SIAI-Marchetti

SIAI-Marchetti was an Italian aircraft manufacturer.

SIAI-Marchetti
IndustryAerospace
FateAbsorbed by Agusta in 1983
Absorbed by Aermacchi in 1997
SuccessorAgusta, Aermacchi 
Founded1915
FounderLaurent-Dominique Santoni 
Defunct1983
HeadquartersItaly
ProductsTransport aircraft
Bombers
Experimental planes
Air force trainers
Seaplanes

History

The original company was founded in 1915 as SIAI (Società Idrovolanti Alta Italia - Seaplane company of Northern Italy). After World War I it 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 Alessandro Marchetti joined the company in 1922. Savoia-Marchetti gained prominence with the successful S.55 flying boat. Savoia-Marchetti became famous for its flying boats and seaplanes, which set numerous endurance and speed records. Favoured by Air Marshal 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. It was renamed SIAI-Marchetti in 1943.

SIAI-Marchetti only survived in postwar Italy by building trucks and railway equipment. However it still struggled with insolvency for six years after the war before declaring bankruptcy in September 1951, with all staff being dismissed, although more than half were re-employed by the liquidator to complete existing orders.[1] In 1953, the company reopened. It began to focus increasingly on helicopters in the 1970s and was eventually purchased by the aerospace firm Agusta in 1983.

Aircraft

See also

References
  1. Bridgman 1953, p. 144
  • Bridgman, Leonard (1952). Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1952–53. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Ltd.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Gunston, Bill (2006). World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines (5th ed.). Phoenix Mill, Gloucestershire, England, UK: Sutton Publishing Limited. ISBN 0-7509-4479-X.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.