Savoia-Marchetti SM.91
type of aircraft
The Savoia-Marchetti SM.91 was a two-seat, twin-engined, Italian heavy fighter prototype, designed to compete in a 1942 revision to a long-range fighter-bomber contract offered by the Regia Aeronautica to Italian aircraft companies in 1938. The original 1938 specification yielded the Savoia-Marchetti SM.88, which the SM.91 was largely based on.
Design and development
In July 1942, the Regia Aeronautica requested designs for a new aircraft, propelled by the German DB 605 engine, capable of flying at 620 km/h (385 mph) with a range of 1,600 km (990 mi). The armament should consist of six MG 151 cannons in the nose and wings and a 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine gun as a defensive weapon. It should have an 800 kg (1,800 lb) bomb load. At that point, the request for a long-range fighter killed the SM.88, still in development, and the SM.91, a larger, heavier and more modern design, was authorized.
The fuselage and the wings were all-metal, to achieve the best performance regardless of cost. The central nacelle held the crew of two, and the wings and tail were similar to the SM.88. Fuel capacity was 1,600 L, but with auxiliary tanks could be raised to 1,800 L. It is unknown if it was capable of a range of 1,600 km (990 mi).
The two DB 605 engines gave a total of 2,950 hp.
“Savoia-Marchetti SM.91” enters the record as type of aircraft. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Savoia-Marchetti, type and aircraft can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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