Italeri 1388 Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 Pipistrello

The Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 Pipistrello (Italian Bat) was an Italian low-wing transport and bomber plane, with a mixed design, with a fixed landing gear. The drive was provided by three motors Piaggio P.XI RC.40 with 670 hp each. The prototype flight took place in 1935. Serial production was carried out in the years 1935-1938, ending with the production of about 530 machines of this type. The aircraft was armed with 5 7.7mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns and a load of up to 2,000 kg of bombs.

The Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 aircraft was created in response to the demand from the Italian military aviation (owned by Regia Aeronautica) for a new medium-range bomber capable of operating in Italian colonies in North and Central Africa. The new machine was a development of the civil aircraft of the same company - ie the SM.73. The SM.81 airplane was an average machine. It had poor flight performance, low bombardment accuracy from level flight and average maneuverability. The pluses include good bomb load capacity and range compared to machines from other countries. The SM.81 planes underwent their baptism of fire during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Later they fought in the course of the fighting in Greece (1939-1940) and in the initial phase of the war in North Africa (1940-1941). From the turn of 1938/1939, they were replaced in the line by much more modern Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 planes. A small number of SM.81 served in Spanish and German aviation. Several examples that survived the war served in the Italian air force until 1950.