The S.M. 82 Canguru ("Kangaroo") was a large Italian transport, with
a secondary role as bomber. Based on the earlier S.M. 75 Marsupiale
civil transport, it was a
tri-motor aircraft primarily of wooden construction (with some metal on
the forward fuselage and fabric on the control surfaces). Internally,
it had two levels. The top held the
crew and 32 passenger seats. The lower level held eight passenger
folding seats
as well as cargo space.
Some 750 of the S.M. 82 were built, about 230 specifically for
service by the Luftwaffe. At least 400 were used in the transport role
by
Italy starting in 1940. Despite being an easy target for Allied
fighters, the S.M. 82 was a very useful transport for the Italians and
Germans.
Crew consists of a pilot, copilot, navigator and flight engineer. The S.M. 82 uses 34 gallons of aviation fuel per hour at routine usage.
Subassemblies: Heavy Bomber chassis +5, Heavy Bomber
Wings +3, three Small AFV pods [2*Wings:F, 1*Body:F] +2, three
retractable wheels
+2.
Powertrain: 3*708-kW aerial HP gasoline
engine [Pods:F] with 3*708-kW prop and 1,500-gallon standard fuel tanks
[Wings and Body].
Occupancy: 4 CS, 40 PS Cargo: 20 Body
Armor
All: 2/3 W
Equipment
Body: Medium radio receiver and transmitter, navigation
instruments,
autopilot.
Statistics
| Size: 79'x97'x20' | Payload: 10.3 tons | Lwt: 19.9 tons |
| Volume: 1840 |
Maint.: 20 hours | Price: $98,800 |
HT: 11
HP: 1,200 [body], 415 [each wing], 150 [each pod], 100
[each
wheel]
| aSpeed: 230 |
aAccel: 3 |
aDecel: 15 |
aMR: 3.75 |
aSR: 3 | Stall: 77 |
Design Notes
Design speed was 199 mph. The historical speed has been used, as well
as the actual wing area (1,277 square feet). Weight, cost and HPs of
the
wings were halved. Weight was reduced by 10%.
The chassis was too small for the design, but the next larger
chassis was much to big.. To make up for the required volume, a
Medium AFV subassembly was purchased and "blended" into the chassis; it
added weight and cost, but only half it's HPs. Additionally,
the fuselage engine was placed in a pod attached to the front of the
chassis. In the end, excess space in the wings was used to make up for
a few VSP of remaining needed space.
All of the fuel tankage was in the wings, except for 44 gallons used
to power a generator in the fuselage.
Variants
The bomber version converted the lower level into a bomb bay with
a total capacity of 8,800 lbs of bombs. The bombardier position was in
a
retractable gondola (DR 3) added to the underside of the forward
fuselage. Aside from the bombardier, the gondola held a bombsight and
rear firing 7.7mm Breda-SAFAT (Aircraft LMG) Two
7.7mm Breda MGs were added in beam positions and one 12.7mm
Fraschini-Scotti (Medium Aircraft HMG) was
added in a dorsal turret. German aircraft replace the 12.7mm Scotti
with a 13mm MG 131 ad the 7.7mm Bredas with 7.92mm MG 17s. Sixty-eight
were specifically constructed as bombers and an unknown number were
converted to the role, which it did not perform well in, being highly
vulnerable to Allied fighters.