WOW103-C
Consignment
This is a Consignment sale item we are offering. It comes in its original box and is in like-new condition.
Just airplane and trolley shown included in this set.
Thomas Gunn Miniatures WOW103 Macchi M.5 Italian (Calvello Variant)
Wingspan: 17"
Nose - Tail: 11.5"
Height: 4.25"
The Macchi M.5 was an Italian single-seat fighter flying boat designed
and built by Nieuport-Macchi at Varese. It was extremely manoeuvrable
and agile and matched the land-based aircraft it was sent into combat
against. The first prototype of a single-seat sesquiplane fighter was
the Type M which first flew in 1917. Developed by engineers Buzio and
Calzavera it had a single-step hull and an open cockpit forward of the
wings and was similar to the earlier Macchi M.3. It was followed by
another prototype with a revised tail unit designated the Ma and further
developed as the M bis and Ma bis. The production aircraft was
designated the M.5 and like the prototypes was powered by a single
Isotta Fraschini V.4B engine in the pusher configuration. Deliveries
commenced in the summer of 1917 to the Aviazione per la Regia Marina
(Italian Navy Aviation). Late production aircraft had a more powerful
Isotta Fraschini V.6 engine and redesigned wingtip floats, they were
designated M.5 mod. Macchi produced 200 aircraft and another 44 were
built by Società Aeronautica Italiana. The M.5 was operated by five
Italian maritime patrol squadrons as a fighter and convoy escort, and
some were embarked on the Giuseppe Miraglia. Towards the end of World
War I, the aircraft were flown by both United States Navy and United
States Marine Corps airmen. Ensign Charles Hammann won the first Medal
of Honor awarded to a United States naval aviator in an M.5. Our 1/30
scale model is one of 5 available and was the plane of Sub-Tenente di
Vascello Umberto Calvello, an ace with 5 credited victories. He was born
May 28, 1897, joining the Italian Navy in July, 1916, serving as an
observer on seaplanes. Officially graduating as a pilot on October 3
1917, his victories all occurred in 1918 while with 260 Squadriglia, all
over Austrian flying boats. His aircraft carried a personal marking of
“Fortunello”, (Happy Hooligan), with 2 slogans. The slogan on the
suitcase translates as ‘March, don’t rot’, while the slogan coming from
the character’s mouth translates as ‘Watch Out, son of a dog’. Calvello
died August 10, 1919, when a plane he was test flying crashed.