J.Davilla Italian Aviation in the First World War. Vol.3: Aircraft M-W (A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes 75)

Macchi L.1

  Inspired by a captured Austro-Hungarian seaplane, the Macchi L.1 would provide the Regia Marina with an effective defense against the flying boats of that same country. It would also lead to the rise of the Macchi firm which is, under the title Aermacchi, still producing successful aircraft to this day.
  On 27 May 1915, L 40 suffered a broken crankshaft which resulted in a forced landing near Volano. Alerted by a local constable, the crew were easily captured. The Lohner was sent to the Porto Corsini naval air station for evaluation.
  The Lohner L 40 had been ordered by the Austro-Hungarian Navy under contract AE 000. It had a 140-hp Hiero engine on delivery, later 150-hp Rapp engines were also used. It had arrived in Pola on 31 December 1914 and operated from the seaplane stations at Pola, Sebenico from February 18-23, 1915. On 23 February 1915 during a flight to Pola it made an emergency landing due to lack of petrol at Medolino; the pilot and plane were rescued by mine-layer Chamaleon (Chameleon). It was repaired at Pola and on 28 May 1915 had participated in an attack along with L 44, L 46, L 47, L 48 and L 49 on Venice due to engine failure. It was during this raid that the aircraft force landed and was seized by the Italians.
  The commanding officer of the Ferrara airship station, tenente di vascello (Naval Lieutenant) Guido Scelsi, took the time to carefully examine the Austrian aircraft and found it to be a superior design, clearly more advance than the motley collection of seaplanes then used by the Regia Marina. On 31 May, Scelsi recommended that the Regia Marina build a series of ten Lohner flying boats.
  Macchi’s technical co-director Carlo Felice Buzio and his staff built and flew a copy in 'one month and three days’. The new seaplane obviously could not use the same engine as the captured example, so a 150-hp Isotta-Fraschini V4 engine, was used. It was tested by Giovanni Roberti di Castelvero and was sent to the seaplane station on Lake Varese.
  These tests led to an order for 48 machines on September 1915 plus another 200 in 1916. Eventually it would deliver nearly 140 L.1s, 31 in 1915 and 109 in 1916. Ship manufacturers such as Baglietto in Varazze and Picchiotti in Viareggio (Lucca), and the Zari aircraft firm were the most important subcontractors.
  Macchi fitted out the hulls, constructed the wings, and installed the engine at Masnago. The seaplanes were tested at Schiranna.
  Copies of the Austrian L-types were numbered in the 101 to 200 range. As the first four L.1s were delivered to the Regia Marina they received serials L.101, L.102, L.103, and L.104. Their deliveries were finished on 12 December.
  L.105 through L.108 were delivered in the first week in October, then the sequence restarted at L.169 on 19 October. This skip in the numbering sequence resulted in a stern warning to Macchi to adhere to the original numbering guidelines, and the normal sequence resumed.

Operational Service

  By the end of December 1915 Lohners were based at:
  Stations
   Brindisi, 1 Macchi L.1
   Grado, 2 Macchi L.1
   Porto Corsini, 4 Macchi L.1
   Venice, 4 Macchi L.1
  Ship RN Europa
   1 Macchi L.1

  In the second half of 1916 the structure of Italian aviation was as follows:
  Stations
   Brindisi - 332 sorties in 1916, 4 Macchi L.1
   Grado - 136 sorties in 1916, 6 Macchi L.1
   Porto Corsini - 44 sorties in 1916, 1 Macchi L.1
   Taranto -13 Macchi L.1
   Varano - 265 sorties in 1916, 5 Macchi L.1
   Venice - 242 sorties in 1916, 8 Macchi L.1
  Ship RN Europa
   6 Macchi L.1

