SAI AMBROSINI

Formed 1922 as the Società Aeronautica Italiana. It became SAI Ambrosini when it was acquired by the Ambrosini group in 1934. The production was in Passignano sul Trasimeno, where produced trainer, touring and competition aircraft: SAI.1 2-seat biplane, SAI.2 cabin 5-seat (2S different engine), SAI.3 tandem-seat sporting (3S different engine), SAI.7 fast cabin tandem-seat, SAI.10 Grifone parasol tandem-seater. Chief designer Capt. Sergio Stefanutti, having proved canard layout with S.S.3 (see SCA), produced S.S.4 fighter (1 May 1939). Better fighter was conventional-layout SAI.207 (1942) derived from SAI.7. Order for 2,000 was overtaken by even better SAI.403 Dardo (December 1942), 3,000 ordered (1,200 by Savoia, 1,000 Caproni, 800 SAI) but Armistice halted work. Ambrosini was reformed in 1946 and continued with the development and manufacture of the SAI.7 design, eventually producing jet fighter prototypes based on it, but these were not successful. During the 1980s, the firm ventured into boat-building (including Azzurra, Italy's first America's Cup contender) and eventually into oil rigs before closing in 1992.

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