Italian aircraft designations
 

Hi,

What was the proper designation for Italian aircraft.

SM79/80/81. Was it SM79/80/81 or S79/80/81?
CR32/42. Was it CR32/42 or Cr32/42?
RO37. Was it RO37 or Ro37?
MC200/202/205. Was it MC200/202/205 or Mc200/202/205?

I've seen these written both ways. Which is correct?

Alex

Re: Italian aircraft designations
 

Probably the definitive text (in English) on the Regia Aeronautica is that by Chris Dunning, 'Courage Alone'. And he shows the designations for the aircraft you are interested in as:

Savoia Marchetti: SM 79, SM 81 etc
Fiat: CR 32, CR 42, G 50
Meridionali: Ro 37, Ro 43
Macchi: MC 200, MC 202, MC 205

Yet even in this book there are varitions to the above, as in the text the above aircraft are referred to as above, while in the colour profiles they are shown as:

Savoia-Marchetti: S.79, S.81
Fiat: CR.32, CR.42, G.50
Meridionali: Ro.37, Ro.43
Macchi: C.200, C.202, C.205

So heaven only knows. :)

Re: Italian aircraft designations
 

These questions are like debating on angels' sex... the same as the "Bf 109" vs "Me 109" ever popular controversy.

The main thing to know is that such designations were often used indifferently (even officially) and what is their origin.

SM stands for Savoia Marchetti, but S could stand also for SIAI, which was the name of the firm building those planes in the '40s.

CR (or Cr as often used) stands for Celestino Rosatelli, the designer of the series of biplanes; and G stands for Gabrielli, the other great designer for the FIAT firm.

Ro stands for Romeo (so I guess the first capital only letter should be correct).

MC stands for Mario Castoldi, the designer of the Macchi fighters, but also C only was widely used, as it happened for the Fiat G series.

That's it. Being no purist for such things I can only share these few infos. Of course there will be people more knowledgeable than me in this field, able to determine where, when and why different designations were used.

HTH,

Re: Italian aircraft designations
 

Hi,


Thanks for the answers. I guess as long as I keep the designation the same then it doesn't really matter which one I use.

Alex

Re: Italian aircraft designations
 

Hello Alex,

Just a short addition to Ferdinando's comments (which I agree with). I've seen adverticings from the 40's from SIAI on both the S.79 and the SM 79 so it seems that there were no particular "rule" on the designation.

Best wishes/Håkan

Re: Italian aircraft designations
 

Is their a difference between factory and military designations, which would make both applicable, but only one official?

Re: Italian aircraft designations
 

Not quite... ;)

A foolproof method to use an "official" designations (not unique, though) can be to look at the way the name of the plane was written on the plane itself, often near the serial number (M.M.) or on the tail: We have Fiat C.R. 42, Fiat G. 50 and so on...

It can be an interesting and useful exercise.

HTH

Re: Italian aircraft designations
 

Now why didn't I figure that one out myself.

Good tip, thanks Ferdinando!

Re: Italian aircraft designations
 

I have several original manuals of Savoia Marchetti SM79, for istance about 3° serie by Savoia Marchetti sais " S. 79", 11° serie by Savoia Marchetti sais "S.M. 79" .
So both are correct.
MC doesn't mean Mario Castoldi, but Macchi-Castoldi, as MB326 means Macchi-Bazzocchi.
All Macchi planes were M, but not all macchi's designers were named Mario.
Ciao.
Gianclaudio

Re: Italian aircraft designations
 

Thanks again for everyones input, much appreciated.

Alex