Like the larger Junkers Ju 52/3m which
it resembled, the Savoia-Marchetti
S.M.81 Pipistrello (bat) had originally
been designed as a bomber, the work
of Alessandro Marchetti, and as such
had seen service in both the Spanish
and Abyssinian wars; also like the German,
design it had its root in civil aviation,
being based on the S.M.73, which
also had a fixed landing gear arrangement.
Dating as it did from 1935, the S.M.81
was already suffering a degree of
obsolescence when Italy entered
World War II, so that despite the
robust mixed construction which
proved capable of absorbing much
battle damage, it was rapidly replaced
as a bomber by the S.M.79, production
having ceased in March 1938 after 534
had been delivered; the 304 which remained
on the strength of the Regia
Aeronautica were converted to troop
carriers (18 men) after withdrawal
from front-line squadriglie.
In this capacity, the S.M.81 was relegated
to service on the African and
Eastern fronts, where it proved sufficiently
useful for production to be resumed
in 1943 of the version which by
then had been designated S.M.81/T.
However, the coming of the armistice
with the Allies in September 1943
meant that only about 80 of these additional
aircraft were built, and only four
remained in the south by this time
although no less than two complete
transport units were still equipped
with the type in the 'Salo' Republic of
Italy (Fascist-controlled northern Italy).
An interesting historical fact is that
one transport model of the S.M.81 was
later used as the personal transport of
Mussolini, a specimen that received
the inappropriate name Taratuga (tortoise),
A variety of different radial motors
was fitted, including the 485kW or 507kW Alfa
Romeo 125 RC.35 or 126 RC.34 respectively,
the 485kW Gnome-
Rhone 14K or the 500kW Piaggio P.X RC.35.
