Savoia-Marchetti S.55X Replica Unveiled at Volandia After a Decade of Volunteer Work

After ten years and more than 12,000 hours of volunteer labor, a full-scale museum replica of Savoia-Marchetti S.55X I-BALB was officially unveiled at Volandia on Saturday, October 24, 2026. The ceremony at the aviation museum near Milan Malpensa Airport, Italy, marked the completion of a project that brought together former SIAI-Marchetti employees, engineers, craftspeople, and aviation enthusiasts.

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Vintage Aviation News has followed the reconstruction since its first report in May 2016, documenting the volunteers’ progress through a series of updates over the past decade. From the recovery of original drawings and construction of the twin hulls to the aircraft’s initial presentation in 2023 and the final work on its wings and cockpit, that coverage has traced the project’s development from an ambitious proposal to a completed museum exhibit.

Ex Employees of Siai MArchetti — Ex employees of Siai-Marchetti preserving the original engineering drawings of the S.55 (Image credit: Savoia Marchetti Historical Group)

Finished in the markings of General Italo Balbo’s personal aircraft, the replica recalls the S.55X flying boats used in the 1933 transatlantic expedition from Orbetello, Italy, to Chicago. Its completion gives visitors an opportunity to examine both the distinctive shape of the aircraft and the construction methods behind it. Sections have deliberately been left uncovered, revealing the framework beneath the exterior.

(Image credit: Giuseppe Bartolaccini via Volandia)

The project began in 2015, during celebrations marking the centennial of SIAI’s founding. Conceived within the SIAI-Marchetti Senior Employees Group and developed through the Savoia Marchetti Historical Group, the undertaking received support from Volandia, sponsors, and local companies that contributed specialist skills and resources. Before construction could advance, the team had to recover the information needed to reproduce the aircraft. Nearly 900 original drawings were recovered and digitized, while period manuals helped establish how individual components had been designed and assembled. Engineer Maurizio Grillo worked with colleagues and collaborators on this documentation, providing an essential foundation for the reconstruction.

IMG 20190501 WA0010 1 — A view during May this year showing the skeletal structure for one of the S.55’s brace of massive fuselage-hulls. (Image credit: Filippo Meani)

Project coordinator Filippo Meani and engineer Aristide Tagliarini were among those who helped translate the historical records into a full-size aircraft. The work combined traditional materials—including wood, glue, nails, fabric, and metal fittings—with digital modeling that made the original drawings usable in modern fabrication. Volandia’s workshop was particularly important. The museum, housed in the former Caproni aircraft works, could accommodate the replica’s considerable dimensions. According to the post-event report published by Coccarde Tricolori, the difficulty of finding sufficient space had discouraged similar initiatives in the past.

savoia marchetti s.55x replica unveiled at volandia after a decade of volunteer work 2 — Attendees view the completed Savoia-Marchetti S.55X replica during its unveiling at Volandia on October 24, 2026, inside one of the original Caproni factory hangars that now house the aviation museum. (Image credit: Giuseppe Bartolaccini via Volandia)

As Vintage Aviation News reported in June, the team’s attention extended to details throughout the aircraft. The cockpit includes recreated holders for photographs of Balbo’s family, while the engine installation incorporates a reproduction of the Garelli starting compressor and its compressed-air cylinder. Digital modeling also helped the builders reproduce the large wooden outer wing panels. One panel was fabric-covered, while the other was left open to show its internal construction.

Balbos daughter in law — Balbo’s daughter in law (Image credit: Savoia Marchetti Historical Group)

The October ceremony marked the presentation of the completed replica, following an earlier public appearance in unfinished form during the Italian Air Force centennial celebrations in 2023. For the volunteers, it brought a lengthy process of research, fabrication, and assembly to its public culmination. The finished exhibit also fills a significant gap in the preservation of the type. Only one original S.55 survives: I-BAUQ, named Jahù, which crossed the Atlantic to Brazil in 1927 and is preserved at the TAM museum in São Carlos, Brazil. The Volandia reconstruction is the only example representing the later S.55X variant.

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With its twin hulls, broad wing, and partially exposed structure, I-BALB offers visitors a view of an aircraft whose engineering is as distinctive as its history. The completed replica also preserves the practical knowledge of the volunteers who spent a decade bringing the original drawings back into three dimensions.