Savoia-Marchetti SM.78

SM.78
Role	Bomber/reconnaissance flying boat
Manufacturer	Savoia-Marchetti
First flight	1932
Number built	49

The Savoia-Marchetti SM.78 was an Italian bomber/reconnaissance biplane flying boat of the early 1930s.

The SM.78 first flew at the end of 1932, designed for the role of maritime reconnaissance-bomber. It was one of the many flying boats made by SIAI (Savoia-Marchetti), that in 1915 had started building foreign aircraft under licence, followed two years later by the first of its own designs.

The SM.78 was developed from the SM.62bis. The prototype, which carried the serial number MM222, made its first flight late in 1932 and then transferred the next year to Vigna di Valle for evaluation. The SM.78 was the last biplane flying boat, built or used in large numbers by Italy; 49 were completed in all (32 by Piaggio and 17 by SIAI).

The SM.78 was a single-bay biplane. It had a long and slim aft fuselage, with a tall welded steel fin and a wooden horizontal tail mounted centrally. The lower hull had two steps, to aid take-off from the sea.

This aircraft evolved from the SM.62bis, retaining practically the same unmodified wings, tail and fuselage, but with a different model of Handley Page flaps.

The hull/fuselage had poplar frames, and longerons made of ash. The plywood-skinned hull had a double-layered bottom, with an external layer of cedar, while the flanks were made from orthogonally arranged laminates of cedar. The fabric-covered wings had spruce longerons and poplar ribs, utilising the low-weight and high-strength characteristics of these woods, and were painted to render them impermeable to water. Twin stabilising floats were mounted at mid-wing.

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