SM.92
Contents
Description
The SM.92 is a rank III Italian strike aircraft with a battle rating of 4.0 (AB/RB) and 4.3 (SB). It was introduced in Update 1.87 "Locked On".
The SM.92 is an Italian twin-engine fighter/bomber prototype designed and produced in 1943. It utilized two imported German Daimler-Benz 605 engines. It was designed to have better performance than its predecessor, the SM.91. The middle gondola was eliminated and the cockpit for the crew of two, the pilot and the gunner, was moved behind the left engine. The gunner remotely operated a fixed 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine gun located in the aircraft's tail.
The SM.92 had an armament complement of three 20 mm MG 151 autocannons and four 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns.
In-game this plane can reach over 16 m/s in climb rate and with its air spawn, that is enough to get a sufficient altitude above most fighters once the engagements start.
General info
Flight performance
The SM.92 has a better performance than its predecessor, despite the engines staying the same. It has been made much more aerodynamic with the removal of the gondola on the SM.91 and the moving of the crew to the left fuselage, behind one of the 2 powerful Daimler-Benz 605A1 engines. Part of this improvement is also due to the change on the defensive armament, changing from a 20 mm cannon with a decent traverse to an aerodynamically mounted fixed 12.7 mm Breda-Safat
This plane also has leading edge slats, which help it on its roll rate (as they get deployed on one wing when doing a roll manoeuvre) and its low speed performance.
| Characteristics | Max Speed (km/h at 6,500 m) |
Max altitude (metres) |
Turn time (seconds) |
Rate of climb (metres/second) |
Take-off run (metres) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AB | RB | AB | RB | AB | RB | |||
| Stock | 606 | 590 | 12000 | 20.5 | 21.2 | 8.9 | 8.9 | 375 |
| Upgraded | 656 | 630 | 18.9 | 19.5 | 16.0 | 12.0 | ||
Details
| Features | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combat flaps | Take-off flaps | Landing flaps | Air brakes | Arrestor gear |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | X |
| Limits | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wings (km/h) | Gear (km/h) | Flaps (km/h) | Max Static G | |||
| Combat | Take-off | Landing | + | - | ||
| 845 | 300 | 535 | 450 | 260 | ~10 | ~5 |
| Optimal velocities (km/h) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ailerons | Rudder | Elevators | Radiator |
| < 300 | < 240 | < 500 | > 380 |
| Compressor (RB/SB) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Setting 1 | ||
| Optimal altitude | 100% Engine power | WEP Engine power |
| 6,000 m | 1,232 hp | 1,387 hp |
Survivability and armour
- Fuel tanks located in wings and behind the engines
- 38 mm Bulletproof glass - Armoured windscreen
Modifications and economy
| Flight performance | Survivability | Weaponry | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Armaments
Offensive armament
The SM.92 is armed with:
- 2 x 20 mm MG 151 cannons, centre-mounted (300 rpg = 600 total)
- 1 x 20 mm MG 151 cannon, mounted in right propeller hub (300 rpg)
- 4 x 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns, nose-mounted (350 rpg = 1,400 total)
Suspended armament
The SM.92 can be outfitted with the following ordnance:
- Without load
- 6 x 50 kg GP 50 bombs (300 kg total)
- 6 x 100 kg GP 100T bombs (600 kg total)
- 2 x 250 kg GP 250 bombs (500 kg total)
- 2 x 500 kg GP 500 bombs (1,000 kg total)
Defensive armament
The SM.92 is defended by:
- 1 x 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine gun, tail turret (350 rpg)
Usage in battles
At start of the battle climb 10°(stock)/12,5°(Upgraded) with WEP, go to up 2000m and after it you can do these tactics:
CAS
In Air RB attack the enemy light casamates with your bomb and go to destroy enemy light tanks, AA and artillery.
In Ground RB after picked up the plane, you can do a dive attack or a planar attack:
For a dive attack climb to the previous altitude (2000m) and do a dive and drop the bombs to the enemy ground vehicles;
For a planar attack go to enemy ground vehicles sideways and drop the bombs, remember this time the attack it's precise but you drop altitude when you do it and enemy AA vehicles can kill you more easily;
After dropped the bombs you can use the SM.92 as a Interceptor and kill dangerous enemy planes
Interceptor
After climbed 2000m, climb more and go to up 3000m and after it go to chase enemy bombers, attack frontaly or above the enemy bombers, if there are enemy fighter under you do a boom and zoom attack from above, you can use combat flaps for more maneuverability, attention the flaps have the limit of 535 km/h and after it they break, you lose speed and maneuverability without flaps.
