In late 1939, the rapid expansion of the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe caused great alarm in Finland. As a politically isolated nation with limited funds, Finland struggled to equip its military for a potential war with the Soviets. Despite the challenges they faced, they achieved some limited success in finding the equipment they needed. While the Finnish armed forces lacked for many modern weapons, they possessed a small number of advanced fighter aircraft, though not enough in the face of a Soviet invasion. To address this, they approached the Kingdom of Italy and acquired 35 Fiat G.50 Freccia fighters. While the G.50 was not an exceptional fighter in terms of overall performance, it was sufficient for the Finnish Air Forces and remained in frontline service until 1944.
The Fiat F.50 in Finnish service. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_G.50_Freccia
Finland’s Early Struggle to Survive
Following the collapse of the Russian Empire, and the subsequent Civil War, Finland emerged as an independent state. While it did not have great relations with the neighboring Soviet Union, Finland’s first two decades of independent existence proved to be mostly peaceful. This changed drastically on 27th August 1939, when a secret meeting between German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov resulted in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. This non-aggression pact had secret protocols dividing Eastern Europe into spheres of influence, which directly affected Finland. As part of the agreement, Germany agreed to let the Soviets occupy former territories that had belonged to the Russian Empire. By September, the Soviets were in the process of occupying the Baltic states under the pretext of defending against a possible German attack. These countries were mostly too small to offer any real resistance to the Soviet demands.
Fearing a potential war with the rapidly expanding Soviet Union, Finnish military officials sought to acquire as many weapons and as much material as possible, including aircraft. As part of this, a delegation was dispatched to Italy. This delegation visited Turin in 1939, where new G.50 fighter was being tested. The Finnish representatives were impressed with the aircraft’s performance and promptly placed an order for 35 brand-new G.50s.
In November 1939, while testing the G.50’s capabilities, Finnish pilot Tapani Harmaja took a sharp dive from an altitude of over 3.5 km, reaching a remarkable speed of 830 km/h during his descent. Ironically, this was the highest speed achieved by any Italian aircraft up to that date.
Purchasing the 35 aircraft was the easy part; transporting them to Finland proved to be a much more challenging task. By then, the Second World War had already begun in Europe with the German invasion of Poland. With limited options, the aircraft were disassembled into smaller parts and transported by train to northern Germany. From there, they were loaded onto ships bound for neutral Sweden. Due to various delays, the first aircraft was not fully assembled until mid-December 1939, and the last of the 35 ordered fighters did not arrive in Finland until June 1940.
In the hope of acquiring more modern fighters Finland purchased 35 new Fiat G.50 fighters from Italy. Source: airpages.ru
The Fiat G.50, a Brief History
During the 1930s, the Italian Ministry of Aviation (Ministero dell’aeronautica) was interested in adopting a new, all-metal monoplane fighter and ground-attack aircraft for the Italian Air Force (Regia Aeronautica). In April of 1935, engineer Giuseppe Gabrielli began working on a new low-wing, all-metal aircraft designated G.50. On 28th September 1935, Gabrielli submitted his project to the Ministry of Aviation. Military officials were impressed by the design and ordered him to proceed with his work. As Fiat’s production capacities were overburdened, work on this new project was instead moved to the Costruzioni Meccaniche Aeronautiche (CMASA) works at the Marina di Pisa, which had been a part of Fiat since 1931. By 1936, Giuseppe Gabrielli had completed his last drawings and the list of needed materials and equipment in.
The prototype was completed in early 1937 and was transported to the city of Turin for further testing. The prototype, under registration number MM 334, made its first test flight on 26 February 1937. Once accepted for service, the Fiat G.50 would become the first Italian all-metal monoplane fighter. Between 1938 to 1943, some 774 to 791 G. 50s would be built. These saw combat service starting from 1938 in the Spanish Civil War, until 1943 when the few surviving aircraft were reassigned to secondary roles.
G.50s flying in formation with a German Bf-110, possibly during the Battle of Britain Source; Wikipedia
In Finnish Service
While the G.50 proved to be a fairly modern fighter, they arrived too late and in too few numbers to have any real impact in the Winter War. The Soviet Union then demanded territorial concessions from Finland, particularly the lease of the Karelian Isthmus and other areas near Leningrad. The Finns were reluctant to comply, leading to unsuccessful negotiations. When diplomatic negotiations failed, the Soviet Union launched a military offensive against Finland on 30 November 1939. Despite being outnumbered and outgunned, the Finnish military, with their knowledge of the terrain and effective guerrilla tactics, inflicted significant casualties on the Soviet forces. The harsh winter conditions also worked to Finland’s advantage.
With the gradual arrival of the G.50, these aircraft were assigned to the Lentolaivue 26, or shortened, LeLv 26 (REng. 26th Fighter Wing). This unit was based at Haukkajärvi. Although the G.50s arrived late, they still saw significant action. Between February and March 1940, Finnish pilots flying these aircraft managed to shoot down 11 Soviet planes, losing only one of their own.
There is some disagreement among sources and authors regarding the use of the Fiat G.50 during the Winter War. According to P. Vergnano (Fiat G.50), the aircraft was deployed in this conflict. However, other authors, such as G. Cattaneo (The Fiat G.50), state that 14 aircraft reached Finland by February 1940, and were assigned to the 26th Fighter Wing, but they did not see action until after March 1940. D. Monday (The Hamlyn Concise Guide to Axis Aircraft of World War II), simply mentions that they arrived too late to participate in the Winter War.
Despite the Finns’ valiant resistance, they were eventually forced into peace negotiations with the Soviets. The war concluded with the signing of the Treaty of Moscow on 12th March 1940. Though brief, the conflict was costly for both sides, and Finland was compelled to cede roughly 10% of its territory to the Soviet Union, including the Karelian Isthmus. Finnish military officials, however, recognized the need to prepare for future conflicts.
Camouflage And Marking
Initially, the G.50 would use camouflage of Italian origin, featuring a combination of green, brown, and sand backgrounds. In 1941, at the insistence of the Germans, the original Italian camouflage colors would remain unchanged for the Finnish planes. However, the Italian paint was prone to peeling, so ground crews used whatever was available to repair the damage. After 1942, most aircraft were repainted with Finnish camouflage colors, such as black, olive green, and light blue.
The first aircraft that arrived in Finland was designated with the code SA-1. This was later changed to FA-1 (up to FA-35) in late January 1940, with the capital ‘F’ standing for Fiat.
The standard Finnish Insignia was a Hakaristi cross, commonly referred to as a swastika, on either side of the fuselage. The Finnish Hakaristi is often conflated with the swastika used by Nazi Germany, however, the Hakaristi was not derived from the German swastika and had been used in Finland since 1918, drawing from much older cultural use. The Hakaristi markings were blue with a round shape and a white background.
Additionally, commanding fighters often had large numbers painted on their tails. The first squadron fighter leader’s aircraft had a light blue number, followed by a black number with yellow trim for the second, and a yellow number for the third. After 1942, the light blue color was replaced by a simpler white.
The first G.50 (initially marked as SA-1 later changed to FA-1) reached Finland. This aircraft used for initial testing and crew training. Source: en.topwar.ruThe standard Finnish roundel was a Hakaristi cross which as painted on the fuselage sides. Source: ww2aircraft.netThe first squadron fighter leader’s aircraft had a light blue number, followed by a black number with yellow trim for the second, and a yellow number for the third. After 1942, the light blue color was replaced by a simpler white. Source: ww2aircraft.net
Continuation War
While not fully aligned with Nazi Germany, Finland did allow the Wehrmacht access to Northern Finland. Finland later signed the Anti-Comintern Pact, which was initially an anti-communist pact between Germany and Japan, with other minor nations signing throughout the war. Prior to this, relations had already been previously established, which was convenient for both nations, as Germany could stage their military in Lapland, and other areas of Finland, for Operation Barbarossa. In turn, Finland would be granted the military assistance they needed. However, this ended all support, both material and political, from the Western Allies. On the 22nd of June 1941, Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union began, assisted by some Finnish forces. Three days later, the Soviets staged air raids against nearby Finnish cities, thus beginning the Continuation War. Finland never sought to gain any additional territory from the conflict, only to regain control of what was initially lost during the Winter War.
Just before the outbreak of the Continuation War, the Finns observed that the newly arrived G.50 aircraft were somewhat ill-suited for operating in the harsh Northern climate. This was not entirely unexpected, as the aircraft had been designed in Italy, a much warmer region, and the designers had not anticipated the need for the G.50 to function in colder parts of the world. In response, the Finnish Army attempted to modify the G.50 to enhance its effectiveness in these conditions.
The G.50s that the Finns received were from the first production series, which featured enclosed cockpits. This design element was not well received by Finnish pilots, leading to the replacement of the enclosed cockpits with open ones. Additionally, the aircraft’s variable-pitch propeller mechanism had a tendency to freeze in low temperatures, risking critical component failure. To address this issue, the Finns turned to Sweden for assistance, importing Swedish propeller spinners that were better suited for cold climates. These spinners were originally used on Swedish-imported CR.42 and J11 biplanes, which had faced similar issues.
Further modifications included replacing the original G.50 fins and rudders with improved versions. Finnish engineers also experimented with the installation of landing skis for use in snowy conditions.
To avoid freezing of some parts of the propellers, Finish engineers added a new Swedish propeller spinner, as seen here. Source: P. Verganano Fiat G.50
When the war resumed, the 26th Fighter Wing, stationed at an airfield near Utti, was tasked with defending the area around Lake Ladoga, where they saw the bulk of their action. From the outset, Finnish pilots operating the G.50 achieved remarkable success. On the first day of the conflict, the six G.50s managed to shoot down ten Soviet bombers without suffering any losses. One pilot, Oiva Tuominen, alone shot down four of these bombers within a matter of minutes. Tuominen would go on to become one of Finland’s top fighter aces, credited with a total of 23 air victories (though some sources claim 33 or even 43), with around 15 of these achieved while flying the G.50. For his service, he was awarded the Mannerheim Cross, Finland’s highest military decoration at the time. In 1941, following the German invasion, the number of Soviet aircraft on this front sharply declined.
In late August 1941, they successfully shot down nine Soviet fighters. By the end of the war, pilots of the 26th Fighter Wing had achieved approximately 88 air victories, with the loss of 11 G.50 aircraft. Of these, only two were downed by Soviet fighters, one was lost to anti-aircraft fire, and eight were lost due to accidents or mechanical failures.
By 1943, the introduction of newer Soviet fighter models and better-trained pilots forced the Finnish Air Force primarily into a defensive role. At this point, the G.50 was clearly obsolete as a frontline fighter, but due to a lack of alternatives, it remained in service until 1944. After May 1944, the surviving aircraft were withdrawn and relegated to secondary roles, such as training. However, by the end of the war, several operational G.50 fighters remained in use, with some continuing to serve until 1947.
Technical characteristics
The G.50 was a single-seat, low-wing, all-metal fighter plane. The fuselage was made from four angular longerons. The wing construction consisted of a center section which was made of a steel tube connected to the lower fuselage and two metal spars connected with ribs. The fuselage, wing, and tail were covered with duralumin sheets. The only fabric-covered parts of the aircraft were the movable control surfaces in the wings and the tail. The G.50 was powered by the 840 hp (626 kW) Fiat A 74 RC 38, a 14-cylinder radial piston engine, which drove an all-metal three-blade propeller produced by Fiat.
The G.50 was equipped, like most modern aircraft of the time, with inward retracting landing gear, but the rear tail wheel was fixed. In later improved versions, the rear tail wheel was changed to a retractable type as well.
The armament consisted of two forward-firing 12.7mm Breda-SAFAT heavy machine guns, with 150 rounds of ammunition for each gun. The guns were placed behind the upper engine cowl and were synchronized in order not to damage the propeller.
In Finnish service, these aircraft received several modifications as mentioned earlier. This included an open pilot cockpit, enlarged tail control surfaces, and propeller spinners which protected the variable pitch mechanism from the cold climate.
The Finnish version could be easily identified by the open cockpit and the use of an engine spinner, Source: www.militaryimages.net
Conclusion
The acquisition of the Fiat G.50 provided Finnish pilots with a more modern fighter aircraft. While the design was not exceptional from the start, the Finns managed to put it to good use, achieving relatively good success against the Soviet Air Force. The G.50 remained in service well into the later stages of the war.
Specification G.50 Fighter
Wingspan
35 ft 11 in / 10.9 m
Length
26 ft 3 in / 8 m
Height
10 ft 7 in / 3.28 m
Wing Area
196.5 ft² / 18.25 m²
Engine
One 840 hp (626 kW) Fiat A.74 RC.38, 14 cylinder radial piston
Empty Weight
4,353 lbs / 1,975 kg
Maximum Takeoff Weight
5,324 lbs / 2,415 kg
Fuel Capacity
316 l
Maximum Speed
292 mph / 470 km/h
Range
267 mi / 445 km
Maximum Service Ceiling
35,100 ft (10,700 m)
Climb speed
Climb to 19,700 ft (6,000 m) in 7 minutes and 30 seconds
Crew
One pilot
Armament
Two 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT heavy machine guns
Illustration
Credits
Article written by Marko P.
Edited by Henry H.
Illustration by Haryo Panji
Sources
V. Nenye (2016) Finland At War The Continuation And Lapland Wars 1941-45, Osprey Publishing
V. Nenye (2015) Finland At War The Winter War, Osprey Publishing
P. Jowett and B. Snodgrass (2006) Finland At War 1939-45, Osprey Publishing
D. Nesic (2008) Naoružanje Drugog Svetsko Rata-Italija. Beograd
C. Shores (1979) Regia Aeronautica Vol. I, Signal publication.
D. Monday (2006) The Hamlyn Concise Guide To Axis Aircraft OF World War II, Bounty Books.
V. Nenye (2016) Finland At War The Continuation And Lapland Wars 1941-45, Osprey Publishing
V. Nenye (2015) Finland At War The Winter War, Osprey Publishing
Kingdom of Italy/Italian Social Republic (1941-1945) Fighter – Approximately 60 Airframes Received
The Dewoitine D.520 was an advanced French fighter aircraft of the Second World War, which had been employed in large numbers during the Battle of France. After the French Campaign, the German forces captured dozens of Dewoitine D.520s in working order, of which 60 were delivered to the Italian Regia Aeronautica (Royal Air Force) in two separate batches of 30 planes.
Leftovers
Of those, some were never retrieved from the French airports they were left at, and others were disassembled, and cannibalized for spare parts. For these reasons, and the absence of data in Italian official documents, many of their stories have been lost to time.
Prior to being supplied any D.520 by the Luftwaffe, the Italian Regio Esercito (Royal Army) had captured about 30 Dewoitine D.520s during its involvement in the Battle of France. These were almost immediately delivered to the Regia Aeronautica. According to the official documentation, the first three specimens were assigned to 2° Stormo Caccia (Eng: 2nd Fighter Wing), even if it is not clear when they were delivered and to which squadron.
Regia Aeronautica D.520 of an unidentified squadron. The planes have by this point received Italian markings, such as the cross and the white band, but the base camouflage appears to remain the one featured on the original French planes, with the exception of the red propeller hub. Source: Pinterest
The command of the 2° Stormo was based at the Turin-Mirafiori airport after the 20th of January 1941, with 68 pilots and 119 mechanics, a total of 12 FIAT C.R. 42, and waiting for the new Macchi M.C. 202. For two months, they defended the largest industrial centers in northern Italy, such as Turin, Milan, Genoa, and Savona. At the end of February, the first Macchi M.C. 200 and some CR 42s arrived, bringing the department’s equipment to 62 MC 200s and 22 CR 42s, but with no mention of the Dewoitines.
There appear to have been three D.520s available. Due to a lack of spare parts and 20 mm ammunition (the Hispano-Suiza did not fire the same 20 mm cartridges produced in Italy), these were rarely used by pilots, except for training to fight against the French aircraft.
A Regia Aeronautica D.520. This picture is referred to as having been taken either in France, before the aircraft was transferred to Italy, or on an airfield in Southern Italy. Source: Pinterest
The remaining Dewoitines captured by Italy were kept at the airports of Montélimar, Orange, Istres, and Aix-en-Provence, and at the Toulouse factory until the beginning of 1943, when some Italian pilots, including Pilot Sergeant Luigi Gorrini (19 kills and 9 probable) had the task of transferring them to Italy.
Of these new D.520s taken over by the Regia Aeronautica, 8 went to equip the 22° Gruppo Autonomo Caccia Terrestre (22nd Autonomous Terrestrial Fighter Group) in late February 1943 at the airport of Capodichino. The French aircraft were deployed alongside the Macchi M.C. 202, the Reggiane Re. 2001, and some pre-series Reggiane Re. 2005. These aircraft were used to intercept the American B-24 bombers which increasingly hit the city of Naples.
