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Ansaldo SVA (Primo)

1917 WORLD WAR 1

History of Ansaldo SVA (Primo)

The Italian aviation group Ansaldo played a role in the air combat of World War I (1914-1918) and contributed some notable designs to the Allied industry. One proposal is the Ansaldo SVA (Savoia-Verduzio), a single-seat reconnaissance platform with double wings and unequal wingspan. A total of 1,245 prototypes were produced, and the first flight took place in 1917. Production of the plane didn't stop until 1927a remarkable feat for a World War I-era fighter.

Its design is credited to Umberto Savoia and Rodolfo Verduzio.

The SVA was originally modeled on a high-speed fighter platform, but despite its impressive straight-line performance (up to 140 mph), it failed to fulfill its intended role and was instead relegated to a reconnaissance mission because it period of conflict. In this role on the battlefield, the SVA excels because it has the top qualities needed for a scout mount - height, range and speed. This newfound role ensures that Ansaldo's designs can be used at the end of the war and beyond -- in fact, the series managed some of the longest reconnaissance missions of the war and performed well as expected.

Many flights over 300 miles have been recorded during the war years and even after the war, including the historic flight from Rome to Tokyo with a range of approximately 11,250 miles.

SVA. 1 is the first one-off prototype to test the feasibility of the SVA design. This resulted in the first 65 production SVAs. The 2 series aircraft ISVA was formed from this brand as a derivative of seaplanes, 50 of which were built for the Italian Navy. SARFT.

4 marks the first "true" production quality model and loses the Vickers machine gun mounted to the port as a weight saving measure (AER produces this brand as the SVA.3 and the SVA.3 Ridotto ("reduced") is a a fast and lightweight interceptor branch).

The final production brand became SVA. 5 "Primo" with 200 hp SPA 6A series engine. Performance includes a top speed of 140 mph, a range of up to 420 miles and a service ceiling of 19,700 feet. The weapon is centered on 2 x Vickers.

303 machine guns, plus a modest 200lb bomb load (SVA could be used as a light bomber beyond its intended reconnaissance mission).

This was followed by the prototype bomber of the SVA. 6 and another one-off prototype as SVA. The 8th Gro?raumschwader welcomes the unarmed reconnaissance SVA. 9 and radio and television.

The 10 retains the two-seat configuration and reconnaissance role, but is powered by a 250-horsepower Isotta-Fraschini engine. This target is defended by two machine guns - one fixed, forward-firing, the other a trainable Lewis gun installation.

The SVA family of operators (outside Italy) includes Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Georgia, Latvia, Paraguay, Poland, the USSR, the United States, Uruguay and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

In 1918, Ansaldo released the A.1 "Balilla" biplane (described in detail elsewhere on this page) - another mount capable of speeds approaching 140 mph. However, this was a post-war design, with just over 100 produced, none of which served in the conflict.

It is the only Italian-designed and produced warfighter in Italy, filling a role that the SVA series failed to fill.