IMAM Ro.43
| Ro.43 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Ro.43 seaplane | |
| Role | Reconnaissance |
| Manufacturer | IMAM |
| First flight | 19 November 1934 |
| Introduction | 1935 |
| Primary user | Regia Marina |
| Number built | 193 |
The IMAM Ro.43 was an Italian reconnaissance single float seaplane, serving in the Regia Marina between 1935 and 1943. Although produced in quantity, it proved never to be suitable for its intended role as a spotter plane for warships, and although 105 remained in service when Italy entered World War II, they were already obsolete.
The Ro.43 was designed to meet a 1933 requirement by the Regia Marina (the Italian navy) for a catapult-launched reconnaissance aircraft to equip the Maritime Reconnaissance Squadrons operating from its ships. The specification called for a speed of 240 km/h (149 mph), with a range of 600 km (370 mi) or an endurance of 5.5 hours. Other contenders were the Piaggio P.18 and P.20, CMASA MF.10, CANT Z.504 and Macchi C.76.
Derived from the Ro.37 Lince reconnaissance aircraft, by the same designer, the Ro.43 first flew in 1934. The plane was built of steel tubes and wood covered by soft alloy and fabric. It was a two-seat biplane with folding gull upper and inverse gull lower wings, lightly armed and capable of around 300 km/h (185 mph) and over 1,000 km (620 mi) range. This performance more than met the requirements of the specification, and so it was declared the winner.
Despite this, the Ro.43 had serious problems. Its lightweight structure meant that it was too delicate for buoyancy at sea, and it had poor sea-handling qualities. These problems meant that when it was launched it was quite normal not to recover it at sea, forcing the aircraft to return to land before alighting.
The aircraft's good endurance meant that seaplanes could still be useful in the constrained Mediterranean. Six Ro.43 launched from light cruisers played a role in spotting the British fleet during the battle of Calabria, in the opening months of the war. One of them, departing from the cruiser Eugenio di Savoia, kept visual contact with the battleship HMS Warspite during the exchange of fire between the British capital ship and the Italian battleship Giulio Cesare before being chased off by a Sea Gladiator from the carrier HMS Eagle.
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