Vitals, range, and the Fulmar comparison

The SM.79 carried a six-person crew and used three Alfa Romeo radial engines rated at 861 horsepower each. Its quoted maximum speed was 290 mph at 12,430 feet, with a range of about 1,400 nautical miles and a service ceiling of 24,600 feet. Its climb rate of 5.3 metres per second was close enough to the Fairey Fulmar's 6.1 metres per second to make the comparison operationally relevant, even though the aircraft had different jobs. The SM.79 combined speed, altitude, range, and structural strength in a credible attacker. Britain could seldom concentrate the multiple carriers envisioned in interwar doctrine because its ships had to cover a wide theatre and were frequently damaged or reassigned. Large SM.79 formations could use saturation and diversion to strain the fighter cover of one- or two-carrier groups.