Savoia-Marchetti SM.75 Marsupiale

what is it?

The Savoia-Marchetti SM.75 Marsupiale (Italian: marsupial) was an Italian passenger and military transport aircraft of the 1930s and 1940s. It was a low-wing, trimotor monoplane of mixed metal and wood construction with a retractable tailwheel undercarriage. It was the last of a line of transport aeroplanes that Alessandro Marchetti began designing in the early 1930s.

🔎How to recognise it: 3 piston engines with propellers · 29.7 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 368 km/htop speed
• range 2,279 kmwithout refuelling
• seats 24passengers
• size 14.5 tmax take-off weight
• built 99made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 89 years ago, in 1937.
• 🏎️Top speed is 2.8× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 29.7 m: about 7 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 2 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🌍Range of 2,279 km: 13× Amsterdam to Brussels.

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1937

introduced

1938

retired

1949

status

retired

number built

99

role

civil airliner & military transport

origin

🇮🇹 Italy

makers

SIAI-Marchetti

engines

3× Alfa Romeo 126 R.C.34

crew

4

passengers

24

length

21.6 m

wingspan

29.7 m

height

5.1 m

max take-off weight

14.5 t

top speed

368 km/h

cruise speed

325 km/h

range

2,279 km

ceiling

7,000 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.