SIAI S.51
| SIAI S.51 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Role | Racing flying boat |
| National origin | Italy |
| Manufacturer | SIAI |
| First flight | 1922 |
| Primary user | Italy |
| Number built | 1 |
|
| |
The SIAI S.51 was an Italian racing flying boat built by SIAI for the 1922 Schneider Trophy race.
Design and development
The S.51 was a single-seat sesquiplane flying boat. Its 224-kilowatt (300-horsepower) Hispano-Suiza 8A V8 engine, mounted on two N struts above the hull and below the upper wing, drove a two-bladed propeller in a pusher configuration. The inclined interplane struts were mounted in a V configuration. The lower wings had small stabilizing floats mounted on inclined struts so that they hung below and outboard of the outer tips of the lower wing.[1]
SIAI later based the design of the hull of its S.58 flying boat fighter of 1924 on that of the S.51's hull.[2]
Operational history
All sources agree that Italy entered the S.51 in the 1922 Schneider Trophy race along with two Macchi M.17 flying boats, and that the three Italian aircraft competed against a British Supermarine Sea Lion II flying boat which won the race. Other than that, sources provide deeply inconsistent and mutually contradictory accounts of the S.51's career.
Some sources[3] claim that the S.51 crashed during the race, killing its pilot.[4] states that the S.51 suffered water damage when it capsized in a pre-race accident and that this damage forced it to retire from the competition after its engine nacelle began to separate from the upper wing during the race; however, this source does not say that the aircraft crashed.[5][6][7] claim that the S.51 finished the race with an average speed of 230.93 kilometers per hour (143.41 miles per hour) and a finishing time of 1 hour 36 minutes 54 seconds, in second place behind the Sea Lion II but ahead of both M.17s.
Some sources claim that the S.51 had a career after the 1922 race. One source[8] states that on 28 December 1922 the S.51 set a speed record for seaplanes of 280.155 kilometers (174.080 mi) per hour, and another[9] claims that Italy considered entering the S.51 in the 1923 Schneider Trophy race but ultimately did not.
Operators
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Specifications
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 8 m (26 ft 3 in)
- Wingspan: 10 m (32 ft 10 in)
- Height: 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in)
- Wing area: 23 m2 (250 sq ft)
- Empty weight: 780 kg (1,720 lb)
- Gross weight: 1,080 kg (2,381 lb)
- Powerplant: 1 × Hispano-Suiza 8F (Type 42) V-8 water-cooled piston engine, 220 kW (300 hp)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 280 km/h (174 mph; 151 kn)
- Cruising speed: 230 km/h (143 mph; 124 kn)
See also
- Related lists
Notes
- ↑ "Artwork of Savoia S.51 by Hideaki Ozawa". Hydroretro.net. Retrieved 2015-11-04.
- ↑ Green and Swanborough, p. 527.
- ↑ Aviation History: Schneider Trophy Races and Vašiček, Aviation History, September 2002, p. 34.
- ↑ Schneider Trophy Races Archived February 19, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ "Schneider Trophy 6th Edition August 1922". Hydroretro.net. Retrieved 2012-07-31.
- ↑ "Society of Air Racing Historians: Schneider Cup Races". Airrace.com. Retrieved 2012-07-31.
- ↑ Italian Wikipedia Savoia-Marchetti S.51
- ↑ "IPMS Racing & Record Aircraft SIG - Record List". Ipmsairrace.org. Retrieved 2012-07-31.
- ↑ Italian Wikipedia Savoia-Marchetti S.51.
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to SIAI S.51. |
- Aviation History: Schneider Trophy Races
- Italian Wikipedia Savoia-Marchetti S.51
- Schneider Trophy 6th Edition August 1922
- Schneider Trophy history
- Schneider Trophy Races
- Society of Air Racing Historians: Schneider Cup Races
- ipmsairrace.org
- Green, William, and Gordon Swanborough. The Complete Book of Fighters: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Every Fighter Aircraft Built and Flown. New York: SMITHMARK Publishers, 1994. ISBN 0-8317-3939-8.
- Vašiček, Radko. "When Seaplanes Ruled the Sky." Aviation History, September 2002