Savoia-Marchetti SM.84

what is it?

The Savoia-Marchetti SM.84, not to be confused with the Savoia-Marchetti S.84 airliner prototype, was a bomber aircraft designed and produced by the Italian aircraft manufacturer Savoia-Marchetti. It was flown by the Regia Aeronautica during World War II. The SM.84 was developed during the late 1930s as a replacement for the successful SM.79, with which it was derived and shared its wing design and three-engine configuration. On 5 June 1940, the first prototype performed its maiden flight, and quantity production commenced later that same year.

🔎How to recognise it: 3 piston engines with propellers · 21.1 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 467 km/htop speed
• range 1,830 kmwithout refuelling
• size 13.2 tmax take-off weight
• built 246made 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 86 years ago, in 1940.
• 🏎️Top speed is 3.6× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 21.1 m: about 5 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 2 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🌍Range of 1,830 km: 10× Amsterdam to Brussels.

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

spec sheet

first flight

1940-06-05

introduced

1940

retired

1948

status

retired

number built

246

role

bomber/torpedo-bomber

makers

SIAI-Marchetti

engines

3× Piaggio P.XI R.C.40

crew

5

length

17.9 m

wingspan

21.1 m

height

4.6 m

max take-off weight

13.2 t

top speed

467 km/h

range

1,830 km

ceiling

7,900 m

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