Macchi M.5

Last updated
Macchi M.5
Macchi M.5.jpg
RoleSingle-seat fighter flying boat
National originItaly
Manufacturer Nieuport-Macchi
First flight1917
Introduction1917
Primary userItalian Navy Aviation
Number built244
Macchi M.5 front quarter above.jpg
Replica M.5 MACCHI-M5.jpg
Replica M.5

The Macchi M.5 was an Italian single-seat fighter flying boat designed and built by Nieuport-Macchi at Varese. It was extremely manoeuvrable and agile and matched the land-based aircraft it had to fight. [1]

Contents

Development

The first prototype of a single-seat sesquiplane fighter was the Type M which first flew in 1917. Developed by engineers Buzio and Calzavera it had a single-step hull and an open cockpit forward of the wings and was similar to the earlier Macchi M.3. It was followed by another prototype with a revised tail unit designated the Ma and further developed as the M bis and Ma bis. The production aircraft was designated the M.5 and like the prototypes was powered by a single Isotta Fraschini V.4B engine in pusher configuration. Deliveries soon commenced in the summer of 1917 to the Aviazione per la Regia Marina (Italian Navy Aviation). Late production aircraft had a more powerful Isotta Fraschini V.6 engine and redesigned wingtip floats, they were designated M.5 mod. Macchi produced 200 aircraft and another 44 were built by Società Aeronautica Italiana.

Operational history

During World War I, the M.5 was operated by five Italian maritime patrol squadrons as a fighter and convoy escort, and some were embarked on the Regia Marina seaplane carrier Giuseppe Miraglia . Towards the end of World War I, M.5 aircraft were flown by both United States Navy and United States Marine Corps airmen. For his actions while flying an M.5 over the Adriatic Sea off the coast of Austria-Hungary on 21 August 1918, U.S. Navy Ensign Charles Hammann, an enlisted pilot at the time, received the first Medal of Honor awarded to a United States naval aviator. [2]

In 1923, when the Regia Aeronautica was formed, 65 M.5s were still in service, although they all had been scrapped within a few years.

Operators

Flag of Italy (1861-1946) crowned.svg  Kingdom of Italy
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil

Specifications (Macchi M.5)

Data from [1]

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 Orbis 1985, page 2393
  2. "Macchi M.5".