(Italy) Savoja Umberto @·AIRCRAFTUBE

  • Umberto Savoja (Savoia)<br>1884 - 1954 Umberto Savoja (Savoia)<br>1884 - 1954
    Umberto Savoja (Savoia)
    1884 - 1954
  • Ansaldo S.V.A.5. Ansaldo S.V.A.5.
    Ansaldo S.V.A.5.
  • Ansaldo I_S.V.A. - SVA Idro Ansaldo I_S.V.A. - SVA Idro
    Ansaldo I_S.V.A. - SVA Idro
  • Ansaldo S.V.A.5. Ansaldo S.V.A.5.
    Ansaldo S.V.A.5.
  • Umberto Savoja Umberto Savoja
    Umberto Savoja
  • Gabriele D’Annunzio’s S.V.A. 10 for the flight over Vienna in 1918 Gabriele D’Annunzio’s S.V.A. 10 for the flight over Vienna in 1918
    Gabriele D’Annunzio’s S.V.A. 10 for the flight over Vienna in 1918
  • Ansaldo S.V.A 5 Ansaldo S.V.A 5
    Ansaldo S.V.A 5
  • General Umberto Savoja General Umberto Savoja
    General Umberto Savoja

Umberto Savoja (1884-1954)

Umberto Savoja (also spelt Savoia) was an Italian military engineer, pilot and aircraft designer, one of the founding figures of Italian aviation. Taught to fly in 1909 by Wilbur Wright himself, he became Italy's second military aviator, then, as an officer of the army's technical aviation directorate during the First World War, co-designed two of the most important Italian aircraft families of the conflict: the Savoia-Pomilio SP reconnaissance-bombers and the Ansaldo S.V.A.. He ended his career as director of Fiat's aviation branch.

Early years and the engineer corps

Savoja was born in Turin on 4 February 1884, the son of Giuseppe, an engineer and secondary-school teacher, and Gabriella Martinotti. After his secondary studies he chose a military career: he entered the Turin Military Academy in 1901, moved on in 1904 to the Artillery and Engineering School of Application, and graduated the following year. Commissioned as an engineer lieutenant in 1906, he was posted to the 5th Miners Regiment.

In 1908 he was transferred to the balloon company of the Engineer Specialists Brigade in Rome, the army's lighter-than-air unit, where he qualified as a balloon pilot.

Pupil of Wilbur Wright

In April 1909 Wilbur Wright came to Rome at the invitation of the Club degli Aviatori, which had bought one of his aeroplanes. Flying from the Centocelle meadow on the outskirts of the city (soon to become Italy's first airfield), Wright made several dozen flights, many with passengers, and gave flying instruction to two officers: naval sub-lieutenant Mario Calderara, who received most of the lessons and was soon able to fly solo, and lieutenant Savoja, who was only given a few flights at the end of the stay.

After Wright's departure Calderara continued flying, but on 6 May 1909 he crashed the machine and was injured. Savoja recovered the wreckage and had a copy of the Wright built, which Calderara took into the air on 1 July 1909. The two men worked closely together: a retractable undercarriage they had devised was patented in France on 8 September 1909 (patent no. 402,819). That same month, at the international air meeting at Brescia, Calderara won several prizes, including the one for passenger carrying, and took Savoja up with him. According to one account, a storm had wrecked the hangars and badly damaged the Wright just before the meeting, and the two officers rebuilt it in about nine days with whatever materials they could find. On 24 November 1909 Savoja was made an honorary member of the Club degli Aviatori of Rome.

Pilot's licence and early records

In May 1910 the army sent him to Mourmelon-le-Grand, in France, to test and negotiate the purchase of Henry Farman aircraft. He obtained his pilot's licence there on 4 July 1910, becoming the fourth licensed pilot in Italy. Back home, he set a national altitude record on 27 August 1910 and, on 14 September, flew over Rome, passing directly above the Quirinal Palace.

He married Luigia Talenti in Alessandria on 6 May 1911; the couple had two daughters, Andreina and Gabriella. During 1911 he returned to France to evaluate and buy aircraft, engines and instruments for the aviation section of the Engineer Specialists Battalion, then headed by lieutenant-colonel Vittorio Cordero di Montezemolo. In the same period he set up a workshop to build and repair the school's aircraft, working under General Giovanni Battista Marieni and Major Giulio Douhet. In autumn 1911, however, he had to leave aviation to attend the Army War School in Turin, which meant he took no part in the campaign in Libya.

The technical directorate and the SP family

Promoted to captain on 31 December 1912, Savoja was assigned in 1914 to the Direzione Tecnica dell'Aviazione Militare (DTAM) in Turin, the body responsible for specifying, overseeing and accepting the aircraft produced by Italian industry, where he served until autumn 1917 and eventually headed it. At a time when most Italian firms were content to build French designs under licence, the DTAM engineers set out to develop national types.

