December 2018 FLYPAST 75Spotlight on Italian
Schneider racersmiles (280km) was the approximate length of the course in the early years
cockpit and Monti had to quit
when he suffered burns caused by
fractured water-cooling tubing.
Thus, just the M.52R remained in
contention, flown by Molin who,
despite on paper having the lowest-
powered aircraft in the competition,
compensated with exceptional flying
skill. He gained second place at an
average of 283.9mph (457km/h).Fastest tricolour in
the world
To avoid losing the trophy again,
the Aeronautica Militare instructed
Macchi to develop a new floatplane
racer powered by the revolutionary
Fiat AS.6 engine. In response,
Castoldi designed the streamlined
MC.72 racer.
The machine had a low wing
and part of the fuselage was of
monocoque construction and clad
in a mixture of wood and metal.
Great care was taken to follow
and streamline the profile of the
engine block.
The wing comprised a Duralumin
bi-longeron without dihedral.
Mainplane surfaces featured integral
radiators which, in part, also covered
the rear fuselage; wood was used for
the rear section, while the control
surfaces’ metal framework was
covered in fabric. The floats were
metal (although some were also
built from wood), and brass
radiator panels covered much of
the floats’ shock-absorbing support
struts. Forward and lateral pilot
visibility was minimal, and just
essential instruments equipped the
cramped cockpit.
Learning from experience with
the previous AS.5 engine, and to
increase its power, Fiat decided
to couple two AS.5 enginescoloured buoys positioned on the
lake before and after the apex of the
turn until they were able to complete
the manoeuvre ‘automatically’.Unfortunate epilogue
Prior to the 1929 competition at
Calshot, an official request went
out to the main Italian aircraft
manufacturers to develop a
new machine.
Four designs were selected, and
the completed prototypes were
sent to Desenzano for evaluation.
Flight trials took place over Lake
Garda between the Fiat C.29,
Piaggio-Pegna Pc7, SIAI S.65 and
Macchi M.67 – the latter, a direct
development of the winning M.39,
was chosen. Macchi’s M.67 differed
substantially from the M.52 because
it was powered by an 18-cylinder
Isotta Fraschini Asso water-
cooled engine, offering more than
1,400hp and designed by company
engineer Giustino Cattaneo. Like
its predecessors, the M.67 was
characterised by the low woodencockpit and Monti had to quit
wing when he suffered burns caused by
and a mixed
fuselage
structure.
The development of the new
engine was long and problematic,
and there were unreliability issues.
During flight trials, one of the three
M.67s crashed into Lake Garda on
August 22, 1929, resulting in the
death of Capitano Giuseppe Motta.
And so it was the Italian team
arrived in Britain with two M.67s
assigned to pilots Giovanni Monti
and Remo Cadringher. The third
aircraft was an M.52R (ridotto- re-styled), which was a smaller
version of the M.52 with thinner
horizontal struts between the
floats and minor aerodynamic
airframe refinements.
Sadly for the Italians, the outcome
at Calshot again failed to match
expectations. The two M.67s were
forced to retire, with Cadringher
pulling out of the second lap
when exhaust fumes entered the
when he suffered burns caused by
fractured water-cooling tubing.
Thus, just the M.52R remained in
contention, flown by Molin who,coloured buoys positioned on the
lake before and after the apex of the
turn until they were able to complete
the manoeuvre ‘automatically’.cockpit and Monti had to quit
when he suffered burns caused by
and a mixedAbove centre
The MC.72’s corrugated
radiator-covered wing
surface is evident here.Above
The Macchi M.67 was
Italy’s great hope for the
Schneider Trophy event
in 1929.Left
The eagle wing with large
red ‘V’ assigned to the
Velocisti pilots. To be part
of this elite band, airmen
had to achieve 500km/h
fl ight in a hydro-racer.Below left
A fi ne study of the Macchi
M.67 piloted by Remo
Cadringher at Calshot.174174