Manfredi, Enrico - Forgotten aircraft: the aeroplanes of CMASA (ebook)

Manfredi, Enrico. - Forgotten aircraft: the aeroplanes of CMASA (2015)

This paper outlines the story of an aircraft factory that was active in the first half of 1900 in Marina di Pisa. The Costruzioni Meccaniche ed Aeronautiche Società per Azioni (CMASA) built 129 Dornier Wal flying boats, mainly because of the terms of the Versailles Treaty. Some of them performed famous record flights.
CMASA was then bought by FIAT and turned to military production. It designed and built in series, during WW2, the RS14, a twin engined floatplane, which is described in some detail here. In 1937, FIAT C.M.A.S.A. built the prototype of a twin engined bomber landplane called B.G.A. Other projects included a six engined passenger flying boat, called J.S. due to carry out a regular passenger service between Italy and Latin America for LATI airlines.Its development was interrupted by the war.
Another very ambitious project by Ing. Stiavelli was the speed record monoplane CS15 (Corsa Stiavelli). With its 2250 hp liquid-cooled engine and its counter-rotating propellers, it was designed to reach 800 km/h and bring the world speed record back to Italy.
Today, the small town of Marina di Pisa has is a peaceful seaside resort. Only a few very old people still remember that aircraft engines once roared there and that sea spray trails spurted in the wake of flying boats and floatplanes taking off on the sea.
The author, Prof. Enrico Manfredi, was born in Cagliari in 1938; he graduated in Industrial Engineering (mechanics) at Pisa University. He started his career at Livorno Naval Academy, went later to the Ateneo pisano, which awarded him the Order of the Cherubino. He then worked at the Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering, Pisa University, until retirement. He did research in Mechanical Engineering, Materials and Nuclear Engineering His latest project is 'Aerospace gear testing.' He has published several works.

27 pages – in English - PDF to download