My father: an italian pilot in WWII

[Fabio]

red devils insignas

The red devil could come down from left to right or from right to left for prowling his poor prey ....

[Fabio]

devil with helmet

In Africa Orientale Italiana aka Somaliland, where there was REAL hot weather, the poor devil needed a protection: that's why for the group that fought there in 1940/1941 the pilots invented a new red devil insigna with desert helmet on. Funny, isn't it?

[Fabio]

devil with helmet 2

Who knows why this pilots on desert tunic are laughing next to one of their faithful planes with the helemeted devil on it?
Maybe the photografer told them "cheese" ....

[Fabio]

cr 32

The aircraft behind the guys of the previous post was the older brother of the Fiat cr 42 Falco and was called Fiat CR 32 Freccia that means "Dard" .
Here we have some of them flying one wing next to the other.
This fighter biplane was used excpecially during spanish civil war and during WW2 was used like training aircraft in flying schools

[Fabio]

cr 32 on flight

This is a very particular pic taken from a pilot of the 154th wing from inside his plane during a flight ...

[Fabio]

cr 32 in line

A group of Cr 32 in line in the airport of Ravenna, northern Italy, in the second half of 30's.

[Fabio]

model

This is a pic of a built kit of a CR 32 of the somaliland 6th wing that I have found on line.
Take a look ...

[Fabio]

model 2

Isn't so perfect that looks real?

[Fabio]

The Italians had two first generation fighters in the war, the Macchi 200 and the Fiat G50.
The G.50 Freccia (Arrow) was built by Giuseppe Gabrielli and the first protype (MM 334) was flown on February 26, 1937. It was the first single seat monoplane fighter designed and flown in Italy. The G.50 was a low wing monoplane, which had a all metal fuselage with a three-piece wing. The movable control surfaces were fabric covered, balanced and split flaps were fitted.
Initial production consisted of 40 G.50's of which 12 were sent to Spain in 1938 for testing under operating conditions with the Gruppo Caccia Sperimentale (Experimental Fighter Group). The results were extremely successful and a further 200 were ordered. Various changes in design occurred, such as the sliding cockpit canopy, which was deleted since it was disliked by the pilots. Other semi-enclosed cockpits were created until a a folding flaps on each side of the cockpit was adapted. In 1939, 35 G.50's were ordered by the Finnish government, but were detained enroute by Germany until 1940 after cessation of hostilities between Finland and the USSR. The G.50's served with the Finnish Air Force No.26 Squadron and continued front line service until May of 1944. In addition, 2 pre-production models were given to Spain and 10 G.50s were supplied to the Croat government
When Italy entered the war on June 10, 1940, 48 G.50's of the 20th Gruppo Caccia Terrestre accompanied the Corpo Aero Italiano to Ursel, Belgium in October of 1940 for use in the Battle of Britain. There is, however, no record of any encountered actions over the British Isles.
A two seater training G.50 was built and renamed the G.50B. This version was flown on April 30, 1940. One hundred of these variants were built. On September 9, the G.50bis was flown which was a new fighter version of the G.50. Some of the differences included removal of the 2.2lb anti-personal or incidiary bomb and replacing it with a 25 lmp. gallon fuel tank. the tailwing fairing was eliminated and the vertical tail surfaces were redesigned. Another change was an increase in length from 26' 4" to 27' 2 1/3" and a reduction in height from 10' 9" to 9' 2 1/4". The G.50bis proved to be a good variant and 450 of these aircraft were built, 10 of which were supplied to the Croatian Air Force.
The G.50 Freccia was used with the 2nd Gruppo Caccia Terrestre over Greece in October of 1940 and the G.50bis was used extensivly by the Regia Aeronautica over north Africa. The fighter still possesed inadequate speed and firepower, forcing most pilots to prefer the Macchi C.200. Several attempts were made to modernize the G.50 such as the the G.50ter in July 17, 1940 ,which had a 1,000 hp Fiat A.76 engine and attained a maximum speed of 329 mph. On August 25, 1941 a new G.50V , converted to hold a German Diamler-Benz DB 601A 1,050 hp engine, attained a speed of 360 mph. Fiat was in the process of making a newer aircraft named the G.52, but that was later dropped for the G.55 Centauro.
On October 3, 1942, the last variant of the G.50, a two seater G.50bis/A fighter bomber was developed. Addistions included a 12.7mm Breda-SAFAT machine gun in each wing and shackles for a pair of 353 lb bombs. Arrester hooks were also added for use with the aircraft carriers Aquila and Sparviero, which were being converted from merchant ships.