With his colleague Ottorino Pomilio, Savoja designed the SP.1 (Savoia-Pomilio), a reconnaissance and bombing biplane derived from the Farman MF.11 then being built under licence by the Società Italiana Aviazione (SIA). It kept the Farman layout: an open nacelle for the pilot and observer, with the engine at the rear driving a pusher propeller, and twin tail surfaces carried on booms. Larger and sturdier than its model, the SP.1 flew in 1916 and remained a single prototype, but it led to series versions built by SIA and by the company Pomilio had just founded: the SP.2, the faster and more refined SP.3, and the twin-engined SP.4. By the summer of 1917 roughly a quarter of Italy's front-line aviation units were equipped with Savoia-Pomilio types.

Savoja's dual role, as both designer and inspector of the aircraft ordered by the state, inevitably raised questions of conflict of interest over contracts and acceptance checks.

The S.V.A.

His best-known work was undertaken with another DTAM officer, Rodolfo Verduzio. Their design, built by the Ansaldo company of Genoa, took the name S.V.A. from the initials Savoia, Verduzio and Ansaldo. Conceived as a single-seat fighter and first tested in March 1917, it was a biplane with Warren-truss interplane struts and no spanwise bracing wires. Front-line pilots found it insufficiently manoeuvrable for fighting, but its speed, range and ceiling, which made it one of the fastest Allied aircraft of the war, turned it into a remarkable long-range reconnaissance aircraft and light bomber. It was produced in many versions well beyond the Armistice.

The S.V.A. made history on 9 August 1918, when pilots of the 87th Squadriglia "La Serenissima", led by the poet Gabriele D'Annunzio, flew over Vienna to drop propaganda leaflets. In 1920, Arturo Ferrarin and Guido Masiero flew the same type from Rome to Tokyo.

The SIA 7B inquiry and front-line service

In spring 1918, in his capacity as technical adviser to SIA, Savoja was drawn into the inquiry opened after a series of accidents involving SIA 7B reconnaissance aircraft. Colonel Giulio Douhet called for him to be given three months' fortress arrest, but the commissioner in charge did not follow this request. Savoja then left aviation: promoted to lieutenant-colonel, he took command of the LV sapper battalion of the XXVIII Army Corps, within the Third Army, and took part in the Battle of the Piave.

After the war

From September 1918 he taught in the practical staff course, then at the War School in Turin, by then with the rank of colonel. In November 1921 he completed a degree in civil engineering at the Polytechnic of Turin. He was later posted to the army's Automotive Technical Inspectorate, of which he became deputy inspector in 1928.

In 1929 he left the army to become director of FIAT Aviazione, a post he held until 1946. His role was above all to manage relations with the ministries and the leadership of the Regia Aeronautica; the design work itself was in the hands of engineers Celestino Rosatelli, to whom Fiat owed fighters such as the CR.32 and CR.42, and Giuseppe Gabrielli, designer of the G.50. Savoja retired with the rank of general and died at Lido di Camaiore, in Tuscany, on 4 June 1954.

Note on sources: there is no English or French Wikipedia article on Umberto Savoja; this text is based mainly on the Italian Wikipedia article and on his entry in the Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (Treccani, vol. 91, 2018), and several points differ between sources. Year of birth: 1884 according to the Dizionario Biografico, Wikidata and most references, but 1872 according to the Italian Wikipedia infobox and the short Treccani encyclopaedia entry (his entry into the Military Academy in 1901 is consistent only with 1884). Pilot's licence: no. 4 (Dizionario Biografico, Italian Wikipedia) or no. 2 (Treccani encyclopaedia). Wright's stay: 1 to 28 April 1909 in Rome, with the flights at Centocelle from 15 to 26 April; one English-language source wrongly places it in June. Production figures: SP.2 about 300 or 402, SP.3 about 350 or 300, SP.4 about 150 or 152; S.V.A. about 1,245 or 1,295 depending on the source, other sources giving around 2,000 including post-war production and as few as 619 for wartime production. The Italian Wikipedia article places the command of the sapper battalion before a return to the DTAM in 1917, whereas the Dizionario Biografico dates it to mid-1918, after he had left the DTAM. Italian Wikipedia states that he was for many years technical director of SIAI-Marchetti, which the Dizionario Biografico does not mention (it has him at Fiat until 1946): data not confirmed. Some sources also claim he founded the Savoia aircraft company (later Savoia-Marchetti, associated with Alessandro Marchetti); others state that the firm was set up by Domenico Lorenzo Santoni and named after the royal House of Savoy, with no involvement from Savoja. Final rank: brigadier general on leaving the service (Italian Wikipedia), general of the engineers (Treccani).