The Dewoitine proved to be very efficient in this task, managing to damage several bombers, often causing the bombers to abort their missions. They were helped by their powerful 20 mm cannon, which at the time had no equivalent on the Italian fighters of the unit (except for the Re. 2005). This is not particularly surprising, as the cannon firing through the propeller hub, a feature of the D.520, and in general most French fighters of the era, was found to be highly accurate in most situations, though limited by a magazine of only 60 rounds. The Italian planes, such as the Macchis and the FIATs, were less precise, but had increased magazines that guaranteed the possibility to commit to several attacks.
On March 1st, 1943, Major Vittorio Minguzzi, commander of the 22° Gruppo Autonomo Caccia Terrestre, and a Reggiane Re. 2005 veteran, shot down a B-24 in the middle of a bombing run over Naples with a D.520. This kill, considered probable for a long time until the discovery of the bomber’s wreck, was the first recorded victory by a D.520 of the Regia Aeronautica, even if it is likely some Allied aircraft had already fallen victim to Italian D.520s in the previous weeks.
Details of the nose of a D.520 during the plane’s showcase to General Mazzucco, 19th of May 1943. Source: Pinterest
On 19th May 1943 in Littoria, the 371ª Squadriglia Caccia Terrestri (371th Terrestrial Fighter Squadron) officially presented the French fighter to General Renato Mazzucco, commander of the 3ª Divisione Aerea (3rd Air Division), who had come to visit their airbase. This confirms that the 371ª Squadriglia Caccia Terrestri also had a certain number of Dewoitines in service.
On 21st May 1943, the Regia Aeronautica delivered 39 Lioré et Olivier LeO 451 bombers previously captured in the SNCASE factory in Lyon’s Ambérieu-en-Bugey to the Luftwaffe in exchange for the delivery of 30 French Dewoitine D.520s captured by the Germans and apparently never used after the French surrender.
Apparently, these aircraft were delivered without ammunition, without any spare parts, and with evident damage to the weapons and equipment on board. It is supposed this damage was sabotage performed by French pilots, before their aircraft fell into Axis hands during the Battle of France.
After Italian mechanics disassembled some of them to cannibalize the spare parts, these Dewoitines were supplied to the 161° Gruppo Autonomo Caccia Terrestre (161st Autonomous Terrestrial Fighter Group) based at several airports in southern Italy. The numbers are not known, but they were used by the 163a SquadrigliaCaccia Terrestri (163rd Terrestrial Fighter Squadron) in Grottaglie, 162a SquadrigliaCaccia Terrestri (162nd Terrestrial Fighter Squadron) in Crotone, and 164a SquadrigliaCaccia Terrestri (164th Terrestrial Fighter Squadron) in Reggio Calabria together with a force of Italian fighters.
Other units that used the D.520 were the 355a Squadriglia (355th Squadron) and the 370a Squadriglia (370th Squadron), with both units receiving three each, under the 24° Gruppo Autonomo Caccia Terrestre (24th Autonomous Terrestrial Fighter Group).
The 232a Squadriglia Caccia (232nd Fighter Squadron) of the 59° Gruppo Bombardamento Terrestre (59th Terrestrial Bombardment Group) received an unknown number of D.520s for escort duties alongside Savoia Marchetti S.M. 79 three-engine bombers. An unspecified number were used by the 167º Gruppo Autonomo Intercettori (167th Autonomous Interceptor Group) based in Guidonia with the specific task of defending the city from bombers. It is also known that D.520s were used by the 60° Gruppo Bombardamento Terrestre (60th Terrestrial Bombardment Group), and the 13° Gruppo Caccia (13th Fighter Group), the latter being stationed at the Arena Metano Airport near Pisa.
According to official records, on July 31st, 1943, the Regia Aeronautica still had 47 Dewoitine D.520s in service, which were used mostly in the role of bomber interceptors.
In the confusion that followed after the armistice of 8th September 1943, the departments of the Royal Italian Army parted ways. Some, continuing to fight for the Axis, became part of the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana or ANR (Republican National Air Force). The Aeronautica Cobelligerante Italiana (Italian Co-belligerent Air Force) fought for the Allies, but did not use the D.520.
Many Dewoitines were destroyed by pilots and mechanics, or were captured by the Germans, who re-used them in the Luftwaffe.
The ANR took possession of three D.520s previously in service with the 24° Gruppo Autonomo Caccia Terrestre. These three aircraft were assigned to the recently established 101º Gruppo autonomo caccia (101st Autonomous Fighter Group) in Turin-Mirafiori for training tasks with Macchi M.C. 200 and FIAT C.R. 42 and, disbanded some time later, without ever taking part in combat.
Italian Evaluation
The Italian judgment of the Dewoitine D.520 was not entirely positive for two reasons. The first is to be found in a nationalist perspective, which gave a negative perception for the foreign D.520. Secondly, pilots such as the ace Luigi Gorrini, who had the opportunity to test it in simulated combat against other fighters, did not consider it agile enough compared to contemporary aircraft, such as the Macchi M.C. 200. Italian pilots considered the D.520 inferior to the Macchi in all areas except armament.
However, the spacious cockpit, the very efficient communication system (when not tampered with), and the 20 mm cannon were praised. These would only be introduced on Italian aircraft starting from 1943. Against US bombers, the guns made a marked difference even if the little ammunition on board was often a limiting factor. The same had been found by French pilots during the campaign of France, who often had to rely on the machine-guns if the mission went on for too long; this was more of an issue against the more robust bombers which were being fielded by 1943.
Italian camouflage and markings
The typical camouflage used on the Italian planes was similar to the original French one. The coat of arms of the French Air Force was covered with new layers of paint, adding a band on both sides of the wings and one on the fuselage with white paint. The Croce di Savoia was painted on the rudder, a distinctive symbol of Italian aircraft since June 1940. An interesting note is that the Croce di Savoia on the Dewoitines was painted without the coat of arms of the Italian royal family.
A Dewoitine D. 520 of the 24° Gruppo Autonomo Caccia Terrestre with its distinctive coat of arms. Olbia, Sardinia 1943. Source: Pinterest
At least one specimen was painted in an aluminum color (since the photo is in black and white, for a long time, it was believed to be in Olive Green). It had the typical coat of arms of Italian fighters, the Fasci Littori, on the sides of the cockpit and the ‘Fasci Littori Alari’ symbol of the Regia Aeronautica on the wings. This unique example was painted on the occasion of General Mazzucco’s visit to Guidonia.
The 59° Gruppo Bombardamento Terrestre aircraft received the standard camouflage used in North Africa by the Royal Italian Air Force, khaki with dark green spots. These D. 520s were painted with the Savoia royal family coat of arms.
The ANR specimens were painted in light gray with dark gray spots, a tricolor on the fuselage and rudder and the ‘Fasci Littori Alari’ on the wings. According to evidence, at least one specimen remained in the classic French camouflage, perhaps being repainted into the ANR camouflage at a later time.
Conclusions
Despite the little information on the operational history of the Dewoitine D.520s in Italian service, we can suppose that it was appreciated by the Italian pilots, even for their rancor against all aircraft of foreign origin. The limited numbers received and deployed by the Italian units did not permit a great service of these French aircraft by the Regia Aeronautica. For much of their service, these planes were held at airports for maintenance.
Dewoitine D.520C-1 specifications
Wingspan
10.18 m
Length
8.75 m
Height
2.55 m
Wing Area
16 m²
Engine
Hispano-Suiza 12Y-45
Power at Critical Altitude
935 hp at 4,200 m
Max RPM
2,400 RRM
Propeller
Three-bladed Ratier or Chauvière (3 m diameter)
Empty Weight
2,050 kg
Maximum Takeoff Weight
2,740 kg
Wing Load
195 kg/m²
Fuel Capacity
400 liters standard
640 liters with wing fuel tanks
Time to Altitude
4,000 m in 5’13”
6,000 m in 7’57”
8,000 m in 13’24”
Maximum Speed
425 km/h at sea level
535 km/h at 6,750 m
Cruising Speed
400 km/h
Stall Speed
125 km/h
Range
Around 900 km with a standard fuel load
1,500 km at max fuel load (equipped w/ wing tanks)
Maximum Service Ceiling
11,000 m /
Crew
1 Pilot
Armament
20 mm HS-404 firing through the propeller hub with 60 rounds
4x MAC34M39 machine guns with 675 rounds per gun in the wings
Number Completed
60 officially delivered to Regia Aeronautica unknown used in active service
Illustrations
Credits
Written by Arturo Giusti
Edited by Henry H.
Illustrations by Oussama Mohamed “Godzilla”
Sources
Dimensione Cielo Aerei italiani nella 2ª guerra mondiale, 3° Volume, Edizioni Bizzarri, Rome, 1972
Danel and J. Cuny, Docavia n°4: le Dewoitine D.520, Editions Larivière, Paris 1966
In the search for more modern fighters, Austria acquired some 45 CR.32bis biplane fighters from Italy. These were some of the best biplane designs in the years before the war, but were quickly deemed obsolete once they encountered more modern fighters. In Austrian hands, these would only have a limited service life, as two years later this country would be annexed by Nazi Germany.
Following the end of the First World War, the once mighty Austro-Hungarian Empire ceased to exist. Its territories were taken by its neighbors, or given to newly created states that emerged following the war. What was left of Austria was deprived of its military force and sounded by not-so-friendly countries.
To acquire some modern aircraft for its air force, an Austrian delegation visited Italy. After examining various designs, the Austrian Federal Ministry of National Defence agreed to buy 45 CR.32bis biplane fighter aircraft at the start of 1936. These were better-armed and slightly improved versions, with two additional machine guns positioned in the wings. Once in Austria, they were used to equip Jagdgeschwader II stationed at Wiener Neustadt.
In total, Austria acquired 45 of the CR.32bis from Italy in early 1936. Source: forum.axishistory.com
A Brief CR.32 History
The success of the CR.30 prompted the Italians to further improve this design. A prototype of the improved CR.32 was completed and flight-tested in April 1933. Following the successful test trials, the aircraft was accepted to service and put into mass production, proving to be one of the better biplane designs that arose just before the Second World War. It achieved great export success as it was sold worldwide such as in China, Hungary, Spain, Venezuela, and Austria. While it performed well during the Spanish Civil War, the days of the biplane fighter were gone, replaced by the more modern single-wing fighter. Thus the Cr.32s in service by the Italian Air Force suffered heavy losses when they encountered more modern fighters.
The Italian CR.32 biplane fighter. Source: Wiki
In Austrian Service
As mentioned, the CR.32bis was allocated to the Jagdgeschwader II. this unit was divided into three squadrons (Jagdstaffeln) 4/II, 5II, and 6/II. Their service life within the Austrian Air Force was rather limited and besides some military exercises, they did not see any combat action.
Austria was never in a good geopolitical situation. From the north, they were constantly under pressure from Nazy Germany, who tried several times to direct the Austrian government to its side. For example, in 1934 Nazis organized the assassination of Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss. While this did not change the political situation to Germany’s favor, due to Italian intervention, the Austrian government remained in a great crisis. By 1938, the relationship between Germany and Italy was improving, determining the fate of Austria. In March 1938, the German Army moved into Austria and essentially took over the country in an event known today as the Anschluss.
The equipment of the Austrian Army and Air Force were captured by the Germans. The Jagdgeschwader II was renamed to I.Gruppe – Jagdgeschwader 138 and was relocated to Aspern. The Germans never tried to incorporate the CR.32 into their forces, they were only briefly used as training aircraft. Eventually, the 36 available CR.32 aircraft would be sold to Hungary which already had this aircraft.
A total of 45 CR.32 were allocated to the Jagdgeschwader II. Source: /fighters.forumactif.comIn German service, the CR.32 would see quite limited service as a training aircraft. Seeing no proposal to operate them any further, these would be sold to Hungary. Source:acesflyinghighthesurvivors.wordpress.comAt least one CR.32 would be damaged during a landing accident by the new owners. Source: Pinterest
Camouflage and Marking
The Austrians used a combination of silver paint and natural metal for this aircraft’s liveries. In addition, the wings struts were painted in black. Regarding national marking, they added an Austrian flag which was painted on the aircraft tail. On the fuselage sides, a red circle with a white triangle was painted followed by a vertical red stripe.
The Austrians added a red-white-red flag which was painted on the aircraft tail. On the fuselage sides, usually a red circle with a white triangle was painted followed by a vertical red stripe. On occasions some aircraft such as this one received additional markings. Source: fighters.forumactif.com
Technical Specification
The Fiat CR.32 was designed as a biplane, mixed-construction fighter. The fuselage frame was made using four longerons connected to a triangle-shaped framework. The fuselage was covered in sheet metal, except with some minor parts which were covered in fabric. Wings were made of two spars connected with a duralumin tube and then covered in fabric. The landing gear consisted of two forward-mounted wheels which were connected to the fuselage and a tail wheel. The armament consisted of two 7.7 cm (0.3 in), or two 12.7 cm (0.5 in) machine guns. The ammunition load for the former was 750 and the latter 350 per machine gun. Both of these were mounted above the engine compartment.
The CR.32bis was a slightly improved version that incorporated the addition of two lower-wing positioned machine guns. Source: acesflyinghighthesurvivors.wordpress.com
Conclusion
The CR.32bis was the best available Austrian fighter aircraft. Unfortunately for them, the geopolitical situation in this part of Europe was not in their favor. The rising Nazi Germany for years tried to annex this small country, which they eventually achieved in 1938. The annexation of Austria also meant the end of their short-lived Air Force.
CR.32bis Specifications
Wingspans
9.5 m / 31 ft 2 in
Length
7.45 m / 24 ft 5 in
Height
2.63 m / 8 ft 7 in
Wing Area
22.1 m² / 238 ft²
Engine
One 600 hp Fiat A.30 RA bis 12-cylinder piston engine
Empty Weight
1,400 kg / 3,086 lbs
Maximum Take-off Weight
1,970 kg / 4,343 lbs
Maximum Speed
350 km/h / 217 mph
Range
680 km / 422 miles
Maximum Service Ceiling
8,800 m / 28,870 ft
Crew
1 pilot
Armament
Two 12,7 mm or two 7.7 mm machine guns in the upper fuselage
Two 7.7 mm in the lower wings
Illustration
Credits
Written by Marko P.
Edited by Henry H.
Illustrations by Oussama Mohamed “Godzilla”
Source:
D. Nesic (2008) Naoružanje Drugog Svetsko Rata-Italija
(1996) CR 32 Ali D’ITalia, La Bancarella Aeronautica Torino
G. Cattaneo (1965) The Fiat CR.32, Profile Publication
G. punka (2000) Fiat CR 32/CR 42 In Action, Signal publication
D. Monday (2006) The Hamlyn Concise Guide To Axis Aircraft OF World War II, Bounty Books
To protect their airspace as the Second World war ravaged Europe, Sweden wanted to acquire more modern fighters. Initially, they purchased American fighters, but the few they could order were insufficient and would be soon out of date. Luckily for Sweden, Italy was in short supply of vital metal ore, so it was that the Swedish Air Force managed to acquire 60 Re.2000 fighters. These were immediately put to service and proved to be the best fighters that Sweden had in its inventory during the war.
As the war in Europe broke out in 1939, Sweden tried to use its geopolitical and geographic position to remain neutral. Despite its neutral position, it still needed to acquire weapons and other pieces of military equipment to protect its border in case of any potential attack. Just as the war in Europe started, Sweden’s military officials purchased 120 P-35 Seversky fighters from the US to strengthen its air force. The first contingent of 60 aircraft reached Sweden in early 1940. The second group never reached Sweden, as the US Government canceled this agreement.
Despite ordering 120 P-35 Seversky fighters only half that number ever reached Sweden. Source: comandosupremo.com
The Swedish Armed Forces, not wanting to be left defenseless against an enemy air force, instead approached the Italians. Luckily for them, the Italians had developed and produced the Re.2000 which was essentially an improved copy of the US P-35. The Swedish government requested the purchase of 60 aircraft of this type. The official agreement was signed on the 28th of November 1940. As payment, Sweden agreed to give the Italians vital ore resources such as chrome and nickel.
