title: Pomilio Gamma
text: # Pomilio Gamma
  
  The Pomilio Gamma was an Italian fighter prototype of 1918.
  
  ## Design and development
  
  ### Gamma
  
  The Pomilio company of Turin designed and manufactured the Gamma, a wooden, single-seat, single-bay biplane with wings of unequal span, the upper wing being of greater span than the lower. It was powered by a 149-kilowatt (200-horsepower) SPA 6A water-cooled engine driving a two-bladed tractor propeller. It had fixed, tailskid landing gear.
  
  The Gamma prototype first flew early in 1918. An Italian official commission observed a demonstration of it, and concluded that although it was fast and had good maneuverability, its rate of climb was insufficient to merit a production order.
  
  ### Gamma IF
  
  Pomilio responded to the Gamma's shortcomings by building a second prototype, the Gamma IF, fitted with a more powerful Isotta Fraschini V.6 engine rated at 186 kilowatts (250 horsepower). An official commission saw a demonstration of the Gamma IF in 1918, but at first could not agree on whether it merited a production order. During the final weeks of World War I, the commission finally decided to order a small number of Gamma IF fighters, although the Gamma IF never entered active service.
  
  ## Variants
  
  ### Gamma
  
      First prototype with SPA 6A engine
  
  ### Gamma IF
  
      Second prototype with Isotta Fraschini engine
  
  ## Operators
  
  ### Kingdom of Italy
  
  * Corpo Aeronautico Militare
  
  ## Specifications (Gamma IF)
  
  Data from Green, William, and Gordon Swanborough The Complete Book of Fighters: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Every Fighter Aircraft Built and Flown, New York: SMITHMARK Publishers, 1994, ISBN 0-8317-3939-8
  
  General characteristics
  
  * Crew: 1
  * Length: 6.30 m (20 ft 8 in)
  * Wingspan: 7.99 m (26 ft 2.5 in)
  * Wing area: 21.90 $m^2$ (235.74 sq ft)
  * Empty weight: 680 kg (1,499 lb)
  * Gross weight: 950 kg (2,094 lb)
  * Powerplant: 1 × Isotta Fraschini V.6 piston engine , 186 kW (250 hp)
  
  Performance
  
  * Maximum speed: 225 km/h (140 mph, 120 kn)
  * Endurance: 3 hours
  
  Notes:
  
  * Time to 3,000 m (9,842 ft): 7 min 30 sec
  