Fiat RS.14


The Fiat RS.14 was an Italian long-range maritime strategic reconnaissance floatplane. The RS.14 was a four/five seat all-metal cantilever low/mid-wing monoplane powered by two wing-mounted 626 kW Fiat A.74 R.C.38 engines. It had a conventional cantilever tail unit with a single fin and rudder. Its undercarriage consisted of two large floats on struts. It had a glazed nose for an observer or bomb aimer. The pilot and copilot sat side by side with a wireless operator's compartment behind them. In the bombing role the RS.14 was fitted with a long ventral gondola to carry various combinations of anti-submarine bombs.

Development

The RS.14 was designed by at the works at Marina di Pisa. The first of two prototypes flew in May 1939.
A prototype landplane version AS.14 was built and first flown on 11 August 1943. It was designed as a ground-attack aircraft and intended to be armed with a cannon and machine guns. It was not ordered and no others were built.

Operational history

The RS.14 went into service with the Italian Air Force with a number of maritime strategic reconnaissance squadrons at bases around the Italian coast and also in Sicily and Sardinia. They were used for convoy escort duties and anti-submarine patrols. Occasionally they engaged in aerial combat, obtaining unexpected victories such as when, on Saturday 9 May 1942, an RS.14 intercepted Spitfires that took off from the carriers HMS Eagle and USS Wasp, headed for Malta, and machine-gunned two. The two RAF fighters collided and fell into the sea. Both pilots were killed. After the 1943 Armistice a few survivors were operated by the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force. At the end of the Second World War the aircraft were used for liaison duties around the Mediterranean carrying up to four passengers.

Variants

;RS.14
;AS.14

Operators