  The L.1s were used for the mundane, but important missions, of coastal patrol usually lasting three and a half hours.
  On 4 May 1916, 2° capo Guido Jannello and his observer torpediniere Dante Falconi flew L124 against five Austro-Hungarian flying boats attacking Brindisi. Jannello claimed to have hit one of them. This victory was awarded to Jannello as the first victory for Italian naval aviation; Austro-Hungary did not record any losses that day.
  On 19 July 1916 L157, which was apparently captured by the Austrians and pressed into service.
  Brindisi utilized four aircraft in June 1916 (L135, L148, L195 and L196), three in December 1916 (L164, L205 and L214) and again four in March 1917 (L164, L214, L227 and L233) as trainers.
  On 26 September 1916, Brindisi sent four L.1s and three FBAs to bomb Durazzo where they set fire to a steamer, a hangar, buildings and eight wagons on the road to Tirana. L120 was shot down.
  During 1916 53 L.1s were lost representing half of the number of aircraft built. Very few of the losses were in combat, most were due to accidents or aircraft SOC due to breakdowns.
  The Italians had one seaplane-carrying ship in the early part of the war, the RN Europa, which had replaced the Elba in November 1915. Four L.1s were deployed initially and there were six at the end of the year. The ship was moored in the Albanian harbour of Valona, serving as a floating air base. According to Varialle, the possibility of launching Lohners or FBAs on ships’ decks was studied in December 1916 and June 1917, but was found to be too technically demanding to pursue. On 1 April 1916, cannon-armed Lohners L 186 and L 191 flew to Samano Point, alighted and blew up the coal stockpile, telephones and other equipment at thee Austrian base.
  As the more mature L.3s became available in 1917, the L.1s were relegated to the 6° Gruppo Scuole for use as trainers. The Gruppo consisted of five seaplane schools at Sesto Calende, Naples, Orbetello, Taranto and Passignano sul Trasimeno, the latter two being largely equipped with Lohners.
  The main L.1 training units were at Orbetello, Passignano sul Trasimento, and Taranto. Of these, the most important base was at Taranto, which in the first half of 1916 had eight L.1s, reaching 13 in late 1916, but dropping to a single L.1 in mid-1917. By the end of 1917, the number of L.1s with the school had risen to seven.
  The attrition rate for seaplane trainers must have been very high as ten L.1s were lost between 20 October 1916 and 30 July 1918.
  According to one seaplane student by 1917 the Lohners (L.1s and L.2s) were obsolete, requiring full power and a long take off run to leave the water.


Macchi L.1 Two-Seat Patrol Flying Boat with One 150-hp Isotta-Fraschini V4 Engine
  Wingspan 16.2 m, length 10.4 m, height 3.5 m; wing area 46 sq m
  Empty weight 1,159 kg; loaded weight 1,780 kg; payload 600 kg
  Maximum speed 105 km/h; climb to 2,000 m in 30 minutes; range 630 km
  Armament included twin-barrelled Revelli light machine guns, a single heavy gun and various combinations of light bombs under the wings
  Approximately 140 built



Macchi L.2

  Operational experience soon showed that the L.1 lacked the performance for air defence duties. To this end, Macchi developed the lightened L.1 derivative known to the Regia Marina as LC (for Lohner Celere or Corsa, indicating Fast Lohner). The company was awarded a contract for ten L.2, fitted with hulls provided by Zari and Baglietto and serialled LC 251-260. The entire batch was apparently delivered by May 1916.
  The new design retained the basic L.1 airframe but with a four bay wing. The empty weight was reduced by 250 kg.
  Varriale has suggested the L.2 may have been influenced by a Lohner T1 L 83 captured on 2 February 1916. Although the L.2 had a higher top speed a 140 km, performance degraded rapidly over time. The ceiling declined from the reported 2,000 m to as little as 700 m in the older airframes. The hull and engine supports failed, as did the magnetos and fuel pumps.

Operational service

1916
  Brindisi, 6 Macchi L.2
  Venice, 3 Macchi L.2
  Ship RN Europa, 1 Macchi L.2

  As they were of no use in combat, the L.2s were sent to training units. By late 1917 only a handful (the official history says four) L.2s remained in service, down from the seven that were at the Taranto school at the start of the year.
  L.2s ended its career with the training units of 6° Gruppo Scuole. This comprised five seaplane schools at Sesto Calende, Naples, Orbetello, Taranto and Passignano sul Trasimeno.


