Macchi M.39 (Paperback)

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. The Macchi M.39 was a racing seaplane designed and built by the Italian aircraft company Macchi Aeronautica in 1925-1926. An M.39 piloted by Major Mario de Bernardi (1893-1959) won the 1926 Schneider Trophy, and the type also set world speed records that year. The M.39 was designed by Mario Castoldi (1888-1968) to represent Italy in the 1926 Schneider Trophy race, and it was the first low-wing monoplane that he designed for Macchi. It was a single-seat, twin-float racing seaplane, of mixed (metal and wooden) construction. The wooden wings were wire-braced, with two thirds of the upper surfaces used as low drag surface radiators. The pilot sat in an open cockpit parallel with the trailing edge of the wing; the cockpit's windscreen was profiled into the fuselage decking to reduce aerodynamic drag. The floats carried fuel.