Savoia-Marchetti S.63

The Savoia-Marchetti S.63 was a single-hull development of the Italian S.55 flying boat. The S.55 had been designed as a torpedo bomber, which led to its twin hull, but the hulls added drag and weight and made take-offs with large fuel loads difficult, so the S.63 had a single hull and was originally built as a bomber. After service trials in 1927 showed that it offered no great advantage over the S.55, it was converted into a ten-passenger airliner. It was a cantilever high-wing monoplane with a three-spar wooden wing, and its first flight was on 8 September 1927. Only one was built, registered I-AABH, and it served with the Italian airline Società Aerea Mediterranea.