Regia Aeronautica Fighter aircraft

Italian Stallion

Friday, December 17th 2004, 10:33am

Types in Service;

Fiat CR.20
Older design from mid 20s. Not many remain in service.

Macchi M.71
Last in a long line of fighter flying boats.

Caproni-Chiodi CH.1
Evaluated 1930-32, limited production of 50. Modified CH.1bis version with more powerful P.XI engine put into production. Order of 100 which were delivered throughout late 1933 and early 1934.

Caproni Ca.165
Entered as comparison against CH.1bis, found to have generally superior performance but scored less well on maintenance aspects. 60 aircraft to equip two squadrons were ordered.

Macchi M.167
High performance floatplane fighter/reconnaisance aircraft development from the M.67 racer. 12 examples ordered for fleet service as interceptors. Generally not regarded as a succesful type being prone to reliability problems.

Fiat CR.35
New monoplane fighter first flown in June 1933. Under development since the appearance of the I-100 at Cordoba. SuperAero asked interested companies to develop a new fighter monoplane with performance exceeding that of the I-100. The date set for the competition was 1934 so the projects had plenty of time to gestate. In fact, the companies needed the time to adjust to monoplane manufacture and do more research on aerodynamics. The CR.35 is an extremely lightweight fighter aircraft constructed from regenerated wood instead of the increasingly common duralumin and other alloys. The performance tests over late 1933 and early 1934 were extremely succesful with 12 pre-production aircraft being ordered. The aircraft is a considerable leap over the preceding biplanes. Vastly increased speed and climb rates yet actually handling better.

After his announcement of retirment from Talons after three years experience, Col. Bergamini resumed his role in the Regia Aeronautica. In December of 1933 he put forward the idea of a combat air school to train some of each year's intake. It would hopefully result in establishing a core of experienced pilot/instructors who could then gradually pass on the knowledge to the other's in their eventual squadrons. At the back of Bergamini's mind was the thought of eventually winning the Talons event after having come so close in 1933.

SuperAero agreed and let Col. Bergamini set up a school near Lake Garda with the progress being reviewed after two years to see whether the results were cost effective. In locating the school next to Lake Garda, Bergamini also hoped to integrate with RAV training there for the 1934 Schneider Trophy event.

In January 1934 he took the top ten pilots from the previous year's intake, all volunteers, for the first year. The instructors were headed by himself and Maj. de Bernardi who had persuaded Caproni to partially release him from his test pilot duties. The types of aircraft used were CH.1bis and Ca.165 biplanes. In March, the 7th and 8th prototypes of the Fiat CR.35 were delivered. This promising new monoplane was found to have superlative performance in comparison. A fatal flaw was found in the end of March when one of the aircraft stalled in a low speed turning battle resulting in the death of one of the promising trainees. Fiat was under fire from other directions at the time and quickly sought to rectify the situation by grounding the remaining aircraft and developing a new model that would hopefully take on board some the criticisms.

In May, the pre-production prototypes of the modified CR.35, the bis version, were wheeled out of the Fiat factory. It included leading edge slats for better control at low speeds. The major change was the new engine and forward fuselage. The limits of the previous IF Semi-Asso engine had been reached and a new IF Asso XI engine was housed in the enlarged forward fuselage. The increased power necessitated an increase in area for the chin radiator and the location of the supercharger air intake in front of the canopy. As a result the all-up weight increased by some 300kg. The effect on handling wasn't as bad as first thought as the slats helped to reduce the turning radius. The extra power resulted in increased climb rate and acceleration. On balance, the maneuverability was thought to increase.

Bergamini's air school received the 4th and 5th preproduction aircraft and put them to good use. By the beginning of May, the school had 7 examples and training was really taking off. The better weather meant more flying time, especially at altitude. In late June, two pilots were selected for Talons. Because of the requirement for three years flying experience only one of the trainees could be chosen. He was Lt. Ricco, the 20yr old son of a weathly count would had learnt to fly at the age of 16. His experience and natural talent gave him an additional advantage over the others. The remaining pilot was the instructor Maj. de Bernadi who returns to Talons for the 3rd time. Bergamini and the other trainees will also be attending for support and to examine the tactics and aircraft of other competitors. They will travel with 3 three CR.35bis fighters, one of them being a reserve aircraft.

Macchi C.200
To meet the same specification as for the CR.35, Mario Castoldi proposed a modern all-metal cantilever low-wing monoplane with retractable landing gear and an enclosed cockpit. The fuselage was of semi-monocoque construction with self-sealing fuel tanks under the pilot's seat and in the center section of the wing. One interesting feature was the advanced design for the wing -- the hydraulically actuated flaps were interconnected with the ailerons so that when the flaps were lowered the ailerons drooped as well. The first prototype flew in March 1934 with succesful results. During testing a speed of 805km/h was set in a dive. Another similar test resulted in one of the prototypes being lost after the tail section failed in a high-g pull out. The remaining aircraft were suitably modified. SuperAero placed an initial order for 150 after the conclusion of further tests in 1934. Although having inferior performance to the Fiat CR.35, the C.200 has considerably better range and load carrying ability, coupled with a heavier armament.