Through Italy, Sweden managed to acquire 60 Re.2000 fighter aircraft in 1941. Source:www.destinationsjourney.com
Re.2000 Brief Development History
In 1938, the development of the Re.2000 by Reggiane began at the request of the Italian Aviation Ministry. The Italian Air Force at that time wanted to introduce more modern, low-wing fighters. By then, several different fighter designs were in various states of development. Reggiane formed a team of engineers with the aim of creating such a fighter, led by the Technical Director Antonio Alessio, and Engineer Roberto Longhi. Due to a lack of time to design an aircraft from the ground up, a solution was made to utilize some elements of the design of the US Seversky P-35. The main reason why the Re.2000 was influenced by this US design was Roberto Longhi. He had spent some time working in the aviation industry in America before returning to Italy in 1936. While the two planes look very similar, there were some differences, like the cockpit, and landing gear. Due to the lack of interest of the Italian Air Force Officials, fewer than 170 aircraft of this type would be produced. Most were exported, and only small quantities of this fighter were ever operated by the Italian Air Force.
The first Re.2000 reached Sweden in 1941. It was disassembled and then transported by rail through Germany and finally to Sweden. Once there, it was transported to the Swedish Air Force central workshop at Malment to be reassembled, after which the first trial and evaluation flights were carried out in September 1941. Once all 60 arrived, these were allocated to the F 10 Kung. Skanska Flyglottiljen (Eng. Fighter wing) unit. Their primary base of operation was the airfields at Bulltofta and Rinkaby. In Swedish Service, the Re.2000s were renamed to J20. The ‘J’ stands for Jacktplan, meaning a fighter. These received serial numbers from 2301 to 2360. The last two digits of these numbers were painted (in white color) on the aircraft tails and engine.
In general, the overall flight performance of the J20 was deemed sufficient. Its greatest downside was its poor mechanical reliability, and the difficulty in maintaining its engine. The Italians never tested the Re.2000’s performance in a cold climate, as it was intended for service in the Mediterranean. Because of this, the Swedish maintenance crews had to find out the hard way that the aircraft was simply not suited for the cold climate in the North. Trouble starting the engine in cold weather would prove a common, and frustrating exercise.
The J20 mainly saw service in the role of the interceptor. Their job was to intercept any aircraft that came near Sweden’s airspace. These were in the majority of cases, damaged Allied aircraft that were returning from bombing raids in Germany. On rare occasions, some German aircraft would lose their way and be intercepted by the J20. The interception operations were not intended to engage incoming aircraft but to simply escort them to the Bulltofta airfield, where the plane and its crew would be interred.
During the war, some 16 J20s were lost in various accidents but only one was shot down in combat. During a routine patrol on the 3rd of April 1945, a J20 piloted by Erik Nordlund spotted a German Do 24 aircraft that was flying near Nahobukten. As the J20 approached the German plane it was hit by 2 cm cannon rounds. While the pilot disengaged and tried to fly back, the engine exploded in midair, destroying the aircraft and killing the pilot. The J20s that survived the war remained in the inventory of the Sweden Air Force up to 1955 before being finally removed from service.
Besides their national marking, the Swedish added two large two-digit designations to the J20. These large numbers were painted in white color. Source: www.destinationsjourney.com
Surviving aircrafts
Most were either lost or scrapped, and today, only one J20 is preserved. It is currently exhibited at the Swedish Air Force Museum at Linkoping.
The Re.2000 was designed as a low-wing, mixed-construction, single-seat fighter plane. The fuselage consisted of a round frame covered with a metal sheet held in place using flush-riveting. The Re.2000 wings had a semi-elliptical design, with five spars covered with stressed skin. The central part of the wing held two integral fuel tanks. The tail section had a metal construction with the controls covered with fabric.
The landing gear system was unusual. When it retracted, it rotated 90° (a copy from the Curtiss model) before it entered the wheel bays. For better landing handling, the landing gear was provided with hydraulic shock absorbers and pneumatic brakes. The smaller rear wheel was also retractable and could be steered.
The Re.2000 engine was the Piaggio P.XI R.C.40 14-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, providing 985 hp, equipped with a three-blade variable pitch propeller made by Piaggio.
The cockpit canopy opened to the rear and the pilot had a good overall view of the surroundings. For pilot protection, a 8 mm (0.3 in) thick armor plate was placed behind the seat.
The Re.2000 possessed weak offensive capabilities, as it was armed with only two Breda-Safat 12.7 mm (0.5 in) heavy machine guns. The machine guns were installed in the forward front fuselage and fired through the propeller arc. For each machine gun, 300 ammunition rounds were provided. The Re.2000 also had two small bomb bays placed in each central wing section. Each bomb bay had a payload of twenty-two 2 kg (4.4 lb) anti-personnel or incendiary bombs.
Conclusion
The J20 was the best fighter in service within the Swedish Air Force. It was noted that during its service it possessed good overall flight characteristics. There were several issues with its maintenance, but this was mainly attributed to the cold Scandinavian Climate. In conclusion, while not the best fighter of the Second World War, for the country as Sweden it was more than enough to protect its airspace.
Re.2000 Specifications
Wingspans
11 m / 36 ft
Length
8 m / 26 ft 5 in
Height
3.15 m / 10 ft 4 in
Wing Area
20.4 m² / 220 ft²
Engine
One Piaggio P.XI RC.40 985 hp
Empty Weight
2,460 kg / 5,424 lbs
Maximum Takeoff Weight
3,240 kg / 7,140 lbs
Climb Rate to 6 km
6 minutes 10 seconds
Maximum Speed
515 km/h / 320 mph
Cruising speed
450 km/h / 280 mph
Range
840 km / 520 miles
Maximum Service Ceiling
11,500 m / 34,450 ft
Crew
1 pilot
Armament
Two 0.5 in (12.7 mm) heavy machine guns
44 kg bombs
Swedish J 20 (Re.2000) with 42 marking number
Credits:
Written by Marko P.
Edited by Henry H.
Illustration by Pavel
Source:
G. Punka (2001) Reggiane Fighters in Action, Squadron/signal publication
D. Nešić (2008) Naoružanje Drugog Svetsko Rata-Italija. Beograd.
D. Monday (2006) The Hamlyn Concise Guide To Axis Aircraft OF World War II, Bounty Books
M. D. Terlizzi. (2002). Reggiane Re 2000: Falco, Heja, J.20. IBN
G. Cattaneo () The Reggiane Re.2000, Profile Publication
Italy (1932)
Experimental Aircraft – One Prototype Built
In the history of aviation, there have been many projects that on paper promised outstanding flight capabilities, or offered other technical advantages. The time before the Second World War saw aviation advance at a breakneck pace, and is well known for such experiments. The so-called Stipa-Caproni was one such project, being an intriguing, and somewhat bizarre, experimental aircraft designed by Italian aeronautical engineer Luigi Stipa, and built by Caproni during the interwar period. It was characterized by its tubular fuselage, hence earning it the nickname Flying Barrel.
The unique design Stripa-Caproni experimental aircraft. Source: Wiki
History
In 1927 a young Italian aircraft engineer Luigi Stipa began working on an unusual tube-shaped aircraft. Like many other aviation enthusiasts, Stipa was very interested in how aircraft could achieve better performance through exploring unorthodox construction methods. Thanks to his studies in thermodynamics, he was aware of the so-called Venturi effect, named after Italian physicist Giovanni Battista Venturi. In essence, this effect describes the reduction of fluid pressure and increasing velocity when it’s moving through a cylinder of decreased diameter. In theory, using this principle, a special type of aircraft could be created that could achieve significantly higher speeds than the conventional models of the time. Stipa theorized that for this purpose, such an aircraft would have to have a tube-shaped fuselage with the engine being positioned near the front. After finding it theoretically possible, he moved forward to test if the Venturi effect could be implemented in his airplane concept. For this purpose, he began a series of different tests inside a wing tunnel, carried out at the Aerodynamic Laboratory in Rome, from 1928 to 1931. The main focus of this testing period was to find the adequate shape, and leading edges, of the tube-shaped fuselage. This also included finding the right position of the engine, its position inside that tube, and the ideal propeller rotation speed. Following a series of wind tunnel tests, Stipa concluded that it was possible to build a full-scale prototype by using a single tube-shaped fuselage.
Luigi Stipa in his younger years. Source: Wiki
At the end of his research, he concluded that such a project was viable and set the task of building a working prototype. To gain interest in his project, he wrote about his work in the Rivista Aeronautica journal in 1931, and even built a small working replica. The next logical step was to write to the Italian Minister of Aviation, in the hope of getting approval for the realization of his project. Luckily for Stipa, his work came to the attention of General Luigi Crocco, the Air Ministry’s director. Stipa’s work was well received and the project received a green light. To test the concept, a working prototype had to be constructed. It is important to note, that both Stipa and the Italian Air Ministry were aware that this project was merely to test his theories, and would not entail any further development of the prototype. In addition, both were aware that Stipa’s proposed principle was only practical on larger aircraft types.
For this purpose, the prototype was to be powered by a small 120-hp engine. The reason behind this decision lay in the fact that this aircraft was primarily built for evaluation and academic purposes. The Italian Air Ministry was not quite willing to invest huge monetary resources in it, beyond those necessary for the construction of the working prototype.
To help build the test aircraft, the Caproni aircraft manufacturer from Milan Taliedo was chosen. It was designated as Stipa-Caproni (sometimes referred to as Caproni-Stipa) referring to its designer and constructor. The prototype was built quickly and was ready for testing in October 1932.
It is perhaps a little surprising that such an unusual design would receive the necessary support for its realization. However, the exploration of new and unorthodox ideas in aviation was very popular in pre-war Europe. During the 1930s, Italy led the way in this aspect, perhaps even more than other countries, testing many unorthodox designs. What’s more, the Italian Fascist regime even encouraged different and unusual projects like this one, although many of them did not produce any meaningful results.
The Stipa-Caproni prototype was used for testing during 1932 and 1933. Source: en.topwar.ru
Technical specification
The Stipa-Caproni was a two-seater, mixed-construction aircraft, designed to have the simplest and thus cheapest fuselage. Its fuselage consisted of a tube which internally consisted of two large wooden round-shaped rings at the nose, followed by a series of similar but smaller rings. All of them were then connected with horizontal ribs which in turn were covered in fabric. The outer wooden rings served as the foundation, on which the wing and the cockpit would be connected. The fuselage design was, in effect, a large tube shaped airfoil.
A close-up view of the Stipa-Caproni internal fuselage construction. The two larger wooden rings serve as a base to which wings and the cockpit would be attached. Source: www.thevintagenews.com
The wings were mounted centrally on each side of the fuselage. These had a simple wooden construction, and were covered in fabric. They were also connected to the fuselage through metal bracing wires, which as a consequence increased the aircraft’s drag.
To the rear, a fairly large tail assembly was placed. During the design work of this aircraft, Stipa intentionally placed the rear control surfaces as close to the slipstream as possible. He hoped that this arrangement would greatly improve the aircraft’s handling and maneuverability.
On top of the fuselage, an elevated two-seat cockpit was placed. These were top-open with a small windshield placed in front of each position. There were also a pair of small doors that opened on the left side to give access to the seats.
The 120-hp de Havilland Gypsy III engine was placed inside this fuselage. It was centrally positioned and suspended using several steel bars that held it strongly in place. This was necessary to do so, as a weaker mounting could potentially endanger the aircraft during flight. The engine propeller was the almost the same diameter as the tube-shaped fuselage.
Given its overall design, and the position of the propellers inside the fuselage, the landing wheels were small and quite close to the ground. It consisted of three fixed road wheels. Two larger on the front and one smaller on the rear. Initially, wheel fairings were used but at some point, and for unclear reasons, these were removed.
A front view of the unusual engine installation. The engine itself was held in place by several metal bars. Source: WikiIt was provided with a small and fixed three-wheel landing gear. Source: en.topwar.ru
Testing and Final Fate
With this project approved, a prototype was constructed and air tested in October 1932 at the experimental field at Monte Celio near Rome. Despite its odd design, the prototype was able to take to the sky without any major problems. Furthermore, it made several successful flights around Taliedo and Guidnia. It was even presented to the Italian Air Force for future test flights. During this period the aircraft was jokingly nicknamed Flying Barrel or Aereo Botte (Eng. Wooden wine barrel aircraft) or Aereo Barile (Eng. Fuel-Barrel aircraft).
The weight of the aircraft during these flights was 800 kg (1,874 lb), while the calculated wing loading was 44,73 kg/m² (9,16 lb sq.ft.). The maximum speed achieved was 133 km/h (83 mph), and it needed 40 minutes to climb at a height of 3, 000 m. It needed an 800 m long airfield to be able to take to the sky.
The Stipa-Caproni during one of many test flights. Source: www.historynet.com
Despite Stipa’s hopes that the position and shape of the tail control surfaces would improve its mobility, several problems were noted by the test pilots. Firstly the elevator worked very well, which ironically proved to be a major problem. Even with a slight movement of the command control stick by the pilots, the aircraft could prove very sensitive to elevator inputs. On the other hand, the rudder controls were quite stiff, as a consequence the pilot had to use considerable force in order to use it effectively. Analyzing this problem showed that the rudder’s large surface area was to blame for its stiff control. But besides the two problems, the aircraft was reported to be easy to fly when being used in a gliding flight. These defects were of a more or less technical nature, which were not necessarily irremediable through further development of the overall design.
The design of the rear tail assembly proved somewhat problematic. Specifically, the elevator control was overly sensitive while the rudder was quite the opposite. Source: en.topwar.ru
The final results of evaluation flights showed that the Stipa-Caproni does not have any particularly great advantages compared to other more standard aircraft designs. In addition, Stipa-Caproni’s overall aircraft shape offered limited space within the fuselage for passengers or payload.
As Stipa predicted from the start, his principles would not offer any major advantage over a standard smaller-dimension aircraft. The real application of the Stipa-Caproni design was only feasible on larger aircraft. Stipa hoped that his further research would enable him to construct large aircraft powered by two to three tube-shaped engine mounts. Unfortunately for him, after a series of test flights during 1932 and 1933 the interest in his work died out. It was briefly used in various Italian aviation propaganda publications before being scrapped in 1939.
Despite being in general an unimpressive design, the French showed interest in it. Particularly the company ANF Lex Maureaux, which went so far as to acquire a license for the design in 1935. According to initial plans, a two-engine variant was to be built for testing and evaluation. The project did not go beyond basic work was later canceled.
Lastly, an interesting fact is that many people considered Stipa-Caproni to design some sort of proto-jet engine. Whether this was the case or not, Stipa felt his work was overlooked, and according to some sources, he remained bitter throughout his life until he died in the early 1990s.
Stipa hoped that with more resources he would be able to test his principle on a much larger scale, but ultimately nothing came of it. Source: L. Stipa, Stipa Monoplane with Venturi Fuselage
Replica
In 1996, aviation enthusiast Guido Zuccoli began working on a smaller replica of this aircraft. However, the death of Zuccoli in a landing accident caused a delay in the replica’s final delivery. It was finally completed in 2001 when numerous small flights were achieved. The aircraft, powered by a 72 hp Simonini racing engine, managed to achieve a flight distance of 600 m (1,968 ft). After that, the aircraft replica was stored as an exhibit at the Zuccoli Collection at Toowoomba, in Australia.
A smaller-scale replica was built and flight-tested in 2001. Source: www.uasvison.com
Conclusion
The Stipa-Caproni represented an intended for the purpose of testing his new concepts in practice. While surely an interesting and unusual concept, Stipa-Caproni’s overall design was not that practical in reality, offering little improvement over a standard aircraft design of similar dimensions.
Stipa-Caproni Specifications
Wingspans
14.3 m / 46 ft 10 in
Length
6.04 m / 19 ft 10 in
Height
3.2 m / 10 ft 7 in
Wing Area
19 m² / 204 ft²
Engine
One 120 hp (89.5 kW) De Havilland Gipsy III
Empty Weight
595 kg / lbs
Maximum Take-off Weight
850 kg / 1,874 lbs
Maximum Speed
133 km/h / 83 mph
Landing Speed
68 km/h / 42 mph
Climbing speed to 3,000 m
40 min
Maximum Service Ceiling
3,700 m / ft
Crew
1 to 2 pilots
Armament
None
Illustration
Credits
Written by Marko P.
Edited by Henry H. & Ed J.
Illustration by Godzilla
Source:
J. Thompson (1963) Italian Civil and Military Aircraft 1930-1945, Aero Publisher
R. Giacomelli, (1933) The Stipa-Caproni Monoplane, Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 5
D. Nesic (2008) Naoružanje Drugog Svetsko Rata-Italija
L. Salari, Caproni Storia della nascitadell’ industria aeronautica
M Taylor, The Wolrd Strangest Aircraft, Metro Books
O. E. Lancaster (1959) Jet Propulsion Engines, Princeton University Press
L. Stipa (1933) Stipa Monoplane with Venturi Fuselage, Technical Memorandums Nation Advisory Committee For Aeronautics No.753
Independent State of Croatia (1942)
Fighter – 16 Operated
In NDH service the Fiat G.50 did not receive any modifications, with the original Italian camouflage remaining. The only change was the addition of Croatian military markings and new identification numbers. [Wiki]Following the creation of the Nezavisna Država Hrvatska (Independent State of Croatia), its Air Force was plagued with many problems from the start, including a lack of modern aircraft. While generally heavily reliant on the Germans to provide them with better equipment, they were unwilling to secure any deliveries of aircraft. To resolve this issue the NDH’s Air Force officials managed to persuade Italy to sell them 10 Fiat G.50bis fighters, which remained in use up to 1945.
