Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

Scheduled for the end of August.

https://www.christian-schmidt.com/pr...ducts_id=11144

Usual disclaimer,
Ed

Re: Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

The book has been available for some time already.

Re: Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

Very disappointing book, what I call “a Christmas cracker book”. (Which I avoid like the plague normally if possible)
Just glossy poster pictures within and a peripheral treatment of operations.
The author even admits it is not an adequate treatment of operations, stating it would need a book twice it’s size.
Then he should have waited, and written a book twice the size!!!!

Re: Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

That's a promising review since there is nothing more annoying that books portraying as aircraft monographs while being mostly operational chronicles.

Re: Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

When I read the blurb, due to the many photos/drawings etc (500+) it became a sort of pictorial to me.
Since I don't really know what you mean with "poster pictures" are you saying that even the photos
are "useless", ie published before - bad quality - very uninteresting?

Also the so called colour photos, are they all from preserved specimens or contemporary?

Cheers
Stig

Re: Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

It is a pictorial book no doubt!, the Poster pictures I mentioned (numerous) are of the time, advertising the aircraft eg. girls on a beach looking up at one flying by, and other aspects, like a poster advertising torpedo factories!!! Very childish….
The author even blames the COVID for being unable to seek more data from archives…..
As this forum doesn’t facilitate photos, I am unable to show anything from the book.
For an iconic aircraft flown by gallant crews against overwhelming odds, we are still awaiting a book to do it justice.
If we were having a meal I’d call it a starter!!!

Re: Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

Thanks AMC
I think I will bypass this one....
Pity since I confess I kind of looked forward to it.
Not too many Italians around writing about their own aviation history....in English....:(
Cheers
Stig

Re: Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

Stig: the Sparviero book has 288 pages. assuming 500 illustrations, that is about 1.74 photos per page. Very pictorial indeed. Or not. For comparison: Chris Goss's Do 17 book has 304 pages and over 700 photos (as per publisher's info) and the Do 217 by the same author has 184 pages and "300-400" photos. The masive "Battle of France Then and Now", a book known for thoroughness, has 592 pages and over 900 illustrations. To be frank, I seriously suspect that AMC has not read the book through and/or compared the amount of text to the amount of illustrations by actually doing any math.

Re: Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

I really don’t know where you are going with all this picture counting verses text logic!, let’s keep it simple!
Anyone opening the book will see it as pictorial in content.
I have the book, it is at best a pictorial “history” and I really don’t see what other books and their merits have to do with it?

“Be master of your petty annoyances
and conserve your energy for the big worthwhile things.
It isn’t the mountain ahead that wears you out-
it’s the grain of sand in your shoe”…..

Re: Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

In that case you should rate every Classic volume a pictorial since in them there are very few text-only pages. Therefore it is extremely important to compare the actual amount of text to the amount of illustrations. Otherwise the assesment is useless.

Re: Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

Jukka,

Your personal preferences aside, I think it would be helpful to provide a fair and accurate review. And that goes for anyone reading this. I don't care about the author's shortcomings, if any, I only want good reasons to buy this or any book.

Best,
Ed

Re: Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

There have been several very positive impressions posted on an aviation book Fb group.

Re: Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

.....and what are they positive about?
Cheers
Stig

Re: Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

Here is a little more detailed review with a few pictures:

https://www.keymodelworld.com/articl...nce-book-crecy

Re: Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

No it is not!
Again I need to be a paying member to read anything. I don't want to pay for getting a review!
Secondly it seems to be a review strictly from a modeler's point of view.
I am no modeler, so not impressed!

I already have six books on the S.79 and so far no one has given me one single incentive why I
should buy this one.
One individual has given me his view why I should not buy the book and he
is by far in the lead so far

I am still waiting for someone to tell me what is good about the book
Cheers
Stig

Re: Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

Well, then you will have no choice but to buy it and find out for yourself whether it suits your taste.

