Macchi M.5 in Profile

by Bob Pearson

As a good deal of the air war between Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire took place over the waters of the Adriatic, it was only natural that waterborne craft were to take prominence. The Austrians developed the excellent line of Lohner flying boats which were later copied and ultimately improved upon by the Italian Macchi M.5 flying boats. First flown in early 1917, the M.5 possessed performance equal to that of land based fighters, and was the most numerous of the flying boat fighters to be used anywhere.

The basic finish to the Macchi boats was a natural wood upper hull, with a white lower hull. The wings were usually clear doped, or sometimes painted dark green. Undersurfaces were left plain with the typical Italian red/green tips to the wings.

Macchi M.5
260a Squadriglia
Venice
Summer 1918

There were six squadriglia based at Venice in the summer of 1918, therefore each unit choose a unique way to distinguish its aircraft from their neighbours. The unit marking of 261a was alternating red/green bands around the hull. Additionally each boat carried a number in black and later fancy personal emblems.

Macchi M.5 M.7288
Tenente DV Alberto Bartolozzo
OC, 260a Squadriglia
Venice
Summer 1918

This M.5 was flown by the commanding officer of the 260a Squadriglia.

Macchi M.5 M.13081
261a Squadriglia

Another unit based at Venice was the 261a Squadriglia. Their unit marking was a white sawtooth pattern on the lower hull. Of note are the green painted wings, tailplane and the engine fairing.

Macchi M.5
Guardamarina Luigi "Billy" De Riseis
261a Squadriglia
Venice

The smiling Buddha was the marking of Luigi "Billy" De Riseis. The colours are based on handwritten notes on an original print of the marking.

Alps decals are available for all of these aircraft in 1/72 or 1/48 scale. Contact me for further information

I would like to thank the members of the WWI mailing list for their help in developing some of the details for these illustrations and also Gregory Alegi for his comments on De Riseis' aircraft.

Reference:

Windsock Datafile No.86: Macchi M.5 by Gregory Alegi. Albatros Productions Ltd