Pomilio Gamma

Pomilio Gamma
The first Gamma prototype
Role	Fighter
National origin	Italy
Manufacturer	Pomilio
First flight	1918
Primary user	Italy
Number built	2

The Pomilio Gamma was an Italian fighter prototype of 1918.

Design and development

Gamma

The Pomilio company of Turin designed and manufactured the Gamma, a wooden, single-seat, single-bay biplane with wings of unequal span, the upper wing being of greater span than the lower. It was powered by a 149-kilowatt (200-horsepower) SPA 6A water-cooled engine driving a two-bladed tractor propeller. It had fixed, tailskid landing gear.^[1]

The Gamma prototype first flew early in 1918. An Italian official commission observed a demonstration of it, and concluded that although it was fast and had good maneuverability, its rate of climb was insufficient to merit a production order.^[2]

Gamma IF

Pomilio responded to the Gamma's shortcomings by building a second prototype, the Gamma IF, fitted with a more powerful Isotta-Fraschini V6 engine rated at 186 kilowatts (250 horsepower). An official commission saw a demonstration of the Gamma IF in 1918, but at first could not agree on whether it merited a production order. During the final weeks of World War I, the commission finally decided to order a small number of Gamma IF fighters, although the Gamma IF never entered active service.^[3]

Variants

Gamma

First prototype with SPA 6A engine

Gamma IF

Second prototype with Isotta-Fraschini engine

Operators

 Kingdom of Italy

• Corpo Aeronautico Militare

Specifications (Gamma IF)

Data from Green, William, and Gordon Swanborough The Complete Book of Fighters: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Every Fighter Aircraft Built and Flown, New York: SMITHMARK Publishers, 1994, ISBN 0-8317-3939-8

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 6.30 m (20 ft 8 in)
• Wingspan: 7.99 m (26 ft 2½ in)
• Wing area: 21.90 m² (235.74 ft²)
• Empty weight: 680 kg (1,499 lb)
• Gross weight: 950 kg (2,094 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Isotta-Fraschini V6 piston, 186 kW (250 hp) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 225 km/h (140 mph)
• Endurance: 3 hours

Armament

• ?

Notes:

• Time to 3,000 m (9,842 ft): 7 min 30 sec

Notes

1. Green and Swanborough, pp. 478-479.
2. Green and Swanborough, pp. 478.
3. Green and Swanborough, pp. 478.

References

• Green, William, and Gordon Swanborough. The Complete Book of Fighters: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Every Fighter Aircraft Built and Flown. New York: SMITHMARK Publishers, 1994. ISBN 0-8317-3939-8.