— — — = = — — —

This text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
Source : Article Umberto Savoja of Wikipedia ( authors )
Umberto Savoja : Your comments on this subject
Powered by Disqus
Top
Legal Credits FAQ Help Site Map

Terms of use for the services available on this site

By using this Website, Users agree to the following terms of use and rules :

Definitions

  • Webmaster : Head Administrator with all authority over the management and development of the Website.
  • Administrator : Anyone that was given by the Webmaster full or partial access to the Website's structure or with moderation rights on messages posted by Users.
  • User or Visitor : Any person visiting the Website pages.
  • Website : The following provisions apply to a single Website accessible via the www.aircraftube.com, www.aircraftube.org, www.aircraftube.net and www.all-aircraft.com. URL's
  • Service : All free informations and tools contained on the Website.
  • Comments : All text written by users on Blogs and comment pages available on the Website.
  • Media : All media available on or through the Website. One must distinguish the local media (photos, curves, drawings) and the external media (videos) which the Website refers.

    • Purpose of this site

    The purpose of this non-commercial site is purely educational. Reflecting a passion, it is also there to preserve the memory of all those who gave their lives, their health or energy in the name of freedom, aviation safety or simply our passenger comfort.

    Copyright

    Some media may have escaped the vigilance of Administrators with regard to copyrights. If a user reports copyright infringement, he will be asked to prove that he is indeed the rights's owner for the concerned media. If so, his decision on the Administrator's next action will be respected: A total suppression of the Media on the Website, or the addition of some owner's reference. The publication of a media on the internet normally having as a goal to make it visible to many people, the Administrators expect in any case that the second option will be most often chosen.

    Pursuant to the Law on copyright and related rights, the user has the right to download and reproduce information on the Website for personal use and provided that the source is mentionned. They cannot however be used for commercial or advertising purposes.

    Using Blogs and filing comments

  • Moderator : The Administrator reserves the right to prevent the publication of comments that are not directly related to the Service without providing any explanation. Similarly, all insults, out of scope or unethical material will be banned.
  • Identification : Persons wishing to post a comment or use any form of contact are required to provide identification by the means of a valid e-mail address.
  • Responsibilities : Comments are posted on the Website under the unique responsability of their authors and the Administrators may in no case be liable for any statements or claims that the users might have issued.

    • As the comment system is hosted and maintained on servers external to the Website, the Administrators may in no circumstances be held responsible for the use that administrators of these servers or other third parties may have with those comments or filed data.

    Content Liability

    The Administrators carefully check the reliability of the sources used. They cannot, however, guarantee the accuracy of any information contained on the Website, partly because of the multiple sources from which they come.

    JavaScript and cookies - Storing information

    This Website imperatively uses JavaScript and cookies to function properly. Neither of these technologies, or other means shall in no case be used on the Website for the retention or disclosure of personal information about Visitors. Exceptions to this rule will involve storing the Users banned for inappropriate comments they might have given as well as contact information for Users wishing to subscribe to future newsletters.

    When a user accesses the Website, the corresponding servers may automatically collect certain data, such as IP address, date and time of Website access, viewed pages and the type of browser used. This information is kept only for the purpose of measuring the number of visitors to the different sections of the site and make improvements.

    Donations - Advertising

    To continue providing the Service for free, the Webmaster reserves the right to insert advertising or promotional messages on any page of the Site. In the same idea, any donations will only by used to cover the running costs of the site, such as hosting, connection fees, hardware and software necessary for the development and maintenance of the Website.

    Links and other websites

    Administrators shall in no case be liable for the non-availability of websites operated by third parties to which users would access through the Website.

    Administrators assume no liability for any content, advertising, products and/or services available on such third party websites. It is reminded that those sites are governed by their own terms of use.

    Placing a link to third party sites or authorize a third party to include a link on their website refering to this Website does not mean that the Administrators recommend in any way the products or services offered by these websites.

    Modifications

    The Webmaster reserves the right to modify at any time without notification the present terms of use as well as all content or specific functionality that the Website offers.

    The modified terms and conditions immediately apply to the using Visitor when changes come online. Visitors are invited to consult the site regularly on the most current version of the terms and conditions

    Governing Law and Jurisdiction

    These general conditions are governed by Belgian law.

    In case of dispute regarding the interpretation and/or execution of the above terms, the parties agree that the courts of the district of Nivelles, Belgium shall have exclusive jurisdiction power.

    Credits page

    Wikipedia.org

    Wikipedia is a collaboratively edited, multilingual, free Internet encyclopedia.

    Youtube

    YouTube is a video-sharing website on which users can upload, view and share videos.