A Brief History of the NDH
Following the end of the First World War, Kraljevina Srba Hrvata i Slovenaca (The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes – SHS) was formed in December of 1918 with the aim of uniting all Southern Slavs. This new state was, at least in theory, based on the principles of equality for these three nationalities. In reality, this Kingdom was a politically and ethically divided country. During the 1920s, there were huge political disagreements between the major parties which brought about questions regarding the continued existence of the Kingdom of SHS. This division was especially noted between the Serbian and Croatian politicians, which ultimately culminated in the assassination of several Croatian Peasant Party members, including the leader, Stjepan Radić, by a Serbian Politician in 1928.
On 6th of January, 1929, King Aleksandar Karađorđević, in an attempt to avoid the incoming political crisis, led the country into a dictatorship by abolishing parliament. He also introduced a number of political changes, including changing the name of the country to Kraljevina Jugoslavija (Kingdom of Yugoslavia.) This essentially did not resolve any of the existing problems, as inter-ethnic tensions persisted. During the early 1930s, the first mentions of Croatian Ustaše (the precise meaning is unknown, but could be roughly translated as insurgent) ultranationalist revolutionary organizations began to appear in Yugoslavia. Their main aim was the liberation of the Croatian people from Yugoslavia, by all means necessary, even by force. One of the most prominent figures of this organization was Ante Pavelić.
Ante Pavelić was a high-ranking Ustaša member from the start, and later de facto leader of the NDH. [Wiki]The Ustaše organization participated in the assassination of the Yugoslav King, Alexander Karađorđević, in Marseille in 1934. This assassination backfired to some extent for the Ustaše organization. Not only did it not lead to the collapse of Yugoslavia, but relations with Italy also improved under the Regent Prince Pavle Karađorđević in the following years. This led the Italian authorities to effectively end their support for the Ustaše and even arrested some of its members, including Pavelić.
After years of inactivity, the Ustaše benefited when the Yugoslavian government, which supported the Axis, was overthrown by pro-Allied officers in a military coup at the end of March 1941. Adolf Hitler almost immediately issued an order that Yugoslavia should be occupied. The Italians, preparing to join the war against Yugoslavia, began to support the Croatian Ustaše movement once again. With the collapse of the later Kingdom of Yugoslavia during the Axis invasion after the short April War of 1941, Croatia, with German aid, was finally able to declare independence, albeit becoming a fascist puppet state. Ante Pavelić was chosen as the leader of this puppet state. Officially, the NDH was announced on 10th April 1941. The new state received a significant territorial expansion by annexing most of western Yugoslavia, including Bosnia, parts of Serbia, and Montenegro. The Adriatic coast, while nominally part of the NDH, was actually controlled by the Italians until 1943.
The NDH took over a large portion of the Yugoslavian territories. [Wiki]
Formation of the NDH Air Force
Following the collapse of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, NDH began organizing its newly-created armed forces. Its Air Force was created on the 19th of April, 1941. The leadership of the new Air Force was given to Colonel Vladimir Kren. Immediately, work began on creating adequate structural organization, acquiring manpower, and procuring equipment. Initially, plans for arming this Air Force were ambitious, including some 140 modern aircraft, such as the Ju 88 and Me 109. Its officials were quite disappointed as Germans were not willing to provide these. Instead, the NDH officials had to make do with the leftovers of the Former Royal Yugoslav Air Force, which was in German hands. NDH officials made a request that included over 50 aircraft. The Germans once again disappointed them and gave NDH only those aircraft that were mostly obsolete, while transferring the better aircraft, like the Hurricanes, to Romania instead. The only other way to acquire more capable aircraft was to ask the Italians. This is what the NDH Air Force officials did in early 1942.
The NDH Air Force was initially equipped with surviving Yugoslavian aircraft, in this case, Rogožarski P.V.T. [The Croatian Air Force In The Second World War]
The Fiat G.50 brief history
During the thirties, the Italian Ministry of Aviation (Ministero dell Aeronautica) was interested in adopting a new, all-metal monoplane fighter and ground-attack aircraft for the Italian Air Force. In April of 1935, engineer Giuseppe Gabrielli began working on a new low-wing, all-metal plane named G.50. On 28th September 1935, Gabrielli submitted his project to the Ministry of Aviation. Military officials were impressed by the design and asked him to proceed with its work. As Fiat’s production capacities were overburdened, work on this new project was instead moved to the CMASA works at Marina di Pisa, part of Fiat since 1931. Giuseppe Gabrielli was finishing his last drawings and the list of needed materials and equipment in June 1936.
The prototype was finally ready at the beginning of 1937 and was transported to the city of Turin for further testing. This prototype, under registration number MM 334, made its first test flight on 26th February 1937. Once accepted for service, the Fiat G.50 would become the first Italian all-metal fighter. Between 1938 to 1943 some 774 to 791 of all versions of the G. 50 would be built. These saw combat service starting from the Spanish Civil War, until 1943 when the few surviving aircraft were reassigned to secondary roles.
A G.50 flying together with a German Bf-110, possibly during the Battle of Britain. [Wiki]
In Yugoslavia
The Fiat G. 50 participated during the short Invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941. Two fighter groups, the 24th, and 154th, which had 53 G.50 fighters in total were allocated for this operation. They mostly performed a few escort missions. Due to the rapid collapse of Yugoslavia’s Royal Army, these saw limited actual combat use, if any. Afterward, the Fiat G.50 was allocated to other fronts. During 1942 and 1943, limited numbers of these aircraft were used for ground attack operations against the Yugoslavian Partisans.
In NDH’s Hands
By 1942, most of the available aircraft in NDH Air Force were in poor condition, mostly due to a general lack of spare parts. NDH Army officials approached Italy with a request for 9 improved Fiat G.50 and one two-seater version. The Fiat G.50bis were slightly modified versions that had an increased fuel load, a redesigned rear fuselage and vertical stabilizer, better glazing of the cockpit, and other minor changes. But in essence, it did not offer many improvements compared to the basic version. The G.50 B bipost (two-seater) was a modified G.50 fighter version with a new cockpit and dual controls for a pilot and trainer. The front section of the cockpit was fully enclosed, in contrast with the rear which was open. The main armament was removed on the G.50 B. This version was very successful, as it was easy to build and offered almost the same flying performance as the single-seat version.
The Fiat G.50 B version with a longer cockpit design for the instructor and the student. [alieuomini.it]A group of six NDH pilots was sent to the Fiat company in Torino for training in January 1942. The entire acquisition process of new aircraft took several months to complete. The 9 Fiat G.50bis (serial number MM.6178 to 6186) were finally allocated to the NDH. These arrived in Croatia in April 1942. The Fiat G.50B two-seater took even more time to be delivered, arriving in late June 1942. These would be stationed on the Borongaj airfield near Zagreb. Initially, these were used for pilot training. Due to the poor condition of the airfield, two were lightly damaged during landing.
The Fiat G.50bis in NDH service. [asisbiz.com]For the necessary pilot training, one modified Fiat G.50B two-seater was also acquired. [The Croatian Air Force In The Second World War]
Combat Use
Almost from the start, the new NDH regime began the persecution of all non-Croatian citizens. The Serbian, Roma, and Jewish populations were especially targeted, with numerous atrocities and arrests. Croatians who did not agree with this regime were also persecuted. In response to the NDH’s actions against Yugoslavian civilians, resistance movements began to emerge on its territory. Their Air Force was used in various roles during this time, but due to generally obsolescence of equipment, their impact would be quite limited.
The acquisition of more aircraft like the Fiat G.50 offered a slight increase in its offensive capabilities. Once in service, these received new registration numbers ranging from 2501 to 2509. The single Fiat G.50B received the 3510 designations. In July, five would be allocated to the Rajlovac airfield near Sarajevo. In September three were moved to the Banja Luka to be part of the 16th squadron.
After April 1943 most were pulled back to Zagreb where they were attached to the 1st Squadron. When Italy capitulated to the Allies, all warring parties in Yugoslavia rushed in to take over the abandoned Italian weapons, armored vehicles, and a few remaining aircraft. At Zadar airfield, there were six Fiat G.50 aircraft. These would be captured by the NDH forces. Three of them received 5686, 5956, and 5186 designations. The newly acquired fighters were primarily positioned at Kurilovac and Velika Gorica airfields.
By 1944 it was becoming obvious that the Axis would lose the war, as a result many soldiers and pilots from the NDH Army and Air Force tried to escape to the Partisans. On the 2nd of September 1944, air force pilot Andrija Arapović with a Fiat G.50 (reg. Num. 3505) escaped to the island of Vis, under the control of the Yugoslav communist Partisans. Partisan forces put the captured G.50 to use during the war and it would remain in service up to 1946. An interesting fact about Andrija Arapović’s G.50 aircraft is that it still exists today and can be seen in the Belgrade Military Aviation museum near the Nikola Tesla Airport in Serbia. This is the only surviving example of a G.50 in the world. Another Fiat G.50 escaped joining the Allies in Italy.
The Fiat G.50bis was piloted by pilot Andrija Arapović. On the 2nd of September 1944, he fled to the Partisan side. [The Croatian Air Force In The Second World War]By this point the Allies had achieved almost complete air supremacy over southern Eastern Europe, thus flying the slower Fiat G.50 became quite dangerous. In April 1944 several NDH aircraft, including two Fiat G.50, were destroyed in an Allied bombing run on Borongaj. Due to their obsolescence, even the NDH’s best fighters could do little against Allied bombers. In addition, the chronic lack of fuel led to a reduction in combat flights. By mid-September 1944, only 7 aircraft were listed as operational. In October most were allocated to the 2nd Squadron, which was also equipped with MS 406 fighters. When the Partisans liberated Zagreb, some 9 aircraft in various conditions would be captured. Some would be put to use after the war, but their use would be limited. These would be removed from service by the 1st of April 1946.
The Fiat G.50bis were often used to protect Zagreb but could do little against more modern Allied bombers. [The Croatian Air Force In The Second World War]
Technical Characteristics
In NDH service no known modifications were made on the Fiat G. 50. The G.50 was a single-seat, low-wing, all-metal fighter plane. The main fuselage was made from four angular-shaped longerons. The wing construction consisted of a center section which was made of a steel tube connected to the lower fuselage and two metal spars connected with ribs. The fuselage, wing, and tail were covered with duralumin sheets. The only fabric-covered parts were the movable control surfaces in the wings and the tail. It was powered by the 840 hp (626 kW) Fiat A 74 RC 38, a 14-cylinder radial piston engine. An all-metal three-blade propeller produced by Fiat was used.
The G.50 was equipped, like most modern aircraft of the time, with inward retracting landing gear, but the rear tail wheel was fixed. In later improved versions, the rear tail wheel was changed to a retractable type.
The main armament consisted of two forward-firing 12.7mm Breda-SAFAT heavy machine guns, with some 150 rounds of ammunition for each machine gun. The guns were placed behind the upper engine cowl and were synchronized in order not to damage the propeller.
Conclusion
The Fiat G.50 was one of few modern fighters available for NDH service. Their use would be greatly hampered by ever-increasing Allied Air supremacy, lack of fuel, and fear of their pilots defecting. Despite being acquired in relatively small numbers many of them would survive the war albeit in poor condition, while some would see a few more years of service by the newly created Yugoslav Air Force.
Fiat G.50 Specifications
Wingspan
10.9 m / 35 ft 11 in
Length
8 m / 26 ft 3 in
Height
3.28 m / 10 ft 7 in
Wing Area
18.25 m² / 196.5 ft²
Engine
One 840 hp (626 kW) Fiat A.74 RC.38, 14 cylinder radial piston
Empty Weight
1,975 kg / 4,350 lbs
Maximum Takeoff Weight
2,415 kg / 5,324 lbs
Fuel Capacity
316 l
Maximum Speed
470 km/h / 292 mph
Range
445 km / 267 mi
Maximum Service Ceiling
10,700 m / 35,100 ft
Climb speed
Climb to 6,000 m (19,700 ft) in 7 minutes and 30 seconds
Crew
One pilot
Armament
Two 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT heavy machine guns
Credits
Written by Marko P.
Edited by Henry H. & Ed J.
Illustrated by Haryo Panji
Sources:
D. Nešić (2008), Naoružanje Drugog Svetsko Rata-Italija, Beograd.
G. Cattaneo, The Fiat G.50, Profile Publications number 188
P. Verganano (1997), Fiat G.50,, La Bancarella Aeronautica – Torino.
D. Monday (1984, 2006), The Hamlyn Concise Guide To Axis Aircraft Of World War II, Aerospace Publishing Ltd.
V. V. Mikić, (2000) Zrakoplovstvo Nezavisne Države Hrvatske 1941-1945, Vojno istorijski institut Vojske Jugoslavije.
T. Likso and Danko Č. (1998) The Croatian Air Force In The Second World War, Nacionalna Sveučilišna Zagreb.
A restored D.520 in GC I/3 camouflage. [le blog du lignard]The Dewoitine D.520 was the most advanced French fighter aircraft of the World War II period to have been employed in large numbers during the Battle of France. It was superior to the Morane-Saulnier MS.406 and Bloch MB.152. Often considered the only French fighter able to challenge the dominance of the Luftwaffe’s Bf 109E, the D.520 garnered a strong reputation and popularity among the general public in France. Though this aspect of its history is typically overlooked, the Dewoitine would also see extensive service after the Battle of France, particularly in the air force of the Vichy Regime, but also with Germany’s Italian and Bulgarian allies.
Dewoitine: French Pioneer of Interwar Metal Monoplanes
The Constructions Aéronautiques Emile Dewoitine (Emile Dewoitine Aeronautical Manufacturing) society was founded in 1920 under the lead of the eponymous engineer. Dewoitine had previously been employed by Latecoere during the First World War, which gave him experience on the subject of military aviation.
Dewoitine’s company was located in South-Western France, in Toulouse – an ideal location for strategic industry, as it was about as far as one could be in France from what was still viewed as a potential future adversary in 1920, namely Germany.
Dewoitine’s main products quickly became monoplane fighters. Though other types of planes were also developed, it was with parasol wing monoplanes that Dewoitine met its initial success. While the company failed to procure major domestic orders, Dewoitine fighters such as the D.1, D.9, or D.25 were export successes, seeing service in a number of countries such as Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Turkey, Italy or Argentina. Dewoitine’s fighters were occasionally quite innovative – for example, the Dewoitine D.9 was an entirely metal parasol wing fighter, which was quite remarkable for a plane which first flew in 1924. While rejected by France, it was licence-produced by Italy as the Ansaldo AC.3, with 150 being manufactured for the Regia Aeronautica. Dewoitine also manufactured small numbers of D.9s for Belgium, Switzerland, Yugoslavia and Hungary.
Dewoitine’s D.9 metallic parasol monoplane fighter. [Aviafrance]In large part due to none of its planes being adopted by France’s military, Dewoitine faced considerable woes in the late 1920s, being liquidated in January of 1927, before being re-founded the next year. The 1930s would prove more fruitful for Dewoitine. Most notably, the company won some sizeable contracts in the mid 1930s for its Dewoitine D.500, D.501 and D.510, which were low wing, or cantilever-wing, monoplanes, the latter two featuring, a 20 mm autocannon firing through the propeller hub. With more than 300 aircraft ordered for French service, and some limited export contacts, the Dewoitine cantilever wing monoplanes powered the company through the 1930s, and formed the bulk of France’s fighter force all the way up to 1938-1939.
A Dewoitine D.510 in flight. The D.500/501/510 fighters were a great achievement for, Dewoitine which helped cement the manufacturer’s credibility as a major French fighter manufacturer. [avion-légendaires]Dewoitine first experimented with a cantilever-wing monoplane fighter with a retractable landing gear in the form of the D.513 fighter which first flew in January of 1936. It generally proved quite disappointing, suffering from instability, and was unable to reach the speed that was expected of it, while also suffering from cooling and landing gear problems, leading to the fighter quickly being discontinued.
