September 2018 FLYPAST 81LIONS
Paper
LIONS
Paper
LIONS
Above
One of the tricolour
leafl ets dropped
over Vienna, with
signatures of the
raid’s participants.Left
A view of an SVA
showing the busy
upper camoufl age
and tail-mounted
streamers.MAP - ISTOCK.COMHowever, the type was
recommended for reconnaissance
duties as it combined speed,
stability, safety, and above all,
excellent endurance.
In northern Italy a staff of 18
pilots and a fleet of SVAs formed the
nucleus of 87° Squadriglia (‘the 87th
Squadron’), on February 2, 1918 at
Ponte San Pietro in the Province of
Bergamo. Most of the pilots came
from the region of Veneto and the
city of Venice, to the east on the
northern Adriatic coast. Wanting to
give a name to their squadron, the
pilots decided on La Serenissima
(Most Serene) an epithet bestowed
on Venice when it was capital of the
independent Venetian Republic,
prior to the reunification of Italy
in the late 19th century.I
talian manufacturer Ansaldo’s
SVA 5 was fast, innovative and
one of the first aircraft conceived
and constructed entirely in Italy.
There were great hopes for it.
Power came from a 200hp
(149.2kW) SPA engine, which gave
the narrow-winged biplane a speed
of 136mph (220km/h). This was
more than 18mph greater than any
of the enemy Austro-Hungarian,
or Italian, aircraft in service at the
time. Designed as a fighter, the SVA
was condemned by leading pilots,
including the ‘aces’ Count Francesco
Baracca and Ferruccio Ranza. They
suggested it was unsuitable due to
poor handling and the location of
its machine guns, positioned too far
forward for the pilot to reach in the
case of jamming during combat.Luigino Caliaro describes how the Italians sent a message into the describes how the Italians sent a message into the
heart of their Austro-Hungarian enemy by ‘bombing’ Viennaheart of their Austro-Hungarian enemy by ‘bombing’ Viennaheart of their Austro-Hungarian enemy by ‘bombing’ Viennaheart of their Austro-Hungarian enemy by ‘bombing’ Vienna