SIAI-Marchetti

SIAI-Marchetti was an Italian aircraft manufacturer.

History

The original company was founded in 1915 as SIAI (Società Idrovolanti Alta Italia - Seaplane company of Northern Italy). 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 Marchetti joined the company in 1922. Savoia-Marchetti gained prominence with the successful S.55 flying boat. Savoia-Marchetti became famous for its flying boats and seaplanes, which set numerous endurance and speed records. Favoured by Air Marshall Italo Balbo, the company began rapidly prototyping and developing a number of other aircraft, increasingly focusing on warplanes in the lead-up to World War II. However, most of S.M.'s manufacturing capabilities were destroyed in World War Two. It was renamed SIAI-Marchetti in 1943.

SIAI-Marchetti only survived in postwar Italy by building trucks and railway equipment. However it still struggled with insolvency for 6 years after the war before declaring bankruptcy in 1951. In 1953, the company reopened. It began to focus increasingly on helicopters in the 1970s and was eventually purchased by the aerospace firm Agusta in 1983.