Savoia-Marchetti SM.75 Marsupiale

The Savoia-Marchetti SM.75 Marsupiale was a low-wing trimotor passenger and military transport aircraft of mixed metal and wood construction, with a retractable tailwheel undercarriage. Alessandro Marchetti designed it as the last of his line of transport aeroplanes, in answer to a request from the airline Ala Littoria for a modern middle-to-long-range airliner to replace the S.73. It kept the S.73's general layout but added retractable main landing gear to cut drag, and it could carry up to 24 passengers for 1,000 miles. The SM.75 first flew from Novara in November 1937, entered airline service with Ala Littoria in 1938 and with LATI in 1939, and was later militarised, with a long-range version flying wartime missions. The few that survived the war stayed in service until 1949.