There are some enemy fighters that you can't kill easily because are very maneuverable for example enemy Zero A6M2/A6M5, Spitfire (every variant)and other maneuverable fighters.
Manual Engine Control
| MEC elements | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mixer | Pitch | Radiator | Supercharger | Turbocharger | ||
| Oil | Water | Type | ||||
| Not controllable | Controllable Not auto controlled |
Controllable Not auto controlled |
Controllable Not auto controlled |
Separate | Not controllable 1 gear |
Not controllable |
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Lots of guns that can be Brought
- Good Suspended armament
- Good offensive armament
- Good Diving maneuverability
- Average maneuverability
Cons:
- Defensive turret is almost fixed (only ±2° in each direction); the target has to be at exact 6 o'clock to be engaged
- Bad rate of acceleration even when diving
- Big target for AA and fighters
History
The Savoia-Marchetti SM.92 was an Italian prototype heavy fighter/bomber aircraft developed during the Second World War. Based on the previous SM.88 prototype heavy fighter, the aircraft featured a dual-boom design with two engines and two crew members both in a single cockpit. Like its predecessor, only a single prototype was built; this aircraft was tested but later damaged when an Axis fighter pilot mistook it for the similarly-shaped American P-38 Lightning. After being grounded for repairs, the single aircraft was destroyed by Allied bombing, thus ending the life of this unique Italian heavy fighter.
Design and development
In 1939, the Italian aircraft firm Savoia-Marchetti produced the SM.88 fighter - this was a prototype heavy fighter aircraft with twin booms, two engines and a crew nacelle nestled in between the booms. Despite being quite successful in tests, the project was abandoned due to the introduction of the German Bf 110, a heavy fighter with similar performance. However, in 1942, Savoia-Marchetti began the development of a new heavy twin-boom heavy fighter aircraft, similar to the SM.88 - this would ultimately become the SM.92.
The SM.92 was developed at the same time as the earlier SM.91 heavy fighter, enabling the use of common components for both aircraft. The aircraft featured a twin boom design, meaning that there were two separate fuselages on the aircraft, one on each side. For simplicity, the SM.92 utilized the fuselage booms, tailplane and wing structure of the SM.91. However, the aircraft had just a single cockpit mounted asymmetrically on the portside or left fuselage. The two crew members consisted of a pilot and dedicated rear gunner, who operated the remote controlled turret at the rear.
The SM.92 was powered by two Daimler-Benz DB 605 engines producing a combined 2580 hp - fitted to the front of each boom, the engines drove three-bladed propellers. This powerplant enabled the SM.92 to reach a maximum speed of 630 km/h at altitude, with a service ceiling of 12 km. The armament consisted of three MG 151/20 cannons mounted on the centreline and inside the starboard propeller hub, as well as four Breda-SAFAT machine guns mounted firing forwards. A single additional Breda-SAFAT gun was mounted firing rearwards in the tailcone, though this weapon had a very narrow defensive arc.
Prototype history
Construction of the first SM.92 prototype was slow and only completed in late 1943; the prototype took flight for the first time in October of that year. The actual performance of the aircraft was worse than expected, but despite this, the prototype still flew for over 20 hours. In March of 1944, the prototype was airborne when it was engaged by an axis pilot, flying a Macchi C.205, who had mistook the aircraft for the Allied P-38 Lightning. Having taken severe damage, the aircraft limped home and was grounded for repairs; it was in this state that the aircraft was destroyed by Allied bombing, ending the development of this interesting aircraft design.
Media
- Skins
- Images
- Videos
See also
- Related development
External links
- [Devblog] SM.92: Second Chance for a Second Tail
- [Wikipedia] Savoia-Marchetti SM.92
- Official data sheet - more details about the performance
- [The World At War] Might Have Beens: Italian Twin-Engined Fighters, 1943
| Savoia-Marchetti | |
|---|---|
| Bombers | S.M.79 serie 1 · S.M.79 serie 8 · S.M.79 AS · S.M.79 bis/T.M |
| S.81 | |
| Attackers | SM.91 · SM.92 |
| Export | S.M.79 B |
| Captured | ▀S.M.79 serie 1 · ▀S.M.79 serie 4 · ▀S.M.79 serie 8 |
| ▀S.M.79 AS · ▀S.M.79 bis/N · ▀S.M.79 bis/T.M · ▀S.M.79 B | |
| Italy strike aircraft | |
|---|---|
| Ba.65 (K.14) L · Breda 88 (P.XI) · F.C.20 Bis · P.108A serie 2 | |
| Ro.57 Quadriarma · SM.91 · SM.92 | |
| Hungary | ◐Bf 110 G-4 · ◔IL-10 |
| Romania | Hs 129 B-2 (Romania) |