The Birth of the “520”
In the French Air Force’s nomenclature, the role of single-seat fighters was classified “C1” (C for chasseur, the French equivalent of fighter, and 1 for single-seat). The air force department in charge of equipment procurement, the Service Technique Aéronautique (STAé – ENG : Aeronautical technical service), would regularly publish calls for aircraft manufacturers to design fighters to fill this role along with a series of required specifications. By late 1936, the last design request had been formulated more than two years prior, in March of 1934. The aircraft from this program, which was being considered for adoption, Morane-Saulnier’s MS.405 (which would become the MS.406), was still in the prototype phase, and had yet to receive orders for production.The MS.405 was already a fairly modern fighter, being a cantilever wing monoplane with a retractable landing gear. But Dewoitine believed that more advanced fighters using the same features could be developed. Anticipating a new design request for the C1 role, Dewoitine began development of a single-seat fighter in late 1936. It was not long before the STAé issued a new request. On the 12th of January 1937, aircraft manufacturers were asked to design a fighter able to reach a maximum speed of 520 km/h, climb to 8,000 meters in less than 15 minutes, land on a runway of 400 meters, and featuring a centerline Hispano-Suiza 20 mm HS.9 autocannon and two 7.5 mm MAC 34 machine-guns, equivalent to the armaments on the D.520 and MS. 405/406.
As the Dewoitine fighter project was still very early in development when the specifications were issued, its design took them into account. The requested maximum speed, 520 km/h, ended up being the project’s number designation.
Another major event happened in March of 1937, when Dewoitine’s Constructions aéronautiques Emile Dewoitine was nationalized by the French state. This was part of a massive nationalization plan that concerned all aspects of France’s defense industry, which was being run by the socialist-leaning popular front government in power since May 1936. Though this meant Dewoitine’s company was now state property, Emile Dewoitine was not displaced in his function as main engineer and leader of the company. The company, however, took a new name – Société Nationale des Constructions Aéronautiques du Midi (SNCAM – ENG: National Society of Aeronautical Constructions of the Midi -‘Midi being the area allotted to the company near Toulouse).
Though Dewoitine was still in full control of his company, all of the reorganization that took place in 1937 meant that work on the D.520 was mostly postponed or paused, resuming only in 1938. On the 3rd of April 1938, SNCAM obtained a contract for the construction of a prototype. Production of the first D.520 began and the prototype, D.520-01, would take off for the first time on the 2nd of October 1938.
Design of the Dewoitine fighter
The first D.520 prototype in flight. [joseph bibert fichiers]The fighter aircraft designed by Dewoitine and his team was a low, cantilever-wing monoplane fighter that used an Hispano-Suiza 12Y in-line engine. The plane used riveted duralumin construction, both in structure and skinning.
The D.520’s wings used a one-piece, reinforced single-spar structure. Two MAC 34 7.5 mm machine-guns with gun cameras were installed towards the front, closer to the fuselage, while further inboard in the wings, a 120 liter fuel tank was located. To the rear were the flaps, which were also the only part of the aircraft covered with fabric instead of duralumin. Without the flaps, the wings had a surface of 13 square meters. The flaps had a surface area of 1 square meter, and each wing had a surface area of 14 square meters in total. When counting the wing root, where the fuselage and wings meet, the surface area was 16 square meters. On the first prototype, there was no radiator in the fuselage, and instead a radiator was installed under each wing.
The D.520-01 prototype used a Hispano-Suiza 12Y-31 V12 890 hp engine, without the cannon installed, though later prototypes, followed by production models would use more powerful versions of the Hispano-Suiza 12Y engine with provision for a 20 mm gun firing through the propeller hub. Between the engine and pilot, a 396 liter fuel tank was located (though typically it would only be filled for ferrying, and not combat operations). With a total fuel capacity of 636 litres, the D.520 had high endurance, with a ferrying range of up to 1,500 km in good weather.
The landing gear of the D.520 opened outwards. The definitive production model of the D.520 had a length of 8.6 meters, a wingspan of 10.2 meters, and a height of 3.435 meters.
Prototype Testing
The first prototype, D.520-01, was in some ways more of a demonstrator than a true prototype. From the start, the prototype had a number of differences from the standard models. The model of Hispano-Suiza 12Y that was used, the 12Y-21, did not have a provision for a propeller-hub-firing cannon, and with 890 hp, was less powerful than what was later installed. The wing machine-guns were not mounted either. During its first flight, the prototype failed to reach the desired speed of 520 km/h, not exceeding 480, and several issues were found. The two wing radiators caused too much drag, and a fuselage-mounted radiator was chosen instead. The tail’s control surfaces were found to be too small, and were enlarged. New exhaust pipes were also installed. The 12Y-21 engine was replaced by a 12Y-29, which produced 910 hp. Lastly, a variable pitch propeller was also installed.
A view of D.520-01 in flight. [Guerre et Histoire – Sciences et vie]The first D.520 prototype undertook a second flight on the 11th of January 1939. This second attempt was much more successful, and showed great promise. It possessed good dive capabilities, with the prototype reaching more than 800 km/h in a dive, and reached 525 km/h in level flight, exceeding the 520 km/h required of the specifications.
A formidable view of the second D.520 prototype in flight over fields, France, 1939. [WW2aircrafts.net]The second prototype of the D.520, D.520-02, had its first flight on the 28th of January, 1939. This prototype was much closer to the production model. It was fully armed, including the 20 mm propeller mounted autocannon, and had incorporated all the changes the D.520-01 had undertaken, as well as some new ones: a new landing gear and larger empennage. On the 5th of May, the third prototype, D.520-03, took to the air for the first time. This example featured the 12Y-31 engine, with full armament.
With successful trials of the second prototype, a production order for the D.520 was first placed on the 7th of April 1939, with 200 fighters ordered. The successful trials of the third prototype led to an additional order, initially for 600 aircraft, though reduced to 510 in June. In September, France entered into conflict with Germany, which saw widespread industrial mobilization and orders for new equipment. The total number of D.520s on order rose to 1,280 and through most of 1939, production was being set up at SNCAM’s facilities at Toulouse. Orders continued to accumulate, with 2,250 aircraft on order in April of 1940, including 120 for the navy.
In the meantime, testing continued on the D.520 prototypes. On the 11th of January 1940, D.520-02 was flown by pilot Leopold Galy in diving trials. During a dive from an altitude of 8,000 meters, the aircraft reached a speed of over 900 km/h – Leopard Galy indicated that the instruments showed the speed that the aircraft reached as 920 km/h.
Production Model: Features and Performance
Plans of the Dewoitine D.520 production model. [joseph bibert fichiers]The first D.520s from the production run took to the air in November of 1939. A number of additional features had been added to Dewoitine’s fighter. The newer Hispano-Suiza 12Y-45 engine was chosen, as this model produced 935 hp and featured a much improved Szydlowski-Planiol supercharger, providing the Dewoitine with better high-altitude performance.
The armament of the production model consisted of a Hispano-Suiza HS.404 20 mm autocannon firing through the propeller hub (the prototypes used the earlier HS.9). The HS-404 had a rate of fire of 700 rpm, with a drum magazine holding only 60 rounds, the D.520 could expend its 20 mm ammunition in 9 seconds of continuous fire. The MAC 34 machine-guns were provided with more ammunition. Chambered for the 7.5×54 mm French cartridge adopted in 1929, the MAC 34 machine-guns had 675 rounds each. With a rate of fire of 1,200 rounds per minute, the MAC 34 would expend their ammunition in a little over half a minute. These machine-guns were electrically heated to avoid ice jamming the gun action at high altitudes.
The mounting of the MAC 34 machine-guns in the D.520’s wings. [L’Armement des avions de chasse français]Empty, the D.520 had a weight of 2,050 kg. The aircraft had a structural weight of 892 kg, the engine block empty 517 kg, additional engine accessories 373 kg, empty fuel tanks 56.4 kg, and additional equipment 252 kg. 650 kg would be added on average to get the plane into operation: 337 kg of fuel (the aircraft’s fuel tanks had a capacity of 636 litres), 226 kg including the guns and their ammunition, and an average of 87 kg for the pilot and his equipment. The weight of the plane in operation would therefore be 2,740 kg. With a wing surface of 16 square meters, this meant the D.520 had a quite high wing load of 195 kg/cm2. The D.520 used a three-bladed Ratier variable pitch propeller, with a diameter of 3 meters.
The plane had an automatic fire extinguishing system controlled from the cockpit. As for fuel capacity, the plane featured a 396 liter self-sealing fuel tank located between the cockpit and the engine. Each wing featured a 120 liter fuel tank. The D.520’s fuel capacity of 636 liters was fairly considerable by 1940, and would give it a better range than most one-engined fighters used in Western Europe, with a ferry range of about 1,500 km.
The D.520 could reach a maximum speed of about 535 km/h at the altitude of peak engine performance, which was 6,750 m, and with the engine running at 2,400 rpm. Cruising speed at the same altitude was of 400 km/h with the engine running at 2,000 rpm. The stall speed was 125 km/h.
The rate of climb was 12 meters per second for the first 1,000 meters of flight. 4,000 meters could be reached in a little under 6 minutes, and thanks to its supercharger, the D.520 retained a good climb rate at high altitude. It reached 6,000 meters in 9 minutes and 8,000 meters in a little under 14 minutes. The D.520 would typically be capable of reaching those altitudes before the Bf 109E. The ceiling of the Dewoitine fighter was 11,000 meters.
Though the first examples of the D.520 were completed in November of 1939, some changes were still made, notably, the engine block was lengthened by 16 cm, meaning the first examples produced had to be retrofitted. The D.520 would only commence delivery to the air force in January of 1940, and by May, only a single fighter group had been equipped, though several would receive the new type as production was hastened during the Battle of France.
The aircraft were painted in the standard French air force camouflage scheme of brown, green, and gray color during their manufacturing process. The rudder section was painted in the colors of the French flag. The type of the aircraft (Dewoitine D.520) as well as the aircraft’s production number were indicated in black letters over this French flag-colored tail. French roundels were featured on the wings and on the central fuselage. The underside was typically painted in the same metallic gray color as parts of the fuselage and wings. The propeller hubs and propeller were painted in black.
Two completed D.520s outside of Dewoitine’s factory, 1940. [Archives Départementales de la Haute-Garonne, Airbus collection]D.520s that have just been delivered to the air force, aligned before they are tested, 1940. [Archives Départementales de la Haute-Garonne, Airbus collections]The D.520 assembly lines at Saint-Martin du Touch in February of 1940 [sam40.fr]
Future Production Models as Planned in 1940
Improved versions of the D.520 were quickly scheduled for production, and it was planned that these improved models would quickly be introduced to the production lines in the summer of 1940, if everything went well.
The D.521 was an experimental aircraft which mated the D.520 fuselage with the British Merlin III engine. Only one prototype was built, and it was not meant for serial production. The D.522, 523, 524 and 525, however, were D.520s powered by more powerful versions of the Hispano-Suiza 12Y engine.
The D.522 actually went back to the old Hispano-Suiza 12Y-31 860 hp engine block, which was significantly less powerful than the 12Y-45 on paper. It would, however, be fitted with a new Hispano-Suiza supercharger, larger in size than the Szydlowski-Planiol and providing better high-altitude performance. The planned production run for the D.522 was of 75 aircraft, from the 526th to the 600th Dewoitine fuselages, which would likely have meant the production run would have commenced in July of 1940. The D.522 would then have been succeeded by the D.523.
The D.523 used the 12Y-51 model of the 12Y engine, but retained the Szydlowski-Planiol supercharger. This new model of the 12Y produced up to 1,000 hp at optimal altitude. One D.523 prototype was produced (using the 45th D.520 fuselage), and underwent trials from the 9th to the 14th of May 1940. It was able to reach a maximum speed of 570 km/h at the optimal altitude, and climbed faster than the D.520 by a significant margin. This would have made this model a powerful rival to German Bf 109E and F fighters.
Though the D.525 was nominally the last, it was to be produced between the 523 and 524, and was more closely related to the 523 than the 524 was. The D.525 merely combined the 12Y-51 engine from the D.523 and the Hispano-Suiza supercharger from the D.522. Just 30 were to be produced, fuselages 751 to 780.
Finally, the D.524 was to be the last direct derivative of the D.520 scheduled for production by 1940. Its main improvement over previous models was to be the Hispano-Suiza 12Z engine – the most refined model of Hispano-Suiza’s 12Y engine yet, it was to produce 1,300 hp. While very promising in concept, the D.524 was yet to reach the prototype stage by the Invasion of France. While D.520 variants using the 12Z would come to be built at prototype stage later, the D.524 was canceled with the fall of France. It was expected to reach a maximum speed of around 616 km/h at 7,000 m, and climb to 8,000 m in 8’20’’.
By the armistice of June 1940, which put a temporary end to the D.520’s production run, about 440 aircraft had been manufactured, of which closer to 350 had been accepted by the French Air Force. This meant that no further D.520-derived models would see production, and plans to produce them were indefinitely shelved and never revisited.
A rear view of the HD 780 prototype, which featured a significantly redesigned wing as well as the necessary provisions to enable the land-based monoplane into a floatplane fighter. The HD 780 never flew and, as such, its performance data is not known. An estimate placed its maximum speed at around 440 km/h. [war thunder forums]A floatplane fighter version of the D.520, the HD 780, had also been designed, with one prototype being produced. It incorporated many differences, such as folding, gull-shaped wings, a larger engine block, and two large floats. The prototype was completed in March of 1940, but remained inside its factory and would never take flight.
Into GC I/3
While the first serial-production D.520 had been delivered in November of 1939, these aircraft would later have to be revised and were by no means ready for service.
Dewoitine D.520 n°12 of GC I/3 in early 1940. The plane was flown by French pilot Commandant Thibaudet. [ww2fighters.e-monsite.com]The D.520 would start effectively entering service during the first months of 1940, with the first squadron, GC I/3, being entirely outfitted with the type in the months of April and early May 1940. There, the D.520 replaced the Morane-Saulnier MS.406. Although another monoplane fighter with a retractable landing gear, the Morane was a plane which had noticeably lower performance in comparison to the Hawker Hurricane or Bloch MB.152, let alone the “triad” of modern fighters available by 1940, which would consist of the Spitfire Mk.I, the Bf 109E and the D.520.
As such, by the start of the campaign, the French Air Force had one squadron fully outfitted with the new fighter type. This fact, however, was tempered to a considerable extent. As mentioned previously, the fighters had only just been delivered to the squadron by the time fighting began in May of 1940. In other words, there had been little to no time for the pilots to accommodate with the newer fighter and become properly accustomed to it – which would prove a larger issue than anticipated, as the D.520 would prove a quite complicated and technical plane to pilot. Many of the pilots which flew the D.520 into combat during the Battle of France – perhaps even more so in the squadrons which would receive the plane during the campaign, would engage in combat during some of their first ten or even five flights of the D.520. Under these circumstances, one could hardly expect good performance with the pilots under such duress.
As hostilities began on the 12th of May, GC I/3 quickly moved into position at the airfield at Wez-Thuisy, in the Marne region of North-East France. From this point, the squadron would be engaged for the rest of the campaign all the way until the 17th of June, when it would retreat to the other side of the Mediterranean to avoid the capture of its planes.
The typical missions of the squadron were defensive, as simply put, the French Armée de l’Air struggled to impose any form of threat against the Luftwaffe. A large number of reasons for this can be attributed to this defensive role of the French air force. One could easily identify the comparative lack of modern fighters in comparison to a Luftwaffe that now universally operated the Bf 109E, a lack of coordination between the French air and ground forces, and many other limiting factors. As such, the D.520 would typically be used to try and intercept flights of German bombers, typically Heinkel He 111s or Dornier Do 17s, as these harassed French logistical centers and cities. In this role, the D.520 would enjoy some successes. It was faster at straight and level flight, and a better climber than previous French fighters, which was quite significant as the German bombers were moderately fast aircraft. The Morane Saulnier MS.406, notably, always struggled to catch the fast German bombers, while the D.520 could do so with relative ease.
Four pilots of the 2nd flight of GC I/3 in front of D.520 n°73 in 1940. [ww2fighters.e-monsite.com]An MS.406 of GC III/6 before the squadron converted to the D.520. The older Morane monoplane was already fairly lacking by its introduction in the late 1930s, outperformed by the Hawker Hurricane or early variants of the Bf 109. Still fielded in large numbers during the campaign of France, the fairly sluggish monoplane would often struggle to intercept German fast bombers, particularly the Dornier Do 17 and Junkers Ju 88. [ww2fighters.e-monsite.com]The D.520 was credited with its four first victories on the 13th of May, when planes from GC I/3 shot down an He 111 bomber from KG 55 as well as three Henschel Hs 126 reconnaissance planes. The next two days, 14th and 15th, would see very heavy engagements for the squadron. On the morning of the 14th, the squadron would be engaged against a strike force of Dornier Do 17 and He 111 bombers under escort by Bf 109Es. The D.520 of GC I/3 would claim six confirmed kills in the morning, two on He 111s, two on Dornier Do 17s and two on Bf 109s, plus a claimed but unconfirmed kill on another Bf 109. In the late afternoon, D.520s of the squadron would engage in combat against a flight of Bf 110 heavy fighters from ZG 26. As often when the Bf 110 was faced with single-engine fighters without backup from Bf 109s, this ended up fairly bloody for the German squadron which lost four planes, with an additional probable Bf 110 killed claimed by the French.
