Aerfer
A Naples maker of trolleybuses and railcars that, almost as a sideline, built the first Italian aircraft to fly faster than sound.
Aerfer: the company and the aircraft that made its name
Trains, buses and jets
Aerfer was a very Neapolitan mix. Formed on 26 July 1955, it gathered the Campanian aviation industry: the Pomigliano works of the old Officine Ferroviarie Meridionali and IMAM, the Romeo aircraft business that had built the Ro.37 and Ro.43 for the Regia Aeronautica. Its name is a contraction of aeronautical and railway construction, and it lived up to it, building trolleybus bodies for Naples, Mexico City and Istanbul, railcars, buses and truck cabs alongside aircraft.
Faster than sound
In the air, Aerfer took over Sergio Stefanutti’s lightweight fighter line from SAI Ambrosini. The all-metal Sagittario 2, Aerfer’s answer to NATO’s 1953 light strike fighter requirement, first flew on 19 May 1956. On 4 December 1956 Lieutenant Colonel Giovanni Franchini dived one from 13,725 metres to Mach 1.1, making it the first Italian aircraft to fly at supersonic speed. NATO chose the Fiat G.91 instead, and the Air Force evaluated but never ordered it.
Into Aeritalia
The Ariete of 1958 added a small Rolls-Royce Soar booster jet for climb and sprint; two flew, but no orders followed, and a rocket-boosted Leone was abandoned before a prototype was built. Aerfer’s more lasting business set a pattern for Italian aerospace: licence production and subcontract work, including fuselage components for Douglas airliners. In 1969 it merged with Fiat’s aviation division to form Aeritalia. Its railway side meanwhile built railcars for the Ferrovie del Sud Est and the Italian state railways’ ALe 803.
Aerfer in numbers
Şirket
- Kısacası
- Founded 1955
- Formed in Naples from OFM’s Pomigliano works and IMAM
- State-owned through Finmeccanica
- Built trolleybuses, railcars and aircraft
Üretme
- En çok bilinen yönü
- Yay 2
- Two Sagittario 2 and two Ariete prototypes
- Douglas airliner components under subcontract
Bugün
- Şimdi
- Merged into Aeritalia, 1969
- Aeritalia later became Alenia and is now part of Leonardo
The Pomigliano site remains a Leonardo aerostructures plant.
Sayılar
- Sagittario 2 top speed in dive
- Mach 1.11956
- Sagittario 2 built
- 2
- Ariete built
- 2
Every notable Aerfer aircraft
| Uçak | Rol | İlk uçuş | İnşa edildi | Durum | Not |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aerfer Sagittario 2 | Light fighter prototype | 1956 | 2 | Emekli | First Italian aircraft to fly supersonic, 4 December 1956 |
| Aerfer Ariete | Fighter prototype | 1958 | 2 | Emekli | Sagittario 2 with auxiliary Rolls-Royce Soar turbojet |
| Aerfer Leone | Rocket-boosted fighter project | Emekli | Abandoned before a prototype was built | ||
| Aerfer AE-130 | Convertiplane project | 1957 | Emekli | Listed among Aerfer aeronautical products |
Where Aerfer built, who led it, what it achieved
Fabrikalar
- Pomigliano d’Arco works · Pomigliano d’Arco, Naples — Former OFM aircraft and railway works
İnsanlar
- Sergio Stefanutti · chief designer — Led the Sagittario 2 and Ariete designs
- Giovanni Franchini · test pilot, Lieutenant Colonel — First Italian supersonic flight, 1956
Rekorlar ve ilkler
- First Italian aircraft to exceed the speed of sound, 4 December 1956
Aerfer, year by year
Aerfer formed in Naples from OFM’s Pomigliano works and IMAM
Sagittario 2 first flight
Sagittario 2 exceeds Mach 1 in a dive
Sagittario 2 shown at the Paris Air Salon
Ariete first flight
Merges with Fiat’s aviation division to form Aeritalia
Everything people ask about Aerfer
What does Aerfer stand for?
Which was Italy’s first supersonic aircraft?
Did the Sagittario 2 enter production?
What happened to Aerfer?
Around Aerfer
Her bilgi kontrol edildi.
- Aerfer, Wikipedia
- Aerfer, Italian Wikipedia
- Aerfer Sagittario 2, Wikipedia
- Aerfer Ariete, Wikipedia
- IMAM, Wikipedia
Doğrulama tarihi: 2026-10-03.