SAI Ambrosini S.S.4 Italian fighter prototype with canard-style wing layout and pusher propeller. Perugia Province in Italy, 1938 [1556X1000]

Posted by Atellani@reddit | WeirdWings | View on Reddit | 22 comments

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Hattix@reddit

Just guessing here, but that looks like it would stall pretty badly. The main wind would stall before the canards, pushing the nose up, and the pilot into his next life.

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I don't believe this to be the case. Do notice how much the wings are swept to the back, and wing tips should stall way before the inner wing. Just like on Beechcraft Starship, not as much but same principle.

Sadly prototype crashed on second flight due to malfunctioning aileron.

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DonTaddeo@reddit

Aren't the canards supposed to stall first?

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Hattix@reddit

Yep, that's why the Beechcraft Starship had those complex variable incidence canards, to make sure that happened.

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kurtwagner61@reddit

Crimson Skies!

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joethedad@reddit

Luigi...ita look backwards??

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speedbumptx@reddit

Mama Mia! I thinka you righta.

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HarryPhishnuts@reddit

Was Burt Rutan’s grandfather Italian by any chance 🇮🇹👴

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DolphinPunkCyber@reddit

First time I saw this plane, which doesn't happen often.

Do check out what beautiful wings it has when seen from above.

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Moskau43@reddit

The Italian’s had a real artisan approach to aircraft design. Beautiful.

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mrcanard@reddit

Seems short coupled to my untrained eye. Not sure about the canard design..

Not sure if this is allowed,

an excellent flying scale model model, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs3wOBwuejc

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Atellani@reddit (OP)

The similar Curtiss-Wright XP-55 Ascender and the Miles M.39B Libellula first flew five years after the SAI Ambrosini S.S.4.

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DaveB44@reddit

The Libellula was a tandem-wing aircraft. The front wing was a lifting surface, not a control surface so not a true canard which is effectively a back-to-front tailpane.

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LightningFerret04@reddit

And the J7W1 about a year after those

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Burphel_78@reddit

Gotta be tricky to take off and land with the prop that low in the aft.

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geeiamback@reddit

True, the Do-335's pusher prop is "protected" by the lower tailfin, but this doesn't appear to be the case here.

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AerodynamicBrick@reddit

This baby looks like it's having a prop strike just sitting there

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Archididelphis@reddit

I've been thinking of getting into this group with a post on delta canard planes. Between WW2 and the 1970s, it's mostly just "paper planes", but there was interest. The most info I've found is on, of all places, Fantastic Plastic, a website about model kits.

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