OO-AUC  Savioa-Marchetti S.M.83                  (c/n  34003)

                           

                               The image above, acquired from SABENA is clearly a "doctored" photograph.  However, other
                               than the close up of the three 750 h.p. Alfa Romeo 126 RC.34 engines  (below), it is the only shot
                               I have.  In order to better service its Congo route, SABENA, in 1938 ordered four advanced S.M.83s.
                               Rather than being an enlarged S.73, this aircraft was, in fact, the civilian airliner version of the tried and
                               proven S.M.79 Sparviero bomber.   It had excellent range and was very reliable.  Although it was
                               intended for SABCA to also build this machine under license, WW II broke out before this could occur.
                               Only three S.M.83s (OO-AUC/D/E) were actually delivered, the fourth (OO-AUJ) was returned to
                               Italy by the French Vichy government upon its arrival in Marseilles in 1040.  OO-AUC was written off
                               in a crash in 1940.