SAI Ambrosini

Order of Battle · Aircraft manufacturers · Italy

SAI Ambrosini

Società Aeronautica Italiana ing. Ambrosini & C. · Società Aeronautica Italiana

A lakeside workshop on Trasimeno whose wooden racer became a wartime fighter and then the ancestor of Italy’s first supersonic jet, before the firm ended its days building America’s Cup yachts.

1922Founded
Defunct 1992Status
9Aircraft on record
Photo: Alan Wilson / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
CountryItalyFounded1922FoundersAngelo Ambrosini (owner from 1934)HeadquartersPassignano sul Trasimeno, UmbriaStatusDefunct 1992
The story

SAI Ambrosini: the company and the aircraft that made its name

A seaplane school on Lake Trasimeno

SAI Ambrosini grew from a military seaplane school set up on the shores of Lake Trasimeno in 1916. A repair works for military aircraft followed under the Prampolini group, which sent its engines by rail to Angelo Ambrosini’s workshop in Milan. When the business ran into trouble, Ambrosini, its largest creditor, took a stake in 1933 and the whole company in 1934, moving his engine shop to Passignano. Production began with licence-built Macchi types, then the firm’s own designs by engineers Silva, Preti and Sergio Stefanutti, among them Italy’s first canard fighter, the SS.4.

Stefanutti’s wooden thoroughbreds

Stefanutti’s masterpiece was the wooden SAI.7, a racing and touring monoplane first flown in July 1939. Its fighter offspring, the SAI.207, reached 563 km/h at Guidonia on a single 750 hp engine, and the ministry ordered 2,000 of them plus 12 pre-production aircraft. Only the pre-production batch flew in service, briefly, in the summer of 1943, against Allied raids on Rome. Pilots were unimpressed and the Armistice ended the programme.

From jets to yachts

After the war Ambrosini built accordions and farm equipment before returning to aircraft: 145 post-war S.7 trainers for the Italian Air Force, the Rondone and Grifo, and the jet Sagittario of 1953, whose all-metal descendant flown by Aerfer became the first Italian aircraft to break the sound barrier. Bankrupt in 1958, the works revived to make radar antennas, railway equipment and boats, including the America’s Cup challengers Azzurra and Il Moro di Venezia. SAI closed in 1992.

A lakeside workshop on Trasimeno whose wooden racer became a wartime fighter and then the ancestor of Italy’s first supersonic jet, before the firm ended its days building America’s Cup yachts.SAI Ambrosini · verified 2026-10-03
At a glance

SAI Ambrosini in numbers

The company

In short
Founded 1922

  • Established at Passignano sul Trasimeno as Società Aeronautica Italiana
  • Taken over by Angelo Ambrosini in 1934
  • Bankrupt 1958, revived 1960, closed 1992

Production

Best known for
SAI.7 and SAI.207

  • 159 SAI.7/S.7 built across pre-war, wartime and post-war batches
  • 14 SAI.207 light fighters
  • Sagittario swept-wing jet of 1953

Today

Now
Closed 1992

  • Late work included radar antennas, rail equipment and racing yachts

The SAI Ambrosini name has been licensed for watches since 2003.

The numbers

SAI.7 / S.7 built
159
SAI.207 built
14
SAI.207 production order (cancelled)
2,000
The aircraft

Every notable SAI Ambrosini aircraft

Aircraft Role First flight Built Status Note
Ambrosini SAI.2 Rally monoplane 1934 1 Retired Built for the 1935 Avioraduno del Littorio
Ambrosini SAI.3 Light aircraft 1937 10 Retired
Ambrosini SS.4 Canard fighter prototype 1939 1 Retired First Italian canard fighter
Ambrosini SAI.7 / S.7 Racer, trainer, tourer 1939 159 Retired 2 pre-war racers, 10 wartime SAI.7T, 145 post-war
Ambrosini SAI.10 Grifone Trainer 1939 10 Retired
Ambrosini SAI.207 Light fighter 1940 14 Retired All-wood; served briefly in 1943
Ambrosini SAI.403 Dardo Fighter prototype 1943 1 Retired
Ambrosini Rondone Light aircraft 1951 20 Retired
Ambrosini Sagittario Experimental swept-wing jet 1953 1 Retired Ancestor of the Aerfer Sagittario 2
Places, people, records

Where SAI Ambrosini built, who led it, what it achieved

Factories

  • Passignano works · Passignano sul Trasimeno, Umbria — Lakeside site of the former seaplane school

People

  • Angelo Ambrosini · owner from 1934 — Engine overhaul specialist from Milan
  • Sergio Stefanutti · chief designer — SS.4, SAI.7, SAI.207 and the Sagittario line
Timeline

SAI Ambrosini, year by year

1916

Military seaplane school founded at Passignano

1922

Società Aeronautica Italiana established

1934

Angelo Ambrosini takes full control

1939

SAI.7 racer first flies

1943

SAI.207 serves briefly over Rome; programme ends at the Armistice

1953

Sagittario swept-wing jet flies

1958

Bankruptcy after administration in 1957

1960

Slow revival under Emilio Mariotti and Ivio Spaccapelo

1992

SAI ceases all activity

The family tree

Before and after SAI Ambrosini

Came afterAerferDeveloped Stefanutti’s Sagittario into the supersonic Sagittario 2Read the Aerfer page
Questions & Answers

Everything people ask about SAI Ambrosini

Where was SAI Ambrosini based?
At Passignano sul Trasimeno, on the shore of Lake Trasimeno in Umbria.
What was the SAI.207?
A lightweight all-wood fighter developed from the SAI.7 racer; 14 were built and a few served briefly in 1943.
Is SAI Ambrosini linked to Italy’s first supersonic jet?
Yes. Its 1953 Sagittario was developed by Aerfer into the Sagittario 2, which went supersonic in 1956.
When did SAI Ambrosini close?
In 1992, after years building boats, radar antennas and rail equipment.

Continue the tour

Around SAI Ambrosini

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Sources & Further Reading

Every fact, checked

Verified 2026-10-03.