Fiat RS.14
| {{Infobox aircraft begin
|name=RS.14 |image=File:Fiat RS.14 bomb.jpg |caption= }}{{Infobox aircraft type |type=Long-range maritime reconnaissance floatplane |manufacturer=Fiat |designer=Manlio Stiavelli |first flight=May 1939 |introduced=May 1941 |status= |primary user= {{lang|it|Regia Aeronautica}} |more users=Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force |produced=May 1941 - September 1943 |number built=186 plus 2 prototypes{{Cite web |url=http://www.alieuomini.it/catalogo/dettaglio_catalogo/cmasa_rs,24.html |title=Fiat RS.14 |access-date=2014-11-26 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304062626/http://www.alieuomini.it/catalogo/dettaglio_catalogo/cmasa_rs,24.html |url-status=dead }} |variants with their own articles= }} |
The Fiat RS.14 was an Italian long-range maritime strategic reconnaissance floatplane. The RS.14 was a four/five seat all-metal cantilever low/mid-wing monoplane powered by two wing-mounted 626 kW (840 hp) Fiat A.74 R.C.38 engines. It had a conventional cantilever tail unit with a single fin and rudder. Its undercarriage consisted of two large floats on struts. It had a glazed nose for an observer or bomb aimer. The pilot and copilot sat side by side with a wireless operator's compartment behind them. In the bombing role the RS.14 was fitted with a long ventral gondola to carry various combinations of anti-submarine bombs (up to {{cvt|400|kg|lb|abbr=on}}).
Development
The RS.14 was designed by {{ill|Manlio Stiavelli|it}} at the {{ill|CMASA|it|Costruzioni Meccaniche Aeronautiche}} works at Marina di Pisa. The first of two prototypes flew in May 1939.
A prototype landplane version AS.14 was built and first flown on 11 August 1943. It was designed as a ground-attack aircraft and intended to be armed with a {{cvt|37|mm|in|abbr=on}} cannon and {{cvt|12.7|mm|in|abbr=on}} machine guns. It was not ordered and no others were built.
Operational history
The RS.14 went into service with the Italian Air Force with a number of maritime strategic reconnaissance squadrons at bases around the Italian coast and also in Sicily and Sardinia. They were used for convoy escort duties and anti-submarine patrols. Occasionally they engaged in aerial combat, obtaining unexpected victories such as when, on Saturday 9 May 1942, an RS.14 intercepted Spitfires that took off from the carriers HMS Eagle and USS Wasp, headed for Malta, and machine-gunned two. The two RAF fighters collided and fell into the sea. Both pilots were killed.Rogers 2000, p. 149. After the 1943 Armistice a few survivors were operated by the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force. At the end of the Second World War the aircraft were used for liaison duties around the Mediterranean carrying up to four passengers.
Variants
;RS.14
:Production float plane with {{cvt|840|hp-metric|kW|0}} Fiat A.74 R.C.38 engines, 188 built including two prototypes.
;AS.14
:Land plane version with retractable landing gear, one built.
Operators
;{{flag|Kingdom of Italy}}
;{{ITA}}
Specifications
File:Breda safat of fiat rs14.jpg
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=Donald, 1997, pg 413.
|prime units? = met
|crew=three
|length m=14.1
|length ft=46
|length in=3.25
|span m=19.54
|span ft=64
|span in=1.25
|height m=5.63
|height ft=18
|height in=5.75
|wing area sqm=50
|wing area sqft=538.21
|empty weight kg=5,470
|empty weight lb=12,059
|gross weight kg=8,470
|gross weight lb=18,673
|eng1 number=2
|eng1 name=Fiat A.74 R.C.38 14-cylinder radial piston
|eng1 kw=618
|eng1 hp=840
|max speed kmh=390
|max speed mph=242
|range km=2,500
|range miles=1,553
|ceiling m=6,300
|ceiling ft=20,670
|armament = *1 × 12.7 mm (0.5 in) machine gun
- 2 × 7.7 mm (0.303 in) machine guns
- up to 400 kg (882 lb) of bombs
}}
See also
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Notes
{{reflist}}
References
{{commons category|Fiat RS.14}}
- {{cite encyclopedia |editor-last=Donald |editor-first=David |title=The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft |publisher=Prospero Books |year=1997 |isbn=1-85605-375-X}}
- Monday, David (1984), The Concise Guide to Axis Aircraft of World War II, Chancellor Press, {{ISBN|1-85152-966-7}}
- {{citation | ref = AR00 | last = Rogers | first = Anthony | title = Battle over Malta - Aircraft Losses & Crash Sites 1940–42 | location = Stroud, Gloucestershire | publisher = Sutton Publishing | date = 2000 | isbn = 0-7509-2392-X }}
- The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985), 1985, Orbis Publishing, Page 1812
{{Fiat aircraft}}
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Category:1940s Italian patrol aircraft