Re: Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

Oh there certainly is one more option Harry

I can decide not to buy the book, and so far neither you or anyone else have pursuaded me to do anything else.

Cheers
Stig

Re: Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

While I think AMCb is a good guy, some of his reviews are extremely biased (well, so are mine) towards obsession on combat chronicles while very dismissive on anything technical. Based on the contents page, this book has e.g. chapters "technical" with 42 pages and "operational service" with 80 pages. The book is supposed to be an aircraft type monograph, not a combat chronicle.

Re: Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

Author Caliaro published a 14-page 'Database' feature on the type in the September 2018 issue of 'Aeroplane'..

Re: Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

.....meaning what?

Do these pages bring out anything new which haven't been published before?

Cheers
Stig

Re: Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

I now have the book and my first impressions are such that AMC's "review" is one of the most misleading I have ever read. The style of the book is very similar to others in the series (=there are both lots of illustrations and a substantial text).

Re: Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

..I suspect - but don't know - that this feature would likely be 'extracted' from and/or closely resemble whats in the book, so might be worth checking out. As for 'substantial' text - there is no 'word count' on the web site which I find odd.

Re: Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

Quite likely Neil
However to compare, Air International (July/Aug 1984) did a 16 page summary of the type.
Does this one give anything new?

Jukka
You say the book has 80 pages 'operational service', which is not much if you compare to the
two Osprey books by Marco Mattioli which has some 180 pages dito

Having said that, a page count says the book has 278 pages. With Jukka stating 42 pages technical data,
we now have 122 pages, what are the other 156 pages consisting of? AMC? Jukka??

I don't believe in a word count as such. Words can be an endless bla, bla, bla, while a far better
author, using far fewer words, can bring out much more useful data.

Cheers
Stig

Re: Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

Like yourself, I've seen nothing yet that makes me want to acquire this one either. Worth pointing out perhaps (being polite here) that Caliaro is 'Italy's finest aviation photographer' (according to Flypast), which to me at least, brings us back to what AMC was saying. Caliaro's web site is http://www.aerophoto.it/

Re: Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

I'll check the contents page this weekend and will post the headings here.

Re: Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

Did any Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparvieros operate over the UK?

Re: Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

None that I am aware of

The Italians operated only during a very short time over Britain in late 1940 and the bomber unit
was equipped with BR.20s while the recce/bomber unit had some CANT Z.1007

As far as I know the Italians never returned over Britain again

Cheers
Stig

Re: Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

Stig is 100% correct.

No S.79's operated over the British Isles.

The Corpo Aereo Italiano was composed of Fiat G.50 and Cr.42 fighters, Fiat Br.20 bombers and Cant Z1007 bis bomber/reconaissance aircraft. Some Caproni 133's accompanied the unit as transport and squadron hacks.

Good summary here:
http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/falco_bob.htm


https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....4,203,200_.jpg


Helion has this title scheduled for May 2023

Re: Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

I often wonder if authors reading the arguments in these forum threads might be totally discouraged by all this talk of "Christmas Cracker" books, page-counts and photos/page. Especially when much of this is pre-purchase discussion, revolving around why to or not to purchase the book.

OK, I bit the bullet and bought the book. Here's my attempt at a systematic review after a quick first viewing (i.e. a close look, but reading only sections of the text).

Now, I'm no stranger to the Savoia SM.79, and before purchasing the Caliaro volume on the Sparviero, I have in my library the following:
- Ali d'Italia 09 - SIAI S-79 pt1
- Ali d'Italia 11 - SIAI S-79 pt2
- Ali d'Italia 21 - SIAI S-84
- Sqn-Signal No.71 - Savoia Marchetti S.79 in action
- Osprey's Combat Aircraft 106 - Sm79 Sparviero TB Units
- Osprey's Combat Aircraft 122 - Sm79 Sparviero Bomber Units
- Crickets Against Rats Vol1 & 2 (covering the Aviazione Legionaria in the Spanish Cival War)
- Chris Dunning's excellent book on the Regia Aeronautica

I also have a copy of the Air International article on the SM79.