[Fabio]

g50 150th wing

Also the red devils and the sixth squadron, with the 150th wing, had their Arrow fighters

[Fabio]

g55

Some aviation experts consider the FIAT G55 Centauro the best single seat fighter produced for the Italian air force in World War Two. The Fiat G55 Centauro was a redesigned version of the G50 Freccia. Differences included a DB 605 A-1 engine, an improved fineness ratio of the fuselage and a redesigned wing, built in 2 sections ,bolted together at the centerline for greater efficiency. Metal stressed skin was used and the metal framed airlerone was fabric covered.
The first prototype was flown on April 30, 1942 and production started in the beginning of 1943. The initial model was the G55/0 which held a 20mm MG 151 cannon and (4) 12.7mm Breda SAFAT machine guns. The "O" model was succeeded by the "I" model which held three 20mm MG151's and two Breda SAFAT machine guns. Deliveries of the G55 to the 53rd Stormo and the 353rd Squadriglia of the 20th Gruppo just started when Italy surrendered to the Allies on September 8, 1943. Because of Italy's surrender, the G55 did not see combat with the Regia Aeronautica. However, factories which were building the G55's were still under the control of the Republica Sociale Italiana (Salo Republic) in northern Italy, and several thousand were ordered. The G55 became the RSI's standard aircraft for their air force. Shortages began to develope as the DB 605 A-1 engines became scarce and only 105 FIAT G55's were produced by the time the Allies overran all of Italy.
Other models developed based on the G55 which were the G55/II with 5 20mm cannons and the G55/S Torpedo Fighter, which carried one 2,176 lb Whitehead fiume torpedo beneath the fuselage. Both of these variations of the G55 flew in 1944.
After the war, production of the G55 resumed for foreign export and the newer G55/A's and G55/B's were built. Fiat reinstalled the production lines to produce the G.55A armed with either 2 wing-mounted 12.7mm machine guns or 2 20mm canon plus the 2 12.7mm machine guns in the cowling. 19 went to the Italian air force and 30 were supplied to Argentina. Argentina returned 17 that were then sold to Egypt in 1948, being armed with 4 12.7mm machine guns. A 2-seat trainer version, the G.55B was built in 1946 with 10 going to the Italian air force and 15 to Argentina in 1948.
This one is a beautiful Fiat G55 Centauro used by the Red devils: you can esily see the emblema next to the propeller ...

[Fabio]

