The Savoia-Marchetti S.66 was a twin-hull cantilever monoplane Italian flying boat. While the hull and wings were metal, it featured twin-booms and a tail unit made of wood. It first took to the sky in 1932 and was an enlarged version of the S.55. Powered by a trio of Fiat A.24R V12 pusher engines developing 750 horsepower each, it could fly up to 1,200km (750 miles) at a cruising speed of 235km/h (146mph or 127 knots).
Originally, the aircraft was designed to seat seven passengers in each hull for a total of 14. Eventually the two sleeping couches were removed allowing two to four extra people in each hull. This increased passenger capacity to 18-22 passengers, depending on the arrangement. A crew of two flew the aircraft.
Savoia-Marchetti S.66 Video
Following on from the last video about Britain’s de Havilland Comet, we stay in Europe for a look at the Savoia-Marchetti S.66 flying boat. There are two short videos here, the first a colourised one of the aircraft in action.
The second video shows Il Duce, Benito Mussolini, at the controls taking the plane for a spin. I’m sure that was naturally a privilege of being a Dictator. Mussolini merged all Italian airlines into one called Ala Littoria SA on 28 October 1934, who were the primary operator of the aircraft.
One of the routes operated by the S.66 was by Aero Espresso Italiana on Brindisi-Patras-Athens-Istanbul. You could also find it flying between Rome and Tripoli. For those wondering about flying times, according to a 1935 timetable, Brindisi to Athens took a leisurely three and a half hours. Athens to Rhodes was an hour shorter in duration.
The Savoia-Marchetti S.66
Pictures of the 1930s flying boats really don’t give much of an idea of scale. These aircraft were very small indeed, and you can see that in the cutaways in particular. The passenger cabin is pretty petite for the seven people in each hull.
There doesn’t appear to be any provision for cabin crew or a galley. Considering the sectors were only a few hours, I imagine that was not much of an issue. Either way, it all seems pretty basic, doesn’t it?
Another accident report for the same incident lists another route – Barcelona–Marseille–Genoa–Rome. While that accident was non-fatal, another in 1938 occurred with all on board perishing.
Overall Thoughts
There were 24 Savoia-Marchetti S.66 aircraft built. Services commenced in late 1933, and the last was delivered in December 1937. After airline services ended at the start of the second world war, it was used as a search and rescue aircraft. None survive today, of course.
What do you think of this obscure Italian flying boat? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image via Wikimedia Commons.
Cutaway with four cross sections via Aviation Rapture.
Cutaway with lettering and plan view via Avia Deja Vu.
Colorised video via Aviation Archive on X.
Mussolini video via hw97karbine on X.
