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

[Jukka Juutinen]

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).

[FalkeEins]

Originally Posted by Stig Jarlevik

.....meaning what?

..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.

[Stig Jarlevik]

Originally Posted by FalkeEins

..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.

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

[FalkeEins]

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/

[Jukka Juutinen]

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

[Bombphoon]

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

[Stig Jarlevik]

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

[Orwell1984]

Originally Posted by Bombphoon

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

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





Helion has this title scheduled for May 2023

[bearoutwest]

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

[Nick Beale]

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.