This is a 1:144 scale model of a Macchi M.5 flying boat. Since many painters choose their own mounting system, no peg is included on the plane. Pegs can be purchased separately in the Accessories section of this catalog.

As the conflict heated up over the seaplane ports of the Adriatic, Italians realized they would need a good escort aircraft for their large flying boats. The Ansaldo Baby was the first thought, but in parallel the Macchi M.5 was developed, and it served the role splendidly.

The Macchi M.5 was intended as a fighter, mounting twin Revelli machine guns in the nose. While most used the same 160hp engine was earlier models, later M.5s used the 250hp Isotta-Fraschini V-6B. It was quite maneuverable for a flying boat. They served from early 1918 through the Armistice.

To increase performance, the M.5 was smaller and lighter, with only a single crewman, resulting in a plane 25% lighter than its predecessor the L.3 while using the same engine. Initial testing began in May 1917 and deliveries started in June. 420 were ordered and about 348 were actually built. For a flying boat it was unusually aerobatic and had an advantage over most of its Austro-Hungarian opponents.

A handful of M.5s and M.7s were passed over to the U.S. Navy when Italy gave them control of the Porto Corsini and Pescara Naval Stations in late summer 1918. By that time the M.5s were quite old and unreliable, but the Americans did there best to keep them running, attacking Pola and getting into skirmishes with Austro-Hungarian fighters.

For more data and gaming info on this plane, see https://linen.miraheze.org/wiki/Macchi_M.5.