On the 15th, defence against German raids in the morning would see the squadron claim three confirmed and a probable Dornier Do 17 kills, as well as a confirmed Bf 110 and He 111. In the early hours of the afternoon, D.520s would claim one confirmed and two probable Bf 109s.
The squadron’s actions would wind down in the following days, as it retreated from its first airfield to a new one in Meaux-Esbly, closer to Paris. With German pressure now concentrating against the encircled French and British forces in the North, action would be more sporadic. Between the 15th of May and the 3rd of June, the squadron would claim confirmed kills on an He 111, a Bf 109 and a Do 17, as well as further probable kills for another He 111 and another Dornier 17.
From early June onward, with the Dunkirk pocket liquidated by German advance, attention would shift towards the south once again as Germany progressed further into France, while the French organized a fairly desperate defense on the so-called “Weygang Line.” On the 3rd of June 1940, the squadron claimed its first Ju 88 kill, as well as claiming another Bf 109, and probable shoot downs on three Dornier Do 17s and a Heinkel 111. The 5th and 6th of June were particularly intense in terms of combat with German fighters, with the D.520 claiming four Bf 109s and an Hs 126 on the 5th, and a further two confirmed and two probable 109s as well as a confirmed Do 17 on the 6th. The 7th saw the squadron claim a confirmed Do 17 and Bf 109, and two further probable Do 17s.
A flight of German Dornier Do 17Z during the Campaign of France. Variants of the Do 17, alongside with the slower He 111 and the lighter Ju 87, were the most common bombers encountered by the French air force in 1940. The fairly fast Dornier could prove hard to catch for the MS.406. The later MB.152 and Curtiss H75 were already more effective in such a task, but the D.520 was clearly the best equipped French fighter to deal with fast enemy bombers. [Asisbiz]German soldiers pose in front of a shot down D.520 of GC I/3. This particular plane was flown by Lieutenant Clarisse and shot down on the 21st of May 1940, the pilot being killed. [ww2fighters.e-monsite.com]The 9th of June 1940 saw the D.520 make the most claims of the Battle of France. The squadron was engaged against a raid of Dornier Do 17s escorted by Bf 109s around noon, claiming four fighters and a bomber. In the late afternoon, the squadron was engaged again against Dornier Do 17s and Junkers Ju 87s once again escorted by Bf 109s, seeing the French fighters down a confirmed Do 17 and Bf 109 as well as two Ju 87s, with a further two probable Do 17 and Bf 109.
The 9th of June 1940 would also begin to see the squadron retiring from its airfield near Paris to go further south, to avoid the now very threatening German advance on the ground. Though a further few engagements were fought fromt the 14 to 16th, most of the action was now behind the squadron. From the 17th to the 21st of June, the squadron would jump from airfield to airfield, from Southern France, to Algeria, finally settling in Kaala-Djerda and later Tunis-El Aouina in French Tunisia.
GC I/3 had claimed a considerable number of victories during the campaign, showing the qualities of the aircraft despite the general lack of training that was to be found in a squadron only recently introduced to its fighter. In total, the squadron claimed 55 confirmed and 19 probable victories. This was at the cost of 32 D.520s lost – of which 21 were lost in aerial combat, the rest being victims of either bombing runs or accidents. This was a rather decent success for a unit which had just received the new fighter type.
Other Squadrons
A number of other squadrons did receive the Dewoitine D.520 during the campaign and used it against German and later Italian forces.
A D.520 of GC II/3 in flight in 1940. The squadron’s emblem, a greyhound, can be observed on the tail. GC II/3 was the second most successful squadron flying the D.520 during the campaign of France. [ww2fighters.e-monsite.com]
The first squadron to receive D.520s after GC I/3 was GC II/3, which transitioned to the D.520 in 10 days from the 10th to the 20th of May. This was a very short transition for the new fighter, which many would imagine to be fairly worrying for the performance of the squadron. Nonetheless, GC II/3 would perform quite admirably during the campaign. Engaged heavily from the 20th of May onward, it would claim a single victory, an He 111, on its first day of combat, five confirmed and two probable victories on Dornier Do 17s, He 111s and Me 110s on the 21st, and ten confirmed victories (eight Ju 87s and two Hs 126s) on the 22nd. During the entire duration of the campaign, GC II/3 would claim 31 confirmed and 15 probable victories at the cost of 20 D.520s, though only three pilots were killed. The squadron notably counted on Czechoslovak pilot Cukr Vaclav, who would claim two confirmed kills and six shared kills, as well as French Capitaine Raymond Clausse, with three confirmed, and two probable kills on his own, as well as two confirmed, and two probable shared kills.
D.520 n°273, flown by GC II/7 in June of 1940. [ww2fighters.e-monsite.com]D.520 n°119 of GC II/7, shot down on the 15th of June 1940. [ww2fighters.e-monsite.com]Other squadrons received their D.520s later in the campaign and would see the fewer kills , among other factors, due to the D.520 being received later in the campaign, at which point German air superiority had more or less been established, and sometimes having to work in mixed squadrons that still incorporated slower Morane-Saulnier MS.406s. GC II/7 was one such mixed squadron, receiving their first D.520s around the 25th of May, while at the same time retaining Moranes until at least the 1st of June. The D.520s of the squadron would still claim more than a dozen victories at the cost of nine of their own aircraft.
GC III/3 fought the most intense parts of its campaign with MS.406s, but was refitted with the D.520 in late May, seemingly not engaged from the 20th of May to the 5th of June, during the transitional period. Going back into action with the Dewoitine, pilots of the squadron would go on to claim eight confirmed, and one probable victory in June, with three confirmed Bf 109s shot down, and another probable, one each of the He 111, Me 110, Dornier Do 17, and two Hs 126s.
Pilots of GC III/3 plot their next mission on the tail of a D.520, June of 1940. [AeroVFR.com]GC III/6 is one of the most well known of the D.520 squadrons despite receiving the aircraft late into the campaign. By mid-June 1940, the squadron was in the process of converting from the MS.406 to the D.520, when the entry of Italy into the war forced it to be put into action against Italian aircraft. Under these conditions, French pilot Capitaine Pierre le Gloan would first shoot down two Fiat BR.20 bombers on the 13th of June. On the 15th, Le Gloan took off on a routine patrol around 11:45 pm, originally comprised of three Dewoitines, but soon reduced to two due to technical issues of one aircraft forcing it to return to base. The two remaining fighters, operating near Saint-Tropez on the Mediterranean coast, encountered a force of twelve Fiat CR.42 biplanes of the Italian squadron 23e Gruppo CT. The two D.520s engaged the biplanes. Le Gloan damaged two, one that caught fire and was later written off, and the other pilot ejected, before the faster French fighters broke off. Le Gloan’s wingman’s guns jammed, forcing him back to base as well. Not content with merely two CR.42 shot down though, Le Gloan encountered a further patrol of CR.42s from 18e Gruppo, shooting one down before evading the others in a dive using the largely superior speed of the 520. Le Gloan then returned to Luc airfield, where GC III/6 was stationed, shooting down a CR.42 attempting strafing runs. Lastly, he would down a BR.20 attempting photo reconnaissance of the airfield, attempting to identify the effects of Italian strafing. The Dewoitine was out of cannon ammunition by this point and the BR.20 had to be shot down by machine-gun fire, requiring a total of five passes. This action would have been sufficient to make Le Gloan an ace not just in a day, but in a single sortie, though he had already scored two victories previously. While it was performed using the higher speed of the D.520 against slower biplanes, which would not effectively pursue the French fighter, it remains an impressive feat and likely the most famous action of the D.520 during the campaign of France. Le Gloan’s victories also appear to be the only confirmed ones scored by GC III/6 with the D.520.
A D.520 of GC III/6 during the Battle of France. [ww2fighters.e-monsite.com]
Two other French army squadrons, GC II/6 and III/7, began transitioning to the D.520 in June but could not be made operational on the aircraft in time to meaningfully take part in the Battle of France. This was also largely the case for two ground-based squadrons of the French navy’s Flottile F1C, AC 1 and AC 2, which received a few D.520s in the later stages of the Battle of France.
The Tricolor Cockade and the Balkenkreuz: Dewoitine versus Messerschmitt
A topic which inevitably comes up when discussing the D.520 is its comparison with the mainstay German fighter at the time, the Bf 109E. This comparison has been a considerable subject of debates, particularly in France, where a significant amount of pride has often been instilled in the D.520 as the only modern indigenous French fighter that saw intense action and was able to challenge the German fighter.
In practice, the duel between the two aircraft was a rather complicated matter – which was known to the French air force, as a Bf 109E captured during the Phoney War was quite extensively tested in comparison to the D.520 in April of 1940.
A Bf 109E-1, previously of JG 76, which was forced to make a landing in France in November of 1939 and was subsequently tested by the French. [asibiz]The Bf 109 had a clear climb rate advantage over the D.520, which was particularly felt at low altitude, due to being better engined than the French fighter, which was sometimes found to be lacking in horsepower. German engine cooling was also found to be superior, which allowed the aircraft to run for longer at full throttle, while French pilots would often have to temporarily limit running the engine at full throttle to avoid overheating. This would usually allow the German fighter to dictate the terms of engagement, but considering the mostly defensive use of the D.520s, the Bf 109s were forced to provide cover to German bombers, and were often operating in escort, and not air superiority sweeps.
Where the D.520 is often said to have had an advantage is in maneuverability. The D.520 had the advantage of more subtle and less abrupt controls in comparison to the Bf 109E, which would typically give an advantage to the French fighter in a prolonged dogfight. The Dewoitine also enjoyed good engine torque, and in comparison to the BF 109E the cockpit of the D.520 offered far greater visibility which would prove an advantage in such a situation. This was not, however, a massive advantage, and the comparative trials held in April of 1940 saw a duel typically last for several minutes before one of the two aircraft could mount an advantage over the other. In turning fights, the D.520 had a known issue where it was vulnerable to stalling and temporary loss of control during some turns. This was an issue if the enemy fighter was in a favorable position at the moment, though in some engagements it was found that the stalling could be used as an evasive maneuver if the enemy fighter was at a considerable speed advantage. In general, the D.520 was found to still be more comfortable to pilot than the 109 in prolonged dogfights. In turnfights, the D.520 would typically win when the turns were towards the right, but the Bf 109 could be expected to win those towards the left.
In general, while French patriotism would encourage many French authors to claim the D.520 as equal or sometimes even superior to the Bf 109, in practice, the German fighter could arguably be claimed to usually have a slight edge – its ability to dictate the terms of engagement was not entirely compensated for by the maneuverability of the French fighter. This, however, does not paint the full picture. While one may ponder at length over whether the D.520 could be considered equal or slightly inferior to the Bf 109E, it remains clear that it was highly superior to the pre-existing fighters in the French air force, such as the Curtiss H75, Bloch MB.152, and particularly the Morane-Saulnier MS.406, when it came to intercepting fast German bombers such as the He 111, and particularly the Do 17 and Ju 88. The MS.406, notably, would often struggle to catch up with German bombers, while the D.520 could do so relatively easily – giving the French air force a far better tool against enemy bombers, though obviously one which arrived way too late. As such, the D.520 represented a major improvement in the capability of the French air force – which would have been further reinforced by additional new fighter types entering service in June of 1940, the Bloch MB.155 and Arsenal VG.33, with the later managing even better performance than the D.520, with a less powerful engine of the same type, and likely offering a serious competitor to the Bf 109 and Spitfire had the war not abruptly interrupted for the French Third Republic.
An Arrow through the Cockade: Vichy’s Workhorse
Absolutely defeated on the ground by a better equipped, led, and coordinated German army, France was forced into an armistice with Germany, negotiated on the 22nd of June 1940 and going into effect on the 25th of June 1940. In this Compiègne Armistice, the Third Reich inflicted on its French archenemy what was, in many ways, a revenge and repeat of Versaille, with the French as the victim, seriously limiting the size of the French army and its ability to produce new equipment.
However, strategic requirements are a more important matter than symbolism. The French government was in control of many colonial areas around Africa and Asia which Great-Britain was now interested in seizing to further their situation and, with the sinking of the French fleet of Mers-El Kébir on the 2nd of July 1940, this set a major precedent of hostility between the new French regime and the British. Under these conditions, allowing the new Vichy French government to retain a military that could offer resistance to British and Free French attempts to seize colonial territories and naval assets was a useful prospect for Germany. As such, France was allowed to keep a number of squadrons and military units operational – most notably in French North Africa and the French Levant, but also Metropolitan France to an extent.The air force was allowed more strength than the army, which could not operate any armored vehicles outside of Panhard 178s downgraded to a machine-gun armament in mainland France.
D.520 n°277 of GCIII/6, the personal plane of French ace Pierre le Gloan, in flight in French North Africa during the early months of the Vichy regime. One can observe the identification arrow, which in this case extended all the way to the propeller hub, but on other aircraft stopped around or slightly in front of the cockpit. [ww2fighters.e-monsite.com]
Dewoitine D.520 of GC III/7 in Chateauroux, France, August 1940. The planes are yet to receive any Vichy identification markings and were likely not used operationally at this point. [Pinterest]As such, authorization was given for the Vichy regime to maintain squadrons I/3, II/3, III/6, II/7 and AC1 operating the D.520. All would be stationed first in French North Africa, with all being located in Algeria outside of II/7 operating in Tunisia. The motive behind putting Vichy’s best fighters in French North Africa was that this location was now the most valuable colony still in the hands of the regime, and was much more vulnerable than the French mainland to potential attack attempts by the Allies. At the same time, while the D.520’s range could allow it to comfortably ferry over the Mediterranean and generally operate in a theater where longer ranges could be desirable, Vichy did retain a number of squadrons operating the shorter-ranged Bloch MB.152 in Metropolitan France. With the Bloch fighter unable to reasonably make the crossing, and ill-equipped to reasonably protect French North Africa, the D.520 was pretty much the only possible choice outside of a now incredibly outdated MS.406 that was on its way out of Vichy’s air force.
During their service life, Vichy aircraft were given a number of recognition markings to differentiate them from British or Free French aircraft and avoid friendly fire incidents from German or Italian planes. At first, this manifested in the form of a white line going through the rear and center of the fuselage, with the cockade superimposed on top and an arrowhead in the direction of the front of the plane. This was put on from the late summer of 1940 onward. From early 1941 onward, these were judged insufficient to reasonably identify Vichy’s aircraft, and they saw their tail sections and propeller hubs painted yellow to further ease identification; it is with these identification markings that the Vichy D.520 would fight during the Levant campaign in May of 1941. In the summer of 1941, the recognition markings were pushed even further, with orange stripes included within the yellow sections, and in many cases, parts of the engine cover painted in the same yellow and orange scheme as the tail.
A magnificent colorized photograph of GC III/6 D.520 fighters. This photo was taken at Eleusis airfield, Athens, in May of 1941, a refueling stop for the French fighters heading to the Levant. It gives a formidable view of the D.520’s camouflage, the yellow tail section, and the identification arrow. [Flickr]A good view of a Vichy D.520 in the markings which were now standard by 1942, with the white identification line no longer featuring an arrowhead, and yellow-and-orange stripes on the empennage and engine fairing. [Asibiz]In April of 1941, with German approval, production of the D.520 resumed to fulfill an order for 550 new planes for Vichy’s air force. The goal was now to make the D.520 the standard fighter of the French air force to the greatest extent possible, first replacing the MS.406 in the squadrons then operating it, and in the further future the MB.152 and MB.155 operated by the fighter groups in Metropolitan France. Two new fighter groups operating the D.520 were created, GC I/2 in Châteauroux, Metropolitan France, and GC II/6 intended for French Occidental Africa, while four squadrons operating other types were re-equipped with the D.520 in Metropolitan France, these being GC I/1, GC III/9 and GC II/1. The last squadron, GC II/5, located in Casablanca, Morocco, was in the process of switching during the Allied invasion of French North Africa, Operation Torch, in November of 1942.
