Furio Lauri’s meteors
by Giuseppe Blini
The name of Furio Lauri is undoubtedly associated to the rebirth of Italian aviation after WWII and to the Meteor company.
Differently from other Italians who, in the same period, distinguish themselves as aircraft designers, Lauri was rather a multifaceted and far-sighted aviation entrepreneur always animated by a great passion.
Furio Lauri was born in 1918 in Zara (now Zadar, Croatia) and grew up in Trieste. He achieved his civilian pilot license, and in 1939 joined the Regia Aeronautica, which he left in 1947 with the rank of major.
His military activity is outside the scope of this article, but it would suffice to say that he was awarded a gold medal and two silver medals for military valor. The gold medal was awarded to him for a series of daredevil flights with a Fieseler 156 Storch, among which the transport of two wounded casualties whom he had airlifted from an impervious Apennines field near Parma, beyond enemy lines, in April 1945. The Fieseler is now preserved at the Italian Air Force Museum of Vigna di Valle.
 |
| Furio Lauri, with the cane, near his now-famous Fieseler 156 |
The first steps
When Furio Lauri returned to civilian life (he had a law degree) he was still driven by a great passion for aviation. With a few associates he formed the Società Meteor S.p.A. company, with the stated purpose of building light aircraft and carrying out aerial work.
The operations base was at the Ronchi dei Legionari airport (GO), an airfield that had been used by the CRDA (Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico) for its land airplanes. The field had been abandoned by the Anglo-Americans that had occupied it and used it for a short time between 1945 and 1946. The Meteor company obtained from the Italian Ministry of Defense a twenty-year concession for part of the airport and they built a shop, a warehouse and a building for the offices and the technical department.
The Allies had left behind a lot of material, which was stored in the so-called ARAR fields (ARAR was an agency created in 1945 by the Italian provisional government to dispose of the abandoned material). Among the abandoned craft, there were also many light airplanes, like American Fairchild and British Auster, which were sold by the government as scrap metal.
Meteor acquired some of these abandoned aircraft, it judiciously “cut” them up, and after having reconditioned them it sold them on the resurrecting Italian general aviation market.
The true beginning
In 1953, Meteor S.p.A. bought out the Francis Lombardi company of Vercelli (VC), and all the tooling to manufacture the two-seat FL.3 airplane. Hundreds of FL.3's had been manufactured during the war, and about fifty examples of it had been built between 1947 and 1949.
 |
| A Croatian FL.3, in 1945 |
After the initial production of two FL.3 in the basic configuration, according to the original design, in September of 1953 Meteor flew the first FL.53. The main structure remained unaltered. The only differences were: the shape of the canopy, the size of which was markedly increased; the back of the fuselage, that was lowered to improve visibility and the cowling of the engine that was totally enclosed instead of leaving the cylinder heads exposed.
The cv 60 (hp 59.1) CNA D4 engine was maintained, even though an upgrade to a Continental A65 had been planned in the design phase. Luigi Pascale (who later founded Partenavia) had participated in the technical development of the FL.53.
 |
| The first FL.53. Serial n. 1101. CNA D4 engine |
Interestingly, the new aircraft could be sold with the engine or with an engine provided by the buyer. (Obviously, they did not have the liability problems a company might face today).
According
to the records, eight FL.53’s were built, which were all registered in Italy.
The developments
The design of different versions of the FL.53 happened almost simultaneously, and the production was mixed, practically since the beginning.
The FL.53BM (Meteor Club) differed from the basic FL.53 in being equipped with a Continental C85-12F or C90-12F and in offering an optional electrical system. Five aircraft were built in this version. All were registered in Italy.
Then there followed the FL.54, which was a three-seat aircraft, with an enlarged canopy and Continental engines: either a C85 or a C90. Versions of the FL.54 on skis and on floats were also developed. One of the last aircraft produced had four seats.
Eight examples of the FL.54 were built. They were all at first registered in Italy. Some later received an Austrian registration.
 |
| FL.54, serial 1102, on floats |
The next model was the FL.55, which was built in various versions. This variant was made by installing much more powerful Lycoming engines on the reinforced fuselage of the three-seat model 54. The result was an aircraft with very appealing load-carrying and climb capabilities.
 |
| FL.55 serial 1107 |
Besides the training/touring version, several other versions of the FL.55 were realized: Agricultural aerial applications of liquid or dry products; glider towing; air courier for special freight; air ambulance and a ski/wheeled version for mountain rescue.
 |
| FL.55B, serial 1119, with skis and wide section wheels. |
The FL.55 versions differed in the type of engine installed:
|
Version |
Engine |
Power CV |
production |
|
FL.55 |
Lycoming 0-290-3 |
135 |
6 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
FL.55B |
Lycoming O-340-A1A |
170 |
5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
FL.55BM (Meteor Sport) |
Lycoming O-320-A1A |
150 |
4 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
FL.55CM |
Lycoming O-340-A1A (Replaced later by: Lycoming O-360-A1A) |
170
180 |
1 |
 |
| Agricultural aerial application version of FL.55. In could carry up to lbs 770 (kg 350) of agricultural load. |
FL.55BM.
With respect to the previous models, the structure of this version was markedly different. The wooden truss of the fuselage was replaced by a welded steel tubes one. The wooden structure of the empennage was also replaced by a metal one. The fuselage therefore acquired a more angular shape.
 |
| FL.55BM serial 1132, registered in Austria |
Hereinbelow, two pictures that show an FL.55BM (serial 1128) in the air ambulance version. The stretcher was placed longitudinally on the right side of the cabin:
The pictures below show the metal truss of the fuselage, with its open inspection panels:
And the cockpit:
FL.55CM
This was the model that offered the best performance, thanks to the higher power engine installed and the use of a constant speed propeller. In a Swiss comparative test flight of the ski version, carried out on the Samedan glacier, the FL.55CM outperformed a Piper PA-18, and was later acquired by the famous Swiss glacier pilot Hermann Geiger.
 |
| FL.55CM, serial 1134, with a propeller spinner that shrouds a constant speed propeller and modified canopy. Note the squared vertical stabilizer and the variable incidence horizontal stabilizer. |
According to the records, the entire FL.55 series was initially registered in Italy, with a few aircraft that were later registered again in Switzerland and Austria.
 |
| Like the Italian header of sheet reads, this triptych applies to the 53, 54, 55 and 55B FL. models. The dash lines along the leading edge depict the flaps of the FL.55B. |
Hereinbelow, a table of specifications and performance of the various FL models, compiled with data taken from the available sources:
The end of the run
Towards the end of the 1950’s, Meteor changed its production and moved to the field of remote-controlled air targets. But, intending to have a complete line of products, the company also designed two two-stroke engines: the eight-cylinder cv 220 (hp 217) Alfa 4, and the four-cylinder cv 110 Alfa 2.
Meteor designed two aircraft meant to use its new engines: the Meteor Super with the cv 220 Alfa 2 engine, and the Meteor Bis with the Alfa 2 engine. The Super was designed for glider towing and high-altitude operations. One example was built.The Bis was never completed.
 | |
| Meteor Super |
Below you will find a table with the entire production of all the FL. variants, complete with registration. In the notes column there are listed the owners and the known whereabouts of the aircraft.
This a partial translation of an article that appeared on the n. 132 issue of Ali Antiche, which is the magazine of GAVS, an Italian association dedicated to the preservation of the historical aviation heritage of Italy.
Your comments, as usual, will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
L. Pavese
Comments
Post a Comment