Savoia - Marchetti SM . 95 The Savoia - Marchetti SM . 95 was an Italian four - engine , mid - range transport aircraft , which first flew in 1943 . It was the successor of the Savoia - Marchetti SM . 75 . Design and development . The SM . 95 was announced in 1937 , when the future was seen in the 4 - engined aircraft . Until that time Italy has mainly used 3 - engined aircraft . The SM . 95 , designed by Alessandro Marchetti , first flew on 8 May 1943 . Originally named SM . 76 it was fitted with four 750 hp A . R . 126 RC . 34 . In 1939 the project was renamed SM . 95C ( C for Civil ) , with the more powerful Alfa Romeo RC . 18 ( 860 hp ) engine . With the start of World War II , this project was stopped until December 1941 , when L . A . T . I . called for a 4 - engined useful for South American routes . It had , nevertheless , inferior performances compared to P . 108C and Z . 511A , both metallic and more powerful . But the new SM . 95 had lower costs and a swifter development . The aircraft was similar to other contemporary airliners , but the construction was mixed . Welded steel was used for the fuselage structure , with light alloy covering fitted to the nose , underside and rear fuselage , and fabric covering for the fuselage sides and roof . The three - spar wing was also of wooden construction , with plywood skinning . The engines drove three - bladed metal Constant speed propeller s . The two pilots sat side by side in an enclosed cockpit , while behind them sat the Flight engineer ( on the left ) and radio operator ( on the right ) . Behind the cockpit , there was normally seating for 20 - 30 passengers , with up to 38 being able to be carried over short ranges . There was an initial need for a bomber version , SM . 95B , with enhanced engines and a weapon set . Nevertheless , the first to fly was the SM . 95C , on 3 August 1943 , at ( Vergiate ) , with Guglielmo Algarotti flying . Operational history . The Armistice stopped the program , and the only two aircraft built at the time were requisitioned by the Germans and sent to Germany , where they flew with the Luftwaffe and were subsequently lost . On 28 July 1945 , a third example flew , used with a fourth ( still unfinished at the end of the war ) with the Aeronautica Militare . One was taken by the RAF . The service with A . M . started after April 1946 . Alitalia bought six examples , in service from 1947 . LATI bought three examples in 1949 . Lastly , four SM . 95s were bought by SAIDE . They were used on the Cairo - Rome - Paris route . The only military customer was AMI , which had five of them . SM . 95C was a development model . The first were produced with AR . 128 RC . 18 , the third with A . R . 131 RC . 14 / 50 , the next examples had Bristol Pegasus 48 ( 1 , 005 hp ) , and LATI used even more powerful Twin Wasp R - 1830 ( 1 , 217 hp ) . A final development , the SM . 95S with a metal structure , was planned but not built . The last SM . 95 was completed on 18 November 1949 , the last of twenty officially built . They had an unexceptional performance , even with PW engines , and had no pressurization at all , therefore they could not fly very high . The mixed construction did not last too long : the last flight was on 28 September 1954 ( 1950 with Alitalia ) . Operation " S " . The interest for a military use was confirmed with a very daring mission : the bombing of New York . In July 1939 , the S . M . 75 obtained a record of 12 , 935 km ( 8 , 034 mi ) , there were several long - range missions both with S . M . 82 and the S . M . 75 , while for S operation it was considered the 4 - engined CANT Z . 511 , an all - metal floatplane . It had , however , some shortcomings : basically it needed to be refuelled by a submarine in the middle of the ocean . Although it was able to operate in adverse sea conditions ( up to force - 5 gales ) , this was not a very good idea , especially in the last year of war . It was proposed that a long - range version of this aircraft , the SM . 95 GA ( with a range of over 11 , 000 km / 6 , 840 mi ) could be used to mount a bombing raid on New York City launched from Western France , but the presence of many Italian - Americans in the city meant that Benito Mussolini would only authorize the dropping of propaganda pamphlets . It was reported that the fuel load was raised to 23 , 800 kg , for a total of 39 , 3 tons . The mission , with a 500 kg ( 1 , 100 lb ) load , was still in preparation when Italy signed the Armistice in September 1943 .