A number of Dewoitine D.520 fighters in the SNCAM-Dewoitine factories of Toulouse/Saint-Martin-du-Touch in 1942. The planes are now being completed with the identification white band, the arrowhead no longer featured, and with the orange and yellow sections at the empennage and around the engine block. [ww2fighters.e-monsite.com]In a fairly cruel twist of irony, what was once the only fighter able to offer resistance to Germany’s Luftwaffe, by 1940 now flew for the Vichy Regime, and only truly became the most common French fighter under this collaboration government. The D.520 would see considerable action in defending Vichy’s colonial territories against British, Free French and American intervention, now fighting a whole different set of aircraft. However, this would once again be under lackluster conditions; pilot training under Vichy was not as extensive and long as under the pre-armistice conditions, partly due to lack of fuel restricting the flight hours which would be performed. While the pilots who fought under Vichy during the Levant campaign and Operation Torch had had more time to accustom themselves to the D.520 than those flying during the Battle of France, these were often the same men from the same squadrons which had now made the switch to the D.520 during the Battle of France. They flew fewer hours per year overall, and as such had their skills not as “well maintained” as their Allied counterparts that were regularly flying combat missions against the Regia Aeronautica and Luftwaffe over North Africa and the Mediterranean.
Another view of the Toulouse/Saint-Martin-Du-Touch facilities, showing the considerable industrial effort by Vichy at manufacturing the D.520. Still present in only moderate numbers in the Battle of France, it is only under Vichy that the D.520 would truly become the mainstay fighter of the French air force. [aérothèque.com]Under the Vichy regime, studies were also performed in outfitting the D.520 with more powerful engines in order to make the Dewoitine a viable fighter for later in the war. This resulted in the D.520Z, fitted with a Hispano-Suiza 12Z 1,600 hp engine. This project would result in work on a prototype, completed in February of 1943 with German approval, but would only fly in 1947. A project modernizing the D.520 further, the M.520T, would never even reach prototype stage. Vichy had hoped the D.520Z would be serially produced, and postwar trials indeed indicated the fighter had respectable performance even by mid-war standards, being able to reach 659 km/h at 9,150 meters, and could climb to 4,000 meters in 4 minutes 10 seconds, to 8,000 meters in 8 minutes 22 seconds, and to 11,000 m in 14 minutes 19 seconds. This was a very significant improvement in comparison to the D.520, though it came at the cost of the 12Z being a sometimes unreliable engine that would require a lot of maintenance. The occupation of the Vichy regime would prevent any further development, despite a production of up to 230 having been hoped for in the middle of 1942.
A view of the D.520Z prototype postwar. Had production been undertaken in the mid-war, the D.520Z would have been a decent fighter, but by the post-war era, it could only really be used as a testbed. [Pinterest]A profile view of the M.520T. While on the loose technical basis of the D.520, it would in many ways have been a new aircraft. [War Thunder Forums]
Dewoitines Against Hurricanes: The Levant Fiasco
On the 1st of April 1941, a coup in previously British-influenced Iraq brought to power a pro-Axis government, the Golden Square, which would result in the Anglo-Iraqi War lasting for much of the month of May. Germany and Italy, eager to use this opportunity to open another front against the British Empire in the Middle-East, pushed Vichy France to allow Axis planes to use the French colonies of Syria and Lebanon as a base to get to Iraq and support their troops against British Commonwealth forces.
After the end of this campaign, this breach of Vichy’s non-belligerence in favor of Axis support would lead to British, Australian, Indian, and Free French troops invading the Vichy colonies of the Levant. The Vichy regime attempted to put up a defensive effort, which, in the air, relied on Dewoitine fighters.
Prior to May of 1941, only the older MS.406 were located in Levant. With the rise of tensions as the colony now hosted Axis planes, GC III/6 was relocated from Algeria to Rayack in Lebanon on the 27th-28th of May 1941. This airfield would be used until late June, when the squadron would move to Alep. During the Levant campaign, GC III/6 would be joined by GC II/3, which moved into the Levant, transiting through Axis-occupied Greece and would operate from Homs and later Alep during the campaign. The French Navy’s AC 1 squadron would be deployed to the Levant as well.
The opposition the French would face consisted of Hawker Hurricane and Curtiss Tomahawks (P-40), as well as occasionally older Gloster Gladiators, escorting bomber formations typically composed of Blenheim bombers.
Dewoitine D.520 N°383 of GC III/6 at Rayack airfield, Lebanon, May 1941. The aircraft features the yellow recognition tail as well as a recognition arrow stopping in front of the cockpit. This aircraft, flown by Capitaine Rival Mazières, second in command of GC III/6, was shot down by British Curtiss Tomahawk fighters on the 23rd of June 1941 with the pilot, at this time Sergent Savinel, killed. [ww2aircraft.net]The mangled wreck of the same Dewoitine, shot down on the 23rd of June 1941. [joseph bibert fichiers]The French squadrons put up considerable opposition in the air, with the D.520 still being a decent adversary for the fighter aircraft they were facing. GC II/3’s scoreboard was fairly moderate, with two Blenheims and a Tomahawk shot down on the 2nd of July, with one confirmed and one probable Tomahawk on the 11th of July. GC III/6, present in the operations for longer, would feature a much more accomplished score-board during the campaign. They claimed 16 confirmed and 2 probable Hurricanes, a Fulmar, a Maryland, a Tomahawk, and three Gladiators. Pierre le Gloan, still flying with GC III/6, claimed seven victories: six Hurricanes and a Gladiator. As for the Navy’s AC 1 squadron, it would claim seven confirmed and one probable kill.
Though these were some considerable victories, the D.520 suffered some significant losses during the campaign, with about 40 planes lost, though only eight pilots were killed. Most of these were not shot down in flight. The issue the French faced in Levant were limited aviation facilities that featured little to no anti-aircraft defenses. Against a considerably numerically superior adversary, this resulted in the French being unable to defend their airfields against strafing runs, which decimated the fleet of Dewoitine aircraft. As British forces were progressing through the region swiftly, the three D.520 squadrons were redeployed to Algeria transiting through Greece in early July, so that the remaining fighters, and most importantly their pilots, could participate in the defense of French North Africa, now that the French Levant was irredeemably lost.
A Navy D.520 during the early Vichy area. The aircraft’s branch can be identified by the anchor present on the rudder section. [Cols bleus : hebdomadaire de la Marine française, French Navy, September 1985]It should be noted that two D.520s left behind by Vichy’s air force in the Levant would be captured by the Free French and re-used for a short while in order to train the pilots of Free French GC 3 “Normandie.” This squadron would, from late 1942 onward, be deployed to the Soviet Union, operating with great success using Soviet Yak fighters for the remainder of the war, and gaining great fame as the only Western Allied fighting unit on the Eastern Front, and a highly successful squadron by both Free French and Soviet standards. Previously, the Free French had operated three D.520s that had defected from France to England in June of 1940. Two were conscripted into the force which attempted to seize Dakar in September of 1940, and following the failure of this attempt, they were unloaded in French Equatorial Africa, a colony which joined the Free French. One was lost in an accident, and the other left at its airfield when Free French pilots moved to Egypt to be equipped with Hawker Hurricanes.
Dewoitine D.520 n°302, one of the two D.520s captured by the Free French in the Levant. The two fighters were used by GC 3 Normandie before it moved to the USSR and eventually became the famous “Normandie-Niémen”. [warisboring.com]The Free French D.520 n°139, by this point in time the only one in service, preparing for take-off in Chad, January of 1941. [ww2fighters.e-monsite.com]
French Droplets on the Torch
A Vichy D.520 of an unidentified squadron in French North Africa, 1941. [ww2aircraft.net]In November of 1942, with the war in the desert in Libya clearly going to the advantage of the Allies, French North Africa appeared as an increasingly appealing territory to seize to further the position of the Allies in North Africa. The large colony, comprising Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, was however fairly well defended, with the heaviest military forces still in the hands of the Vichy Regime located there. In terms of squadrons using the Dewoitine, these being GC I/3, II/3, III/3, III/6, II/7 and AC 1.
The Anglo-American landings were performed on the 8th of November. For air cover, they relied on large numbers of Grumman F4F Wildcat/Martlet and some Hawker Sea Hurricanes, which were still fighters the D.520 could hope to challenge – and the French squadrons did put up some considerable opposition to Operation Torch.
US Navy F4F Wildcat aboard USS Ranger CV-4 during Operation Torch. The American carrier fighter was about a match for the D.520, with a fairly similar maximum speed, likely slightly superior manoeuvrability but lower climb rate. [World War Photos]GC I/3, operating near Oran, racked up a considerable score on the 8th of November, shooting down six Fairey Albacore light naval bombers, five Douglas C47 transport planes, five Hurricanes or Sea Hurricanes, and even a Spitfire. GC III/3, operating near Oran, appears to have claimed nine victories for seven D.520s lost. GC II/3, III/6 and II/7 were not located in areas as hot as the major Algerian harbour of Oran, and appear not to have claimed any victories during the battle. The French Navy’s AC 1 operating in Morocco claimed two F4F Wildcats for no aerial losses.
A D.520 of squadron 2AC of Flottila 1F on the runway in French North Africa, 1942. [ww2fighters.e-monsite.com]
However, while the French Dewoitines could still put up quite a fight against an F4F in the air, the numerical superiority of Allied fighters, and lack of French airfield defences would once again come back to haunt the French air force, with the AC 1 losing 19 of its 27 D.520s against strafing and bombing runs during the three-days of fighting during Operating Torch.
Luckily for the French, the colonial authorities of North Africa swiftly decided not to continue a vain opposition to Allied advances, and instead sided with the Allies against the Axis. With this, the Vichy squadrons, comprising a little over 130 D.520s, were now fighting against Axis troops. One was repainted in American colors and tested by the US Army Air Corps.
However, the end of the service of the D.520 in North Africa would be fairly swift, with the squadrons soon refitted with fighters such as Hurricanes and Spitfires for further operations, the D.520 no longer being seen as an up-to-date fighter and they lacked the facilities in France likely necessary for the manufacture of spare parts. The Dewoitine was relegated to a training role, in which it was still used in early 1944.
A flight of Free French D.520s over North Africa, early 1944. The planes received a roundel, and no other markings. Due to their operation in an area now void of Axis activity, no risk of confusion with an aircraft of a now nonexistent Vichy air force was considered. [joseph bibert fichiers]
Case Anton: The Dewoitine Under the Balkenkreuz
Days after French North Africa was invaded by the Allies, attention would now turn to the unoccupied part of France under the jurisdiction of the Vichy Regime. On the 11th of November 1942, Germany launched Case Anton, the Wehrmacht rushing to take control of Southern France, facing no resistance from Vichy troops that had been ordered to stay in their barracks and not oppose the Germans invaders. With this swift move, Germany captured around 250 Dewoitine D.520 fighters as well as the facilities which were in the process of producing more.
D.520 n°95 of JG 101 at Pau airfield, France, 1944. The German D.520s were repainted in a camouflage fairly similar to what could be found on other German aircraft by that point in the war. [Asisbiz]The French production facilities would continue to work during German occupation, albeit at a reduced rate, seeing as the D.520 was a very low priority by late 1942. About 60 further fighters would be completed under German occupation.
Within the Luftwaffe, the D.520 was put to use as a trainer aircraft. Though now obsolete as a frontline fighter, it could still provide a decent introduction to modern, metal monoplanes with retractable landing gear. For this purpose, JG 101 was outfitted with the D.520 and operated in occupied France, mostly from Pau, in the South, where it would be free from sweeps and raids performed from the British Isles. JG 103, operating during the remainder of the war in the Netherlands or Austria, also used the D.520, as did JG 105, operating near Paris and Chartres, and JG 107 in Nancy. In German service, the D.520s were painted in a light gray color with darker gray spots on much of the aircraft, something typically found on many late-war German aircraft. The underside of the aircraft, and in some cases the nose and tail sections, were painted in a garish yellow color, likely for identification purposes as a training aircraft. The planes received a Balkenkreuz marking on the central fuselage and a swastika on the tail.
German maintenance crews at work near a D.520 in occupied France. [Pinterest]The D.520 was noted to not always be a very easy plane to pilot, as it had some unforgiving flight characteristics and suffered from some mechanical issues, such as landing gear which at times failed to retract completely. However, in comparison to German fighters of the time, it offered much smoother and lighter controls for the pilot in comparison to the now quite heavy Bf 109G which were being operated by this point. There would nonetheless be several accidents, with at least three German pilots killed and two wounded on the Dewoitine. A number were also destroyed by Allied bombings of French airfields used by the Luftwaffe.
Outside of a training aircraft, there was another use the Germans could find to the D.520 by the second half of the war. It offered a convenient ‘hand-me-down’ aircraft to outfit the air forces of Axis states which requested fighters from Germany, without diverting any frontline German fighters being manufactured by this point. Two German allies would be outfitted with considerable numbers of D.520 in this fashion, Italy and Bulgaria, though it is sometimes claimed some outfitted Romania as well.
The French Fighter of the Regia Aeronautica
The Regio Esercito (Italian Army) captured 30 Dewoitines during the Battle of France, with many more being transferred to Italy after German capture in France.
The D.520s were assigned to various Regia Aeronautica (Italian Air Force) fighter groups, tasked with intercepting American bombers in the defense of various major cities, an endeavor which was met with mixed results. As Italy began to fall, some Dewoitines were destroyed by retreating Italians, or recaptured by the Germans.
It is of note that the Italians regarded the D.520 largely inferior for various reasons, but did praise the aircraft’s armament, making mention of the formidable 20mm cannon.
Regia Aeronautica D.520 of an unidentified squadron. The planes have by this point received Italian markings, such as the cross and the white band, but the base camouflage appears to remain the one featured on the original French planes, outside of perhaps the red propeller hub. [Pinterest]
The Shield of Bulgaria
A magnificent view of a Bulgarian D.520 in front of a mountain range. The camouflage used by the Bulgarian air force was similar to the Luftwaffe’s, but using Bulgarian markings and stripping their planes of any garish yellow paint. [Pinterest]The other Axis air force which received a large number of D.520s was the Bulgarian Air Force. Though a member of the Axis powers, Bulgaria had chosen to remain out of Operation Barbarossa, and to not declare war on the Soviet Union, with its contribution to the war effort mostly consisting of its occupation of parts of Greece and Yugoslavia as well as economic cooperation with the Reich. As such, providing fighters for the Bulgarian Air Force may have seemed to be a lower priority for Germany in comparison to other allies, such as Hungary and Romania, which were actively fighting on the Eastern Front. However, Bulgaria was nonetheless at war with the Western Allies and, from 1943 onward, the subject of air raids increasing in frequency and intensity.
The D.520 seemed to be an appropriate hand-me-down for this lower priority but not insignificant part of the Axis, especially as the aircraft, while obsolete against modern fighters by 1943, could still be used against bombers and Bulgaria was still mostly out of reach of Allied single-engined fighters. Up to 150 D.520s appear to have been offered to Bulgaria, of which 120 would be ordered and 96 effectively delivered, the first 48 in August of 1943.
6th Fighter Regiment D.520s at a hangar at Karlovo airfield, Bulgaria, September of 1943. While the Avia fighters which shared the same engine family as the D.520 were no longer frontline fighters by this point, the experience gained by Bulgarian mechanics working on them likely simplified the transitional period to the D.520. [ww2fighters.e-monsite.com]
A major advantage of the D.520 for Bulgaria was that the old Czechcoslovak fighters already in use by the Bulgarian air force, the Avia B-71 and B-135, already used engines of the Hispano-Suiza 12Y family, albeit older models. This meant that Bulgarian mechanics would already have some experience with engines similar to those found on the Dewoitines, and that some amount of parts commonality could be expected, easing the logistical burdens Bulgaria would suffer in comparison to obtaining a fighter with an unrelated engine.
The Bulgarian Dewoitines were painted in schemes generally similar to the German ones, with a light gray base, dark upper, along with mottled spots in between. They, however, made more use of brown and green colors as well. The cross of the Bulgarian air force was painted on the aft fuselage, with the individual fighter number behind it. A yellow or white band was sometimes featured in front of the cross, behind the cockpit. The tips of the wings and sometimes the propeller hub were also painted in yellow.
The Bulgarian Dewoitines were delivered to the 6th IP (Fighter Regiment), where they formed the core of the 1st and 2nd groups. They would be operated in intercept missions, fighting along with Bf 109G-2 fighters also operated by the Bulgarians. American raids at this time typically consisted of B-24 bombers escorted by P-38 twin-engine fighters. While these escorts were significantly faster and better armed than the Dewoitines, the Bulgarian fighters could still count on their superior maneuverability to avoid being shot down. It appears the first victories by Bulgarian Dewoitines were scored on the 24th of November 1943, when three to four American planes were shot down by a Bulgarian fighter force composed of 24 D.520s and 16 Bf 109s. The first loss in combat appears to have been on the 10th of December, when one of 22 D.520s flying to intercept a flight of 60 B-24s and 60 P-38s was shot down. Ten days later, on the 20th, D.520s would score two victories, including an escorting P-38. On the 10th of January, Bulgarian pilots, flying 23 D.520s and 16 Bf 109s, in cooperation with 30 German Bf 109s, would claim four B-17s and four P-38s for the loss of a D.520.
