NBMR-4 requirement: the other Italian contenders

[Skybolt]

The official Italian submission to the NBMR-4 V/STOL transport was the G-222. What is little known is that other Italian companies submitted a design, but were told to forget about it. One of the most completely studied was the SIAI-Marchetti S-201, the first official project by Ing. Brena, former right-hand man and successor of Alessandro Marchetti (he is the father of all the S-2XX aircrafts, and was one of the designer of the Nardi FN-333, license-built by SIAI in the '50s). The S-201 was a STOL with orientable-exhaust jets and a raised cockpit to make room for a frontal door. Enjoy.
BTW, after the decision to tender the FIAT's as the natianl champion , the other companies was engaged in a consortium to build the aircraft. SIAI-Marchetti detail-designed and built the tail.

 

[Tophe]

Re: NBMR-4 requirement: the other Italian contender

My friend Max directed me to the twin-boom Fiat NBMR 4 (1961) project…
http://www.casr.ca/bg-aerospace-c27j-origins-1.htm
At first I thought the profile was a C-119 one but no, only the photograph is C-119, the colour profile is Fiat NMBR4.

 

[Tophe]

Re: NBMR-4 requirement: the other Italian contender

And this page directed me to a 16-pages pdf with the 3-view of the poorly known twin-boom A119. ;D
http://www.vtol.org/pdf/stov59.pdf
With twin-booms both for the rear door and for the 4 rotors…

 

[Skybolt]

Yep, there was at least two convertible Italian contender to NMBR4, the Stefanutti's Capitolium military version and one Aerfer design.

 

[Jemiba]

There wa the A 118, too, I think ...

 

[Tophe]

Re: NBMR-4 requirement: the other Italian contender

And this page directed me to a 16-pages pdf with the 3-view of the poorly known twin-boom A119. ;D
http://www.vtol.org/pdf/stov59.pdf
With twin-booms both for the rear door and for the 4 rotors…

I was focusing on twin-boomers, but this pdf shows NBMR.4 concerned at least BAC224, Aerfer2102, Agusta A118 & 119.

 

[Jemiba]

A drawing of the early G.222 VTOL proposal, stamp sized, but at least
showing the arrangement of the liftengines.
The site, where I found it, seems to be a dead link now ..

 

[Skybolt]

Jens, that' a part of the original 1959 patent owned by Giuseppe Gabrielli on behalf of FIAT Aeritalia. I'm trying since two year to track down the entire documents, . In my last trip in Rome I finally found an hint. In a couple of months possibly I'll be able to post it. I have found a small art of the Aerfer AE 130. I'll post it.

 

[hesham]

The official Italian submission to the NBMR-4 V/STOL transport was the G-222. What is little known is that other Italian companies submitted a design, but were told to forget about it. One of the most completely studied was the SIAI-Marchetti S-201, the first official project by Ing. Brena, former right-hand man and successor of Alessandro Marchetti (he is the father of all the S-2XX aircrafts, and was one of the designer of the Nardi FN-333, license-built by SIAI in the '50s). The S-201 was a STOL with orientable-exhaust jets and a raised cockpit to make room for a frontal door. Enjoy.
BTW, after the decision to tender the FIAT's as the natianl champion , the other companies was engaged in a consortium to build the aircraft. SIAI-Marchetti detail-designed and built the tail.

From Air Pictorial 1961,

I think they meant that one ?.

 

[hesham]

Yep, there was at least two convertible Italian contender to NMBR4, the Stefanutti's Capitolium military version and one Aerfer design.

From Air Pictorial 1961.

 

[Nico]

Dear friends,

Regarding the Italian participation in the NBMR-4 and NBMR-22 contests, we have seen references to the Capitolium (or CeCo S.2), designed by Eng. Sergio Stefanutti, under the Aerfer and Agusta brands.

Regarding this project I found a page of “Rivista Aeronautica”, house organ of the Ministry of Defence, dedicated to the Italian Air Force (issue of January 1989). The page was only a clipping (there was also an artist’s impression that, unfortunately, was cut in half, but, as documentation, I attach it anyway.

In the part of the text that referred to the Capitolium, it read: “In 1959, after leaving Aerfer, Stefanutti (the engineer Sergio Stefanutti, universally recognized as one of the most brilliant Italian designers) returned to service in the Aeronautical Engineering Corps with the rank of colonel and was assigned to the Centro Consultivo Studi e Ricerche dell’Aeronautica Militare. Within this Corps, he developed the project for a VTOL aircraft for light tactical transport: the CeCo S.2 quadrotor. In the intentions of the designer, this futuristic convertiplane was to ensure logistical support for front-line units. DeHavilland Aircraft was interested in the CeCo S.2, but Stefanutti refused to sell the drawings of this machine abroad, as he considered it an indispensable weapon for our country”.

It is possible that Stefanutti had actually offered the Capitolium to Aerfer before definitively assigning it to Agusta.

A colleague’s archive has revealed some drawings that demonstrate that the project had been the subject of a good level of definition, until the Ministry of Defence decided that its candidacy for the NATO contest would be the G.222.