Now, how do you go about reviewing a new work like this? Certainly, not by putting my own expectations into the mix. I'm also not intending to do a word-by-word comparison between the Caliaro book and my other books.

While I'd like to see a single "all encompassing" volume on the Sparviero, this is not likely from a number of factors. Firstly, an author usually needs to be published in order to be paid. So a 500 page work, which might cost AUD 200- and take 10+ years to complete; would likely see fewer sales (seriously, only crazies like us would buy it). A 250 page work, costing AUD 70-90 would draw in a lot of new enthusiasts. If I were in the position of editing this work, I'd likely suggest the shorter work to gauge interest, and follow up a second volume to cover the expanded operations narrative.

As for the book itself? I personally think it's a great addition.
The pros:
- good coverage of the initial development, and the technical aspects. I think it leans towards Jukka's cup-of-tea in that it has very good comparative discussion on the technical aspects, drawings, cutaway views. I particularly liked the multiple views on the gunners'positions shown in the photographs. The photos are quite large but show a great deal of detail. Only the Ali d'Italia bookazines show better sectional and cutaway drawings, but have nowhere near the amount and detail of photographs. I could literally scratch build a large scale model from the drawings and the photos - except for the tailwheel arrangement which is scarcely covered. The only failing in this section is lack of discussion on why certain technical options were used. It only details what (e.g. engines, weapons, etc) was used; not what alternatives didn't make the grade. Note: I've only read parts of it thoroughly, so rereading the book may provide some answers between the tri-motor and twin-motor sections.

The cons:
- operations narrative is (as previously commented) not very comprehensive. The Spanish Civil War, the Albanian/Greek campaign, North Africa, Torpedo-bomber operations, ANR, Foreign Users all feature as separate chapters, heavy in photography but spartan in operational history. The Osprey Combat Aircraft and the "Crickets Against Rats" volumes would give a better overall coverage of Sm79 level-bomber and torpedo-bomber operations. Certainly, the separate book on Sm79 Torpedo operations mentioned previously in this thread would be far more inline to be a comprehensive history of those units.

So, an overall assessment: this is no light-history reading/coffee table book. It is an attempt as a historical work and succeeds as such. It will dissappoint some who are looking for THE comprehensive tome on the "Hunchback". I find it a great companion book to my existing books on the Sm79. It is certainly a worthwhile book to someone starting down the path of reading about the Sparviero. I hope Mr Caliaro takes the time to write an expanded narrative history in the operations of the Sm79 (though I have no idea if he has any such plans).


...geoff

Re: Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

I’m about 85 pages in so far and I’ve enjoyed reading the technical chapter (40 pages) and the section on the initial design. There is (sorry Bear!) at least something about the different engines tried, also how the basic configuration of the aircraft dictated many of the other aspects such as how the bombs were carried and aimed. Also the author says in the introduction that he did not have space for all the operational material he has gathered and would like to do a further volume on that side of the story.

Interim verdict: so far, so good.

Re: Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

Cool. :) Happy to be corrected. I admit to being happily sidetracked on the gun position and structural framing photos/drawings.

Re: Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

I don’t blame you, they’re really interesting!

Re: Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero 1934-1947. From Airliner and Record-Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo-Bomber 1934.
 

Just to add my thoughts - this is a fabulous and indeed lavishly illustrated book. I got this on a bit of a whim but the author does a fantastic job of showing the many achievements of this wonderfully iconic aircraft, particularly the various air races and it’s sterling service as a torpedo bomber. I have never really been that interested in Italian aircraft but this has whetted my appetite for more as the design and service of this aircraft is truly fascinating indeed. Anyway, highly recommended from me, one of the most enjoyable books in the Crecy Classic series to date.