an Italian aircraft company founded by Umberto Savoia in 1915.

The name Marchetti was added when chief designer Allessandro Marchetti joined in 1922. Shortly thereafter, the company began to develop a reputation for very fast, well performing aircraft. With the development of the wildly successful S.55 flying boat, Savoia-Marchetti exploded onto the aviation scene as a dominant manufacturer. Favoured by Air Marshall Italo Balbo, the company began rapidly prototyping and developing a number of other aircraft, increasingly focusing on warplanes in the lead-up to World War II. However, most of S.M.'s manufacturing capabilities were destroyed in World War Two, and Savoia-Marchetti struggled with insolvency for 6 years after the war before declaring bankruptcy in 1951. In 1953, the company re-opened as a shadow of its former self. It began to focus increasingly on helicopters in the 1970s and was eventually purchased by the aerospace firm Agusta in 1983.

Aircraft

Retrieved from "http://woiweb.com/wiki/index.php?title=Savoia-Marchetti&oldid=61275"