Ansaldo SVA

The Ansaldo SVA, named for Savoia, Verduzio and Ansaldo, was a family of Italian biplane aircraft of the First World War and the years after. Conceived as a fighter, it was judged inadequate for that role, but its speed, range and ceiling made it one of the fastest Allied combat aircraft of the war and an excellent reconnaissance machine and light bomber. Its plywood-skinned fuselage and unusual Warren truss wing struts, without spanwise bracing wires, set it apart. The design came from technical officers R. Verduzio and U. Savoia and a team led by Celestino Rosatelli. The first prototype flew from Grosseto on 3 March 1917, and the type is remembered for the propaganda flight over Vienna on 9 August 1918 by eleven SVA aircraft.