    Special thanks to all Youtube quality aviation vids providers, specially (Those I forgot, please excuse me or report) :

    Airboyd
    Andys Video
    Aviation videos archives
    Bomberguy
    Classic Aviation TV
    Historical Aviation Film Unit
    Horsemoney
    Jaglavaksoldier
    Joluqa Malta
    Just Planes
    Koksy
    Classic Airliners & Vintage Pop Culture
    Memorial Flight
    Octane130
    Okrajoe
    SDASM archives
    Spottydog4477
    The Aviators TV
    Valentin Izagirre Bengoetxea
    Vexed123
    VonBerlich
    Zenos Warbirds

    Bundesarchiv

    The German Federal Archives or Bundesarchiv are the National Archives of Germany.

    FAQ

    I don't see my comments any more!

    Please note that each page has it's own comment entry. So, if you enter a comment i.e. on the B-747, you will only see it on that related page.

    General comments are accessed via the "BLOG En" button.

    Comments are moderated, so please allow some delay before they appear, specially if you are outside Europe.

    Menus are developing below the page, because they are too long!

    But they remain accessible, for example by scrolling the mouse wheel, or with your finger (on the menu) on a smartphone or tablet.

    I see adds on all videos.

    Use a good free add remover software.

    The site is loading random pages at startup.

    We think it is a good way to bring back the memory of aircraft, persons or events sometimes quite forgotten.

    HELP PAGE

    Why this site?

    Discovery

    This website is dedicated to one's aeronautical passion (which I hope we share) and was realised mainly as an educationnal tool. Knowing that, you'll notice that each new visit brings random topics for the purpose of making new discoveries, some achievements or characters certainly not deserving the oblivion into which they have sometimes fallen.

    By these pages, we also want to pay tribute to all those who gave at one time or another, their lives or health in the name of freedom, aeronautical security or simply our comfort.

    Centralisation

    Internet is full of websites dedicated to aviation, but most are dedicated to subjects or periods that are very limited in space or time. The purpose of this site is to be as general as possible and thus treats all events as well as characters of all stripes and times while putting much emphasis on the most significant achievements.

    The same years saw birth of technologies like photography and cinema, thus permitting illustration of a large part of important aeronautical events from the start. Countless (and sometimes rare) media recently put online by enthousiasts finally give us access to these treasures, but the huge amount of information often makes things a little messy. A centralization effort is obviously most needed at this level.

    All persons who directly or indirectly contributed to the achievement or posting of such documents are here gratefully acknowledged.

    General

    Fluid website

    This site automatically fits the dimensions of your screen, whether you are on a desktop computer, a tablet or a smartphone.

    Bilingual website

    You can change the language by clicking on the flag in the upper left or via "Options" in the central menu. Of course, the videos remain in the language in which they were posted ...

    Browser compatibility

    The site is not optimized, or even designed to run on older browsers or those deliberately deviating from standards. You will most probably encounter display issues with Internet Explorer. In this case, it is strongly recommended installing a modern (and free!) browser that's respecting the standards, like Firefox, Opera, Chrome or Safari.

    Cookies and Javascript

    This site uses cookies and JavaScript to function properly. Please ensure that your browser is configured accordingly. Neither of these technologies, or other means shall in no case be used on the Site for the retention or disclosure of personal information about its Visitors. See the "Legal" page for more on this subject.

    Website layout

    Left menus

    Because of the lack of space on smartphones and small tablets, these menus are hidden. Everything is nevertheless accessible via the main menu option, located between the video and photo sections. This menu is placed there for compatibility reasons with some browsers, which play the videos over the menus.

    "Search" and "Latest" :
    The link "In Titles" restricts the search to the titles of different forms. Use this option if you are looking for a plane, a constructor, a pilot or a particular event that could have been treated as a subject.

    The link "In Stories" will bring you to a search in all texts (the "Story" tab) and will take more time. The search term will appear highlighted in green when opening the corresponding story.

    Would you believe, "Timeline" will show all subjects in chronological order.

    "Random" will reload the entire page with a new random topic.

    The bottom section keeps you abreast of the latest five entries. New topics are added regularly. Don't hesitate to come visit us often : add bookmark.

    Blogs and Comments central section

    Under the photos section comes the comments tabs window :

    You can enter general comments in your own language via one of the two buttons on the left (BLOG EN and BLOG FR). Note that these buttons are accessible regardless of the language to allow some participation in the other language.

    All comments are subject to moderation and will be published only if they comply with the basic rules of decorum, while remaining relevant to the purpose of this site.

    The third tab allows you to enter comments on the shown topic and is bilingual. Personal anecdotes, supplements and other information questions will take place here.

    The "Story" tab shows the explanatory texts. They are most often taken from Wikipedia, a site where we participate regularly.

    The "Data" tab is reserved for list of features and specifications.

    Right menus

    On a smartphone, the lack of space is growing and this menu is moved to the bottom of the page to give priority to videos and pictures.

    The top right icons are links to videos posted by third parties (on their own responsabilities) or by ourselves. The link below these icons will take you to the channel of the one who posted the video. Feel free to suggest other videos if you think they are of some interest (Use the BLOG button or the "Contact" link).