Probably the Pulpiest Plane on the Planet

[Sir Dryden]

Hi to all,

(I'm still relatively new around here, so I don't know if starting "inspiration" threads is frowned upon. Feel free to delete if you think it's irrelevant.)

I recently read a book about Adrien Arcand, a fascist leader here in Quebec during the 20s-30s. The book describes in good details the Canadian leg of Italo Balbo's transatlantic expedition in 1933. There were a few pictures in the book and I was blown away by the look of his airplanes (or flying boats, I guess). They're called SM55-X and they were manufactured by Savoia Marchetti. Here's a couple of pics I picked up on the net.

First up, a scale model, probably RC.


Second, a 1933 pic. Not the best, but there's two of 'em in the shot, so...


I love that thing! I might just build one once the BSC is over. Anyway, I just wanted to share.

Yours truly,

Sir Dryden

[Westfalia Chris]

Oh yeah, that one's a beauty. The only way it could be better would be adding a single tank track in each floating hull, so it could move on land, possibly with the wings retracted/swiveled to the sides.

[thebinmann]

Oh yeah, that one's a beauty. The only way it could be better would be adding a single tank track in each floating hull, so it could move on land, possibly with the wings retracted/swiveled to the sides.

That just sounds like a dream though

Great plane!

[Photographer]

Great plane. All you need is a jungle!

[AndrewBeasley]

They are wonderful planes - you can take them apart 

Have a look at http://www.modelflight.regheath.com/mf074/fullsize.htm for some basic info and the following picture:



This may well help building one.

Andrew