Fiat CR.36
A single-seat, low-wing aircraft of conventional tailwheel configuration developed from the CR.35. It has a very light construction, being manufactured from moulded wooden composites. Experience in South America showed that the armament of 4x7.7mm machine guns was too light to be effective against modern bombers. With this in mind, various options were looked at to improve the armament but all added considerable weight which considerably hurt performance. Instead a thorough redesign was initiated with a view to reconditioning the existing airframes, of which there are over 500. The most notable change was a new forward fuselage, mounting a Alfa-Romeo Vortice RC.20/50/76 inverted vee engine with more power, development of the previous Isotta-Fraschini Asso XI having been terminated in 1934. This neccessated a few airframe changes, a plug being inserted aft of the cockpit and a larger tail to restore stability. A larger ventral radiator bay was installed in place of the previouis nose intake. Armament was increased to 4 x 13.2mm Scotti in the nose and wings which more than tripled the availiable firepower, even more so with the HEI 13.2mm rounds. The changes added considerably to the weight, which increased to 2300kg with the same wing. Manuverability and climb were found to be inferior, but the CR.36 retained the good flying characteristics of the previous CR.35.

Fiat G.50 Sagittario
In the summer of 1935, Ing. Giuseppe Gabrielli, head of the 2nd division of the technical office, conceived a new fighter around the Fiat A.60 engine being tested : the G.50

By August the calculations were complete, allowing the project to proceed to aerodynamic testing in the wind tunnel of the Turin Polytechnic and to begin the drawing phase. At this stage, the G.50 wing had a 23 sq. m. area and an unusual structure based on a single tubular spar which Gabrielli had patented several years earlier. Armament comprised three 13.2mm Scotti machine guns in the outer wings and on an engine mount. A top speed of 750km/h was estimated. In October a redesign was initiated after the proposed A.60 had put on weight, the wing area was increased to 30 sq. m. and redesigned as a four piece assembly comprising two half wings with removable tips, offering great construction and transport advantages. In November, Fiat was asked to build three G.50 prototypes, with the additional requirement of an engine mounted 20mm cannon.

Twelve Fiat G.50 pre-production prototypes were ordered in 1936 and extensive tests and an extensive re-design carried out before being adopted for squadron service in the late 30s.

Macchi C.202 Folgore

Mario Castoldi unveiled his latest creation to the press today outside the Macchi factory in 1936. The Folgore is a revised version of the previous C.200. The Regia Aeronautica purchased a disappointingly small amount of C.200s for Macchi which had hoped the type would be a greater success, instead only around 150 were built. The main problem was the competition offered from the smaller and cheaper Fiat CR.35 that offered better performance. Another problem was the adoption of the Isotta-Fraschini Asso XI engine that was dropped from further development. The new Folgore features some aerodynamic refinements and adopts an Alfa-Romeo Vortice RC.20/50 engine which gives a difference in looks due to the inverted-vee type. The construction is similar to the C.200, with metal structure and fabric-covered flying surfaces. The Folgore was a nice aircraft to fly with a very high rate of climb and outstanding maneuverability but lacked high altitude performance which would be later rectified by the follow-on Orione.

Fiat G.55 Centauro

The extensive test program around the Fiat G.50 fighter has resulted in a considerable redesign. The first modified example was rolled out to a small assembly of dignitaries. The most visible change is the new wing, with a different thinner section which should make higher speed flight possible. Also present are small air brakes on the wings to limit speed and avoid the terminal dives that have plagued the G.50 prototype series. In addition, Fiat has a new engine after experiencing too many problems with the previous A.60. The new A.38 has similar features but with lighter weight and smaller size is better suited to the airframe. As a result of the changes, a new type number, G.55 has been allocated. The first flight is due in February, hopefully being introduced into squadron service next year following the conclusion of successful tests.

The G.55 Centauro is a comprehensive re-design of the previous G.50 fighter which failed to enter service when problems emerged in testing. After taking time to gather data from the G.50 prototypes, the new G.55 was built in a short period of time. Reports state that the previous safety problems encountered have been eliminated, although a better term might be mitigated. A limited amount of performance data has been released but initial reports seem promising. It seems to be some way from meeting the projected speed of the G.50, though that is mostly due to the lower power provided by the A.38 engine. The reliability and vibration problems that dogged the previous A.60 engine seem to have been alleviated. It is said that Fiat engineers are busy building a race version of the A.38 for Stiavelli’s new speed record aircraft.

This post has been edited 10 times, last edit by "Red Admiral" (Apr 21st 2010, 7:16pm)

WesWorld

Regia Aeronautica Fighter aircraft

Regia Aeronautica Fighter aircraft

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