Macchi M.5

Macchi M.5

Role	Single-seat fighter flying boat
National origin	Italy
Manufacturer	Nieuport-Macchi
First flight	1917
Introduction	1917
Primary user	Italian Navy Aviation
Number built	244

A modern 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]

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

The M.5 was operated by five Italian maritime patrol squadrons as a fighter and convoy escort, and some were embarked on the Giuseppe Miraglia. Towards the end of World War I, the aircraft were flown by both United States Navy and United States Marine Corps airmen. Ensign Charles Hammann won the first Medal of Honor awarded to a United States naval aviator in an M.5.^[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.

In Popular Culture

In the 1992 Japanese animated film "Porco Rosso", Porco’s fighter when he served with the Italian Navy Aviation during World War I was a Macchi M.5.

Operators

Kingdom of Italy

United States

Specifications (M.5)

Data from ^[1]

General characteristics

Crew: one
Length: 8.08 m (26 ft 6 in)
Wingspan: 11.90 m (39 ft 0½ in)
Height: 2.85 m (9 ft 4½ in)
Wing area: 28 m² (301.4 ft²)
Empty weight: 720 kg (1,587 lb)
Gross weight: 990 kg (2,183 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Isotta Fraschini V.4B inline piston engine, 119 kW (160 hp)

Performance

Maximum speed: 189 km/h (117 mph)
Endurance: 3 hours 40 min
Service ceiling: 6,200 m (20,340 ft)

Armament

2 × fixed, forward-facing .303 British (7.7 mm) Vickers machine guns

References

1 2 Orbis 1985, page 2393
↑ http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/macchi5.htm

Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions.
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing.

Aircraft produced by Macchi/Aermacchi

Macchi	L.1 L.2 M.3 M.4 M.5 M.6 M.7 M.8 M.9 M.12 M.14 M.15 M.16 M.17 M.18 M.19 M.20 M.24 M.26 M.33 M.39 M.40 M.41 M.52 M.53 M.67 M.70 M.71 M.C.72 M.C.73 M.C.77 M.C.94 M.C.99 M.C.100 M.C.200 M.C.201 M.C.202 M.C.205 M.B.308 M.B.320 M.B.323

Aermacchi	MB-326 MB-335 MB-338 MB-339 MB-340 M-311/M-345

Joint ventures	AM.3 AMX M-346

Purchased designs	AL-60 S-211 SF.260 M-290

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