Italian Aircraft Development Plans 1936+
1.Development of the Fiat CR.36 fighter continues. First conceived as a simple retrofitting of the existing CR.35, it matured into a new project with all-new forward fuselage and wings. Experience in South America showing the need for armouring and heavier armament. Two 20mm Oerlikon FFL cannon are placed in the wings in place of the 7.7mm mgs. The rate of fire is low, at 350rpm, but the guns are lightweight and pack considerable punch. First examples should fly in 1936 and after successful tests, new airframes will be built, and the old ones reconditioned. Probably won't be developed any further given the small size.
2.The Reggiane Falco fighter will continue to be built in 1936 with roughly 300 examples ordered, most will go into service on aircraft carriers, with the remainder serving on land in a fighter-bomber role. The production line will continue to churn them out as Iberia currently has a large order for the type. Development from the engine, which may start some testing with 100-octane fuel supplied by the UKN in 1938. This'll allow engine power to be raised to about 1450hp with increases in performance.
3.Twelve pre-production prototypes of the Fiat G.50 fighter/interceptor will be built in 1936. Development will not go well, with temperamental engines and a variety of problems from high altitude operation; guns freezing, oxygen pipes freezing, misting etc. The rather more lethal problem will be found during diving tests, a tendency to dive straight into the ground after encountering mach effects. The last problem won't be solved entirely, but it'll delay in service date by a fair bit. Possible solutions include air brakes along the same lines as dive brakes, reversible pitch propellers and thinner tailplane. When eventually entering service around 1940, it'll be armed with a 37/54 and 13.2mm mgs.
4.Might see some design from Macchi, but two fighter types is probably enough. Might end up just being an export type.
5.There aren't any heavy bombers, the projects being cancelled in 1935 due to excessive cost. The decision seems to be vindicated by experience in South America. Six examples of the Piaggio P.50 and CANT Z.1014 were slowly built and are used as development aircraft for a variety of things; armament trials, engine trials, radar and communication trials, transports
6.A project for a medium bomber to replace the Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 and SM.81 will come to fruition in 1937-38 with two types being ordered. One will look similar to the Tu-91 and be mostly used as an attack/light bomber role and the other is a more conventional medium bomber.
The only other major aircraft project will be a very large passenger aircraft built by Piaggio and partly subsidized by the government and other commercial concerns. The aim is to build an aircraft that can fly Rome New York in one go, but a stop off in Iberia will be used at first. Requires quite a bit of research and most likely won't enter passenger service until 1943ish. It'll be good competition for the airships, well it'll probably end their rule. Italy is interested in a version for use in the maritime reconnaissance role.
Engines
Alfa-Romeo; A small inverted V-12 similar size and power to the Merlin will get a fair bit of use. Other project is a two-row radial based off the Pegasus. Should be good for 1700-1800hp+ but is rather large diameter. It'll be aimed more towards transport aircraft.
Fiat; Carry on development of the AS.6 for the Schneider Trophy races and will probably generate obscene amounts of power by the end. Only other big project is for the A.60 double engine, which will take some time to get right.
Isotta-Fraschini
Development mostly focussed around the large Asso derivative. Drive to develop the petrol version more with better supercharging. Also on the cards is a diesel version with much reduced fuel consumption.
Other bits and pieces;
Campini already a ground test running of his afterburning ducted fan. One the Z.1014s will act as a flying test bed to test the dynamic performance. It won't really lead anywhere, but will give a lot of knowledge in various systems afterburning, vg nozzles, axial compressors. When hearing that proper jet engines are running things will kick into gear a bit more. Development will follow along the lines of the RAE/Metrovick with axial turbines.
Guns; the 13.2mm mg is more or less sufficient at the moment. The 20mm Oerlikon FFL will be improved over the next few years with higher rate of fire and drum feed but not urgently. Some work will be done on 37mm and 47mm cannon for heavier, armoured targets, also there'll be some tests of a 105mm gun on one of the Piaggio P.50s. Some work done on motorguns, starting with simple things like the Gebauer GKM in 7.7mm and then moving to 13.2mm. Then things might split a bit more with electric motorguns instead of driven off the engine which allows some more degree of choice in where to mount them. Long term project for a indigenous 25mm, 27mm or 30mm weapon to replace the 20mm Oerlikon. I haven't decided on calibre yet.
Quoted
Originally posted by Red Admiral
Wednesday, April 24th 2024, 7:50pm
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