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The Macchi M.33 was an Italian
The D-12 engines powering M.33s were worn-out and unreliable and lacked the power of newer foreign engines, and pilots reported that the aircraft suffered from
Despite the M.33s shortcomings, Italy entered two of them in the 1925 Schneider Trophy race hosted by the
racing
In sports, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific g ...
flying boat
A flying boat is a type of seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in having a fuselage that is purpose-designed for flotation, while floatplanes rely on fuselage-mounted floats for buoyancy.
Though ...
which competed in the 1925 Schneider Trophy
The Coupe d'Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider, also known as the Schneider Trophy, Schneider Prize or (incorrectly) the Schneider Cup is a trophy that was awarded first annually, and later biennially, to the winner of a race for seaplanes and ...
race.
Design and development
The Macchi M.33 was a single-seat, wooden, shoulder-wingmonoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings.
A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...
flying boat of very clean aerodynamic design for its time. Its cantilever
A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is unsupported at one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cantilev ...
wing was fairly thick and carried stabilizing floats on each side. Italy lacked competitive racing engines in 1925, so the M.33 was powered with a used 1923 Curtiss D-12
The Curtiss D-12, sometimes identified with the military designation Curtiss V-1150, was an aircraft engine of 18.8 liter displacement. It was a water-cooled V12, producing 443 hp (330 kW) and weighing 693 lb (314 kg). It wa ...
engine rated at 378 kilowatt
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...
s (507 horsepower
Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are t ...
) in a streamlined nacelle
A nacelle ( ) is a streamlined container for aircraft parts such as Aircraft engine, engines, fuel or equipment. When attached entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attached with a Hardpoint#Pylon, pylo ...
mounted on struts above the fuselage and driving a two-bladed tractor
A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a Trailer (vehicle), trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or constructio ...
propeller
A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...
. The M.33 had a flat-plate radiator
A radiator is a heat exchanger used to transfer thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling and heating. The majority of radiators are constructed to function in cars, buildings, and electronics.
A radiator is always a ...
, a type that was obsolescent by 1925, rather than modern surface radiators.IPMS The Racing and Record Aircraft Special Interest Group Plastic Modelers SocietyThe D-12 engines powering M.33s were worn-out and unreliable and lacked the power of newer foreign engines, and pilots reported that the aircraft suffered from
wing flutter
Aeroelasticity is the branch of physics and engineering studying the interactions between the inertial, elastic, and aerodynamic forces occurring while an elastic body is exposed to a fluid flow. The study of aeroelasticity may be broadly classif ...
.
Operational history
Despite the M.33s shortcomings, Italy entered two of them in the 1925 Schneider Trophy race hosted by the United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
at Baltimore
Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
, Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
. The one piloted by Riccardo Morselli was scratched from the race because of engine ignition
Ignition may refer to:
Science and technology
* Firelighting, the human act of creating a fire for warmth, cooking and other uses
* Combustion, an exothermic chemical reaction between a fuel and an oxidant
* Fusion ignition, the point at which a ...
problems. Giovanni de Briganti piloted the other M.33; during the race he did not use full throttle out of fear for his aircrafts engine and wing problems, and was further delayed by a navigational error he made during the second lap of the seven-lap race. He came in third with an average speed of 271 kilometer
The kilometre ( SI symbol: km; or ), spelt kilometer in American and Philippine English, is a unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), equal to one thousand metres (kilo- being the SI prefix for ). It is the preferred mea ...
s per hour (168 miles per hour); this was well behind the second-place finisher, a British Gloster III
The Gloster III was a British racing floatplane of the 1920s intended to compete for the Schneider Trophy air race. A single-engined, single-seat biplane, two were built, with one finishing second in the 1925 race.
Design and development
In 19 ...
A piloted by Hubert Broad which finished with an average speed of 321 kilometers per hour (199 miles per hour), and also behind the winner, an American Curtiss R3C-2 piloted by Jimmy Doolittle
James Harold Doolittle (December 14, 1896 – September 27, 1993) was an American military general and aviation pioneer who received the Medal of Honor for his raid on Japan during World War II, known as the Doolittle Raid in his honor. He ma ...
(1896–1993), which finished with an average speed of 374 kilometers per hour (233 miles per hour).
De Brigantis M.33 was the last flying boat to compete in the Schneider Trophy races.
Specifications
See also
References
Bibliography
* {{Portal bar, Italy, Companies, Aviation M.33 Schneider Trophy Flying boats 1920s Italian sport aircraft Racing aircraft High-wing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1925