reggiane re 2000

By the end of the 1930s, the Italian aeronautical industry offered four fighters: a mixed-construction biplane with fixed undercarriage and three all-metal monoplanes with retractable undercarriage. Of the latter only one could be considered - due to its performance, technology and ease of production - of international level. Paradoxically, it was this very aircraft that would be the least employed of the three by the Regia Aeronautica, although having some success abroad. I am speaking of the Reggiane RE 2000.
Reggiane's RE 2000 certainly deserved more luck at home; insofar the first creation of the Emilian Aviation factories certainly was one of the most interesting and capable aircraft built in Italy at the time. The aircraft was realized on the basis of the project defined by the team led by Ing. Longhi. The inspiration of the project clearly was an American one. The RE 2000 didn't hide its origins coming from the Seversky P-35, a fact caused by the previous professional experience of Ing. Longhi with the Uppercu Burnelli Aircraft Corporation, a division of the Uppercu Cadillac Corporation. The technical solutions adopted by the Italian team were, for the Italian experience of the time, clearly revolutionary ones and these required a deep as well as fast update of the technological level of the Reggiane factory and at the same time a sudden rise of professionality in the Italian workers. It is necessary to realize that, until then, the Reggiane had only built the three-engine bomber S 79 under license and that its only home-made projects (the P 32 Bis and the Ca 405) although interesting, came directly from the old, classical, lines of thought of the "Italian school", where the experience on wooden structures still had a deep influence on the designers.
For the first time instead, special aluminum panels appeared and this requested the importation of adequate machinery and tools; the NACA profiles saw widespread use and a particular care was put into defining aerodynamic details, so much that the RE 2000 was the only plane of the so-called "Serie 0" (Fiat G.50 - Macchi C.200 - RE 2000) to be devoid from the start of any "autorotation" stall phenomenon, which were an infamous characteristic of the other two fighters.
Shortly after its rollout, the prototype of the Reggiane RE 2000 (MM.408) took off for the first time from Reggio Emilia on 24 May 1939, flown by the exceptional test pilot Mario De Bernardi. The flight characteristics and the handling of the new fighter were excellent right from the start and this was confirmed during the military comparison test effected in Guidonia flown by Regia Aeronautica test pilots. The results of the comparative mock-up dogfights were even more surprising: The RE 2000 turned out to be more maneuverable of the Fiat Cr.42 and it was the clear winner even against the German Bf 109E!
It was thus no less surprising that the aircraft was rejected by the Regia Aeronautica, on the basis that the internal wing fuel tanks were too vulnerable and were not of the self-sealing type.
Considering that this solution guaranteed exceptional range and that the modification would have been a simple one, the motives clearly appear to have been political or of "industrial opportunity". To be fair however, we must acknowledge that the RE 2000 had at least one defect: Its Piaggio P.IX engine which was highly unreliable.

[Fabio]

reggiane re 2001

the Reggiane 2000 (shown above) was truely unique for 1938. However, the motor did not impress the Regia Aeronautica and they did not purchase the Re2000. So Officine Meccaniche Reggiane SpA (Caproni) developed a variant of it, primarily with the greatly improved Daimler Benz Bd 601 motor, and called it the Re2001. It turned out to be a fine aircraft with good all around characteristics. But it was ill fated. The RA demanded a long series of "improvements" that held back production so that it was not operational until Dec. 1941, and then only 140 were produced by 1942. The basic problem was that most of the German made engines were put into Maachi 202s. Only 237 Re2001s were built. These flew in the fighter/bomber role and later as night fighters, never in their intended role as interceptors.
Technical Details
The Re.2001 was powered by the 1.175 hp Daimler Benz DB601 A-1, 12 cylinder, liquid cooled engine. It has a maximum speed of 349 mph and a ceiling of 36,000 ft. It could range up to 684 miles. It was originally armed with 4 machine guns in the wings, later variants included the CD fighter-bomber and the CN night fighter. The CB usually carried either a 220 lb or 550 lb bomb, although they did carry a 1,412 lb bomb to attack HMS Victorious, unsuccessfully. The CN was armed with two 20 mm cannons instead of machine guns.
This one is an assault variant with a 250 kilograms bomb.

[Fabio]

red devils reggiane re 2001

This is a reggiane re 2001 used by the Sixth Squadron, 150th wing

[Fabio]

reggiane re 2005

The Reggiane 2005 is defined as the best Italian fighter during the second world war.It has a pure shape and its flying characteristics as well as performances make it a unique airplane in the warbirds scenery
The first prototype of the wonderful Reggiane RE 2005 called Sagittario ( Archer ), flew on May 9th of 1942 powered from Daimler Benz DB 605 engine of 1446 HP ( 1475 CV ). The main differences respect other Reggiane fighters, were the kind of landing gear, retractable toward the external side, the aerodinamic shape of the fuselage, a ventral radiator. Also was proposed an improved version to gain the right power at the high altitudes with the adding of an auxiliary system based on the Fiat A. 20 engine of 363 HP ( 370 CV ). This version called RE 2005 R was never built for the poor performances.