The SIAI S.8 was an Italian 1910s two-seat reconnaissance flying boat.
Design and development
The
Societa Idrovolanti Alta Italia
SIAI-Marchetti was an Italian aircraft manufacturer primarily active during the interwar period.
History
The original company was founded during 1915 as SIAI (''Società Idrovolanti Alta Italia'' - Seaplane Company of Upper Italy). As suggested ...
(SIAI) was formed in 1915 initially to build
French flying boats under license. The company employed
Raffaele Conflenti as chief designer and his first design was the SIAI S.8, a two-seat equal-span biplane flying boat, first flown in 1917. The
Royal Italian Navy
The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the Italian constitutional referendum, 1946, birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' ch ...
ordered 800 S.8s, to be built by SIAI and subcontractors. With the end of the
war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
, production was stopped when 172 aircraft had been delivered. Early aircraft were powered by an Isotta Fraschini V4B engine, later aircraft had the more powerful 220 hp (164 kW) Hispano-Suiza 44.
Operational history
The aircraft equipped five squadrons of the Regia Marina. By 1920 only 63 aircraft survived, mostly in storage.
Operators
;
*
Regia Marina
The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' changed its name to ''Marina Militare'' (" ...
Specifications (S.8)
See also
References
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{{Savoia-Marchetti aircraft
1910s Italian military reconnaissance aircraft
S.08
Flying boats
Military aircraft of World War I
Biplanes
Single-engined pusher aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1917