Savoia Marchetti SM.82 NCL.39

[musec04]

Hello,

Currently on ebay is a photo of a Savoia Marchetti SM.82 with the marking NCL.39. I'm guessing NCL stands for Nucleo,but this could very meaningsignificance of the marking is?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/37524971930...UAAOSwa55lwqFa

Regards,

Clint

[Gianandrea Bussi]

The badge is that one of the italian airline L.A.T.I., so the code should mean Nucleo Comunicazioni L.A.T.I.
The Nuclei Comunicazioni were the name of the italian militarized airlines: Ala Littoria, L.A.T.I., Avio Linee Italiane (ALI).
Thank you for posting, I've never seen such a code before

ciao

Gianandrea

[musec04]

Thanks for the reply Gianandrea. Hopefully more of this type of code emerges in due course.Total speculation I admit,but I'd like to ask a further question. Did any of L.A.T.I.'s SM.82 have a construction number ending in 39?

Regards,

Clint

[Gianandrea Bussi]

Usually, the Regia Aeronautica codes hadn't any connection with the construction numbers.
Reading the chapter devoted to S.82 in the volume 9 of the "Dimensione Cielo" serie I see that the first S.82 delivered to L.A.T.I. - modified in order to perform transatlantic flights to Brazil - had civil codes and MM numbers (they came from Regia Aeronautica batches): I-BAIA MM 60291 nc 23 was the first one, delivered on 11 september 1940, followed by I-BRAZ MM 60309 nc 41 (17 october 1940), I-BOLI MM 60326 nc 49 (27 december 1940), I-BENI (10 february 1941), I-BATO (6 march 1941), I-BACH MM 60591 nc 107.
At the begin of 1942 there were "other" S.82 in charge: I-BELM and NCL-37,38,39,40: I suppose that these last ones were "normal" S.82 because they had any civil registration.

Because these NCL codes were in sequence, It's very unlikely that they had a link with the construction number: in fact, that would imply that the aircraft with construction number from 37 to 40 - built in 1940 - would have been gathered in the Nucleo Comunicazioni L.A.T.I. many months after their construction and after the construction of the purpose built S.82 for L.A.T.I.


ciao


Gianandrea