Macchi L.2 Two-Seat Patroll Flying Boat with One 150-hp Isotta-Fraschini V4 Engine
  Wingspan 16.2 m, length 10.6 m, height 3.16 m; wing area 46 sq m
  Empty weight 1,000 kg; loaded weight 1,450 kg; payload 450 kg
  Maximum speed 140 km/h; climb to 2,000 m in 19 minutes; 3,000 meters in 30 minutes; range 600 km; endurance 4 hours
  Approximately 10 built



Macchi L.3 (M.3)

  Macchi’s L.2 had proved unequal to the task of providing a defense against the Lohner seaplanes. As the L.2 was a slightly modified L.1, a more radical departure from the preceding L types was needed.
  Developed in 1916 by the Macchi seaplane division at Schiranna under the direction of Felice Buzio, the Macchi L.3 was a two/three-seat single-step flying-boat, which had unequal-span biplane wings developed from those of the L.2, but with a hull and tailplane of entirely new design. The hull was more streamlined and the tailplane, strut-mounted above the hull, was to become a characteristic of Macchi flying-boats.
  In 1917 the original L.3 designation was changed to M.3 in recognition of the difference in concept from the original Lohner-inspired Macchi machines. However, the official naval aviation history still refers to them as “L.3s”.
  The Macchi L.3 was significantly lighter than the L.1 or L.2 due to its low empty weight. On 10 October 1916 an M.3 operating from Lake Varese established a world time- to-height record for seaplanes by climbing to 5,400 m in 14 minutes.
  Some 200 M.3s were built and used in the Adriatic for a wide variety of missions including bombing, reconnaissance, patrol and escort; the type was even used as a fighter until the appearance of the M.S single-seater in 1917. Several M.3s also participated in commando-style raids behind the Austrian lines.
  The M.3s were held in high esteem by the pilots of the Italian navy. They made many bombing raids on the naval bases of Pola and Cattaro and pioneered aerial photography with frequent missions over these bases as well as Trieste.

Operational Service

1917
  Seaplane Stations
   Brindisi - 7 L.3
   Cascina Farello - 7 L.3s
   Otranto - 5 L.3s
   Santa Maria di Leuca - 3 L.3s
   Siracusa - 3 LAs
   Varano - 8 L.3
   Venice - 28 L.3s
  Training Units - 74 L.3s

  Most L.3s (M.3s) were based at Venice to help counter the attacks by Austro-Hungarian flying boats.
  Later during 1917 the concept of the naval squadriglia (squadron) was introduced, with a numbering that started from 251 for the seaplanes, leaving the numbers from 201 to for other types of units.

Reconnaissance
  251 - L.3 - Venice; S. Andrea
  252 - L.3 - Venice; S. Andrea
  253 - L.3 - Venice; S. Andrea
  259 - L.3 - Venezia; S. Andrea
  265 - L.3 - Brindisi
1918

  In 1918 the L.3s had been largely replaced by M.5s; many were now serving in a training capacity.

  Seaplane Stations
   Brindisi - 8 L.3s
   Venice - 30 L.3s
  Training units
   Bolesna -1 L.3
   Taranto - 13 L.3s
  Naval Squadriglias
  Reconnaissance
   251 - L.3 - Venice; S. Andrea
   252 - L.3 - Venice; S. Andrea
   253 - L.3 - Venice; S. Andrea
   259 - L.3 - Venezia; S. Andrea
   265 - L.3 - Brindisi


Postwar

  Postwar the type remained in service with training units until 1924. A number were sold to the Swiss company Ad Astra Aero and were converted to take two passengers on charter flights and joy rides from the Swiss lakes. The passengers were seated side-by-side behind a large windscreen, with the pilot in a raised, open cockpit behind them.


Macchi L.3/M.3 Two-Seat Reconnaissance/Bomber Flying Boat with One 160-hp Isotta-Fraschini V.4B Engine
  Wingspan 15.95 m; length 9.97 m; height 3.33 m; wing area 45 m2
  Maximum take-off weight was 2,976 lb (1350 kg)
  Maximum speed of 90 mph (145 km/h) and range of 280 miles (450 km), climb to 1,000 m in 5.30 minutes; to 4,000 m in 38 minutes; ceiling 6,000 m
  Armament comprised a flexible 7.7-mm (0.303-in) Fiat machine-gun or a light cannon; four light bombs could also be carried.
  A total of 200 built.