The Savoia-Marchetti S.66 was a 1930s Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 twin-hull flying boat

Flying boat

A flying boat is a fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a float plane as it uses a purpose-designed fuselage which can float, granting the aircraft buoyancy. Flying boats may be stabilized by under-wing floats or by wing-like projections from the fuselage...

 designed and built by Savoia-Marchetti

Savoia-Marchetti

-History:The original company was founded in 1915 as SIAI . After World War I gained the name Savoia, when it acquired the Società Anonima Costruzioni Aeronautiche Savoia, an Italian aircraft company founded by Umberto Savoia in 1915.The name Marchetti was added when chief designer Alessandro...

 as an enlarged development of the S.55

Savoia-Marchetti S.55

|-References:NotesBibliography* Yenne, Bill. Seaplanes & Flying Boats: A Timeless Collection from Aviation's Golden Age. New York: BCL Press, 2003. ISBN 1-932302-03-4.-External links:* *...

.

Development

The S.66 was developed as an enlarged version of the S.55 with the aim of replacing the S.55P. The S.66 was a twin-hull cantilever monoplane

Monoplane

A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. Since the late 1930s it has been the most common form for a fixed wing aircraft.-Types of monoplane:...

 flying boat with metal hull and wings and wooden twin-booms and tail unit. The two crew had enclosed cockpit

Cockpit

A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft, from which a pilot controls the aircraft. Most modern cockpits are enclosed, except on some small aircraft, and cockpits on large airliners are also physically separated from the cabin...

 mounted in the wing centre section between the two hulls, each hull contained seven seats, two sleeping couches and a lavatory. The prototype

Prototype

A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...

 first flew in 1931 powered by three Fiat A.22R engines strut-mounted above the wing. The company built 23 production aircraft with three 559 kW (750 hp) Fiat A.24R engines and the sleeping couches were replaced by two to four more seats in each hull.

Operators

Pre-World War II
 Italy

• Ala Littoria
  Ala Littoria
  Ala Littoria was the Italian national airline that operated during the 1930s and 1940s.- History :Ala Littoria was formed by a merger of Società Aerea Mediterranea , Società Anonima Navigazione Aerea , Società Italiana Servizi Aerei and Aero Espresso Italiana in 1934...
  
  
• Società Aerea Mediterranea
  Società Aerea Mediterranea
  Società Aerea Mediterranea was an Italian cargo and passenger airline based in Rome, Italy, which operated between 1928 and 1939 as subsidiary of Ala Littoria and between 1959 and 1981 as subsidiary of Alitalia...
  
  

World War II
 Italy

• Regia Aeronautica
  Regia Aeronautica
  The Italian Royal Air Force was the name of the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946...
  
  operated S.66s for search and rescue
  Search and rescue
  Search and rescue is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger.The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, mostly based upon terrain considerations...
  
  

Specifications (S.66)