Bulgarian air force personnel in front of a D.520 at Karlovo airfield in 1943. The D.520 would form a considerable portion of the Bulgarian air force’s fighter complement in late 1943 and early 1944, though it would progressively be superseded by the more modern Bf 109G. [ww2fighters.e-monsite.com]The 30th of March 1944 saw the largest air raid of the war on Bulgaria, with more than 360 B-17s and B-24s attacking Sofia. The Bulgarian air force scrambled all aircraft it could muster, including some Avia B-135s from training schools in addition to 28 D.520s from the first group of 6th Fighter Regiment (I/6) and 6 from the 2nd group (II/6). The Dewoitine-equipped groups claimed a B-17 for I/6, and two bombers and a P-38 for II/6. By this point however, losses were starting to increase for Bulgarian fighters, with 4 to 5 D.520s lost against P-38s and defensive fire from the bombers. By the spring of 1944, American air raids now included P-51 and P-47 escorts in addition to the P-38, further complicating the task of Bulgarian pilots. The D.520s appear to have been falling out of favor in comparison to Bf 109s for interception purposes by this point. While 44 Dewoitines were still available to the Bulgarian air force on the 1st of May 1944, they would claim their last victory on 5th of May with a B-17 shot down. Losses started to mount at this point, mostly due to bombing runs against Bulgarian airfields as well as lack of spare parts to support continued operation. By the 1st of September 1944, only 32 D.520s were still in Bulgarian hands, with only about half in flying condition. Overall, the D.520s appear to have claimed 5 B-17s, 2 B-24s and 4 P-38s, attacking in intercept missions against the USAAF, at the loss of seven D.520 in combat. Eight to ten were actually lost in accidents, and overall, eight Bulgarian pilots were killed flying the Dewoitine.
Bulgarian air force personnel of the 6th Fighter Regiment in front of a row of parked D.520s. [ww2fighters.e-monsite.com]As Soviet forces reached Bulgaria, a communist coup took over on the 9th of September 1944 and Bulgaria joined the war on the side of the Soviet Union. Remaining Bulgarian D.520s would operate against German forces from September to November, with a further two planes being lost, before the type was sent away from the frontlines in November of 1944. D.520s would remain in use by Bulgarian flight schools until 1947, when the type was finally retired from the service of the Bulgarian air force, and surviving aircraft were scrapped.
Bulgarian air force cadets stand on a D.520 during the plane’s last year of service in Bulgaria, 1947. [ww2fighters.e-monsite.com]
The Dewoitine into Liberation
By the 6th of June 1944, the D.520 was no longer used as a frontline fighter by any air force in the West. The Luftwaffe and Free French air force both operated the type as a trainer, with many of the Luftwaffe’s fleet of Dewoitines based in France.
While in the first two months following Operation Overlord, Allied progress would remain fairly slow and confined to Normandy, the breakthrough of Operation Cobra in late July saw a lightning-fast liberation of France by a combination of Allied mobile troops, and uprisings by the Forces Françaises de l’Intérieur (French Forces of the Inside or FFI) the leading organized French resistance. This would result in many D.520s being left behind on overrun airfields.
A first use of the D.520 by the FFI would be by a group of resistance fighters taking over the German occupied airfield at Châteauroux on the 20th of August 1944, where they found several damaged aircraft. Cannibalizing parts from different planes, the FFI managed to repair a single Dewoitine. Repainted in French colors, with a Cross of Lorraine on the tail, a French flag on the empennage, and “FFI” painted on the central fuselage, the Dewoitine was flown by a pilot that had not flown since the Battle of France, but ended up belly-landing. Two days later, German troops fleeing Southern France temporarily occupied Chateauroux again, with the FFI camouflaging their plane, and going into hiding until German forces finally left on the 10th of September.
The belly-landed FFI D.520 of Chateauroux, 27th of August 1944. [ww2fighters.e-monsite.com]
A more organized and professional use of the Dewoitine by the Free French, or French Forces of the Interior (FFI) would be accomplished by the Marcel Doret fighter group. Following the Allied Landings in Provence on the 15th of August 1944, much of Southern France was liberated by Allied troops and FFI uprisings in the following days, including at German airfields in Southern France, the facilities of the Morane-Saulnier, the SNCASE-Dewoitine factories in Toulouse, and the surrounding area. This resulted in a considerable number of Dewoitines falling into the hands of the FFI, which would very swiftly put them to use. Under the command of Marcel Doret, the most prolific French test pilot in the pre-war era, a fighter group was established, operating two squadrons of D.520s, one in Toulouse and one in Tarbes, both in Southern France. This group was grown as the “1er Groupe de Chasse FFI” (1st FFI fighter group), or more colloquially as the “Doret group”. It appeared to have had a strength of 18 D.520s.
Doret fighter group D.520s in late 1944. This photo shows how different markings co-existed at the time. The aircraft towards the left features a Cross of Lorraine on the tail and “FFI” inscribed within the invasion stripes, which the aircraft to the right as well as the one in the background lack. [Association des Amis du musée de l’Air]A Free French D.520 with an unusual-looking, dotted camouflage pattern. [ww2fighters.e-monsite.com]
The Doret group was officially dissolved on the 1st of December 1944 – in practice, it was integrated into the formal structure of the French army as GC 2/18 “Saintonge.” The group was deployed to the Western French coast and used in recon missions as well as escorting Douglas A-24 Banshee bombers over the remaining German “pockets”, areas on the coast which remained under German control due to the presence of highly fortified U-Boat bases the Allies preferred to blockade, rather than attempt a costly take-over. In February of 1945, the D.520s were transferred to GC I/18 Vendée, continuing to see use in similar operations. This fighter group, the last operating the D.520 as a frontline fighter, was dissolved in October of 1945.
The camouflages used by the FFI were based on the German camouflages the D.520 were found with when captured, meaning a lighter gray base with darker gray spots. In some cases, the same brown as present on the D.520 previously in the service of the French air force was reintroduced on parts of the plane. Green could sometimes also be found. The FFI repainted the plane’s tail control surface with the French flag, as found on French air force aircraft prior to the armistice and the capture of the French fighters. A red cross of Lorraine was often found in the white stripe of this tail making. In the first months of operation, the D.520s also received the black and white invasion stripes in order to avoid any form of friendly fire incidents. In some cases, “FFI” appears to have been written in black letters in the white parts of the invasion stripes on the central fuselage. The D.520s also received French roundels on their wings, and later had their invasion stripes removed, with the space left on the central fuselage used for another roundel. A number in a circle was also present on the tail of many aircraft for identification purposes.
GC I/18 “Vendée” D.520s in flight in the spring of 1945. [WWII aces e-monsite]A number of FFI D.520s were also exhibited during an aviation exhibition in Paris in the spring of 1945.
D.520s exhibited on the Champs-Elysées, Paris, Spring of 1945. [ww2fighters.e-monsite.com]
The Undying Trainer
One would expect the conclusion of the war to finally have buried the old D.520, by this point completely obsolete against modern prop fighters, let alone jets. Nonetheless, the plane saw continued use in the training role it had often been relegated in the later phases of the war.
This trainer role saw a final variant of the D.520 be designed and produced, the D.520 DC, double commande (dual control.) As the name suggests, this was a D.520 with an extended cockpit to the rear, intended for two men, a cadet and an instructor. The plane would receive dual controls allowing the instructor to take over control of the plane.
The unusual-looking D.520DC trainer conversion seen in 1946. This plane is D.520 n°243, the first of the 13 D.520DC, arguably the “prototype” of the series of conversions. [ww2fighters.e-monsite.com]
The modification had been devised by a French air force adjutant, with a first D.520, n°243, converted in the autumn of 1945. This was a very much makeshift conversion, using pedals from an Fw 190, a control stick from a no longer flyable D.520, and seemingly a seat from an A-24 Banshee for the instructor. Nonetheless, after a first flight in October of 1945, impressions were positive, and after a few modifications were performed, a dozen of D.520s were converted to the DC standards in early 1946. These planes would be used to train a number of French air force cadets, including the first few women to obtain military pilot licenses in the French air force.
The training service of both DC and single-seat D.520s would continue in the following year, though the type was progressively retired as more modern aircraft, including jets, were introduced. The last flight of a D.520 in the French air force was performed on the 30th of September 1953.
Surviving Aircraft
A D.520 is present on static display at France’s Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace du Bourget (ENG: Museum of Air and Space of the Bourget) near Paris. It is painted as a fighter of GC III/6, the squadron of the type’s most successful pilot, Pierre le Gloan.
A restored D.520 in GC I/3 camouflage. [le blog du lignard]A D.520 in flyable condition is currently in the hands of the Conservatoire de l’Air et de l’Espace d’Aquitaine (Air and Space Conservatory of Aquitaine). It was restored to airworthiness from 2005 onward, after having been in storage for decades. A third D.520 is present in a hangar of the French navy, awaiting restoration alongside a number of other aircraft.
A fourth D.520, n°408, was part of the Musée de l’air et de l’espace as soon as it was phased out of service in 1957. Surviving as a warbird, it tragically crashed in July 1986, killing the pilot.
Variants
D.520-01 – The first prototype, utilizing a Hispano-Suiza 12Y-21 generating 890hp. No armament fitted. Numerous modifications included changes to the radiators, tail, exhaust, a 12Y-29 engine, and propeller.
D.520-02 – A fully armed prototype. Implemented all prior modifications, along with improved landing gear, and a larger empennage.
D.520-03 – Prototype with upgraded 12Y-31 Engine
D.520 – Main Production Version, fitted with the Hispano-Suiza 12Y-45 engine. Around 900 produced.
D.521 – Prototype utilizing the British Merlin III Engine.
D.522 – Version fitted with the slightly older Hispano-Suiza 12Y-31, fitted with a new Hispano-Suiza supercharger, providing better high-altitude performance. Production was scheduled to start in July 1940, but never occurred due to the German invasion of France.
D.523 – Fitted with the improved Hispano-Suiza 12Y-51 mated to a Sydlowski-Planiol supercharger, producing up to 1,000 hp at altitude. Also offered significant speed and climb advantages over the original D.520. Only one prototype produced.
D.524 – Scheduled for 1940 production, would have used the Hispano-Suiza 12Z engine, a refined version of the 12Y engine, expected to have produced 1,300 hp. None built.
HD 780 – Prototype floatplane naval version of the D.520 featuring foldable, angled, gull wings, increased engine size, and two floats. Was completed in March 1940 but never flown.
D.525 – Combined the Hispano-Suiza 12Y-51 engine with the Hispano-Suiza supercharger used on the D.522. Only 30 produced.
D.520Z – Produced under the Vichy Regime in 1943 with German approval, this prototype installed the Hispano-Suiza 12Z engine, making 1,600 hp, a considerable boost in power. First flight didn’t take place until 1947.
M.520T – Project to further modernize the D.520, never reached the prototype stage.
D.520DC – A two seat trainer version developed immediately post-war. DC roughly indicates ‘dual control.’
Operators
French Armée de l’Air (French Air Force) – The French Air Force hastily produced and deployed to active squadrons mere months before hostilities broke out between Germany and France. After the conclusion of the Battle of France, and subsequent armistice, the aircraft would continue to serve under the air force the Vichy Regime.
Forces Françaises de l’Intérieur (FFI / Free French Forces) – Organized FFI forces operating in recaptured areas of France after Allied breakthroughs in 1944 assembled a few small squadrons and began flying reclaimed D.520s, most notably the “Doret Group,” before being reabsorbed into the formal structure of the revitalized French Army.
Regia Aeronautica (Italian Air Force [Axis]) – The Italians managed to acquire several dozen D.520s throughout the course of the war, and pressed them into domestic service defending and intercepting allied bombers over the Italian mainland.
Luftwaffe (Nazi Germany) – During Germany’s various incursions into France, several hundred D.520s came under their control, in addition to continuing serial production under German occupation. The Dewoitines that found their way into German service were primarily used as trainers, or were transferred to Axis allies, namely Italy and Bulgaria.
Bulgarian Air Force – As Bulgaria was an ally of the Axis powers, upwards of 98 D.520s were transferred to the country’s air force, and used to intercept Allied bomber raids.
Conclusion – The Incarnation of “Trop peu et trop tard”: The D.520 in French Mythos
Since the end of the Second World War, the D.520 has progressively gained a near-mythical status in French military enthusiast circles. The reasons for this are quite easy to identify. The D.520 was the best performing French fighter introduced in large numbers during the Battle of France, and seemingly the only one which posed a credible threat to the Bf 109. However, it arrived too late, and numbers too small to Germany’s advance. In this regard, it was one of a considerable amount of fairly advanced pieces of equipment the French army was close to introducing in 1940, but never could due to the Armistice, similar in this fashion to its fellow Bloch MB.155 and Arsenal VG.33 fighter aircraft, the two Richelieu-class battleships, and the MAS 40 semi-automatic rifle of the French army.
This massive place in French mythos, reinforced by Pierre Le Gloan’s commendable combat record with the type, could be said, however, to have caused some bias to exist in some French analysts, where placing the D.520 as an equal to the Bf 109 has become sort of tradition. While the D.520 was much closer to competing with the German fighter in comparison to the previous MS.406 or MB.152, in some ways, the German fighter could be said to still be a little better performing. It is also questionable whether or not the D.520 could have evolved to become a mainstay fighter for the French air force for the rest of the war, as the Spitfire was for the Royal Air Force and the Bf 109 for the Luftwaffe. In some ways, the VG.33 airframe, which slightly outperformed the D.520, with a previous and weaker version of the same engine, may eventually have provided a better long-term mainstay fighter for France. In any case though, difficult circumstances prevented the VG.33 from ever reaching service, but the D.520 would have the opportunity to live an active service life in a number of air forces, one which saw it in action against both Axis and Allied forces alike.
Dewoitine D.520C-1 specifications
Wingspan
10.18 m /
Length
8.75 m /
Height
2.55 m /
Wing Area
16 m² /
Engine
Hispano-Suiza 12Y-45
Power at Critical Altitude
935 hp at 4,200 m
Max RPM
2,400 RRM
Propeller
Three-bladed Ratier or Chauvière (3 m diameter)
Empty Weight
2,050 kg /
Maximum Takeoff Weight
2,740 kg /
Wing Load
195 kg/m²
Fuel Capacity
400 liters standard
640 liters with wing fuel tanks
Time to Altitude
4,000 m in 5’13”
6,000 m in 7’57”
8,000 m in 13’24”
Maximum Speed
425 km/h at sea level
535 km/h at 6,750 m
Cruising Speed
400 km/h
Stall Speed
125 km/h
Range
Around 900 km with standard fuel load
1,500 km at max fuel fuel load (equipped w/ wing tanks)
Maximum Service Ceiling
11,000 m /
Crew
1 Pilot
Armament
20 mm HS-404 firing through the propeller hub with 60 rounds
4x MAC34M39 machine-guns with 675 rounds per gun in the wings
Number Completed
Around 900 (produced 1939-1944)
Gallery
D.520 No.12 Cdt Thibaudet – GC I/3, Cannes-Mandelius, March 1940D.520 No.90 Sergent Michel Madon who would go on to be credited with 11 confirmed kills during the war – GC I/3, Suippes, France, May 1940D.520 No.61 Czechoslovak Pilot Cukr Vaclav – GC II/3, Oran-La-Senia Airfield, July 1940D.520 No.277 flown by “Ace in One Day” Pierre Le Gloan – GC III/6, Prior to Armistice 1940D.520 No.343 Cdt Moriat – GC II/3, Alep-Nerab Syria, July 1941Free French D.520 – Not long after the Invasion of Normandy
Credits
Written by Marisa Belhote
Special Thanks for Contributions to the Italian Section by Arturo Giusti
Macchi M.C. 200 of the 272ª Squadriglia of the 153° Gruppo Autonomo ‘Asso di Bastoni’. This aircraft was part of the middle production run of the SAI Ambrosini plant. Soure: pinterest.com
The Macchi M.C. 200 ‘Saetta’ (Lightning) was a fighter aircraft developed by Aeronautica Macchi (AerMacchi) of Italy around the mid-1930s, resulting in one of the most produced and used aircraft of the Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force) during the Second World War. It yielded good results on all fronts where the Italian forces operated, from the hot and dusty desert of North Africa, to the cold and snowy Russian steppes.
After 8th September 1943, both the Luftwaffe and Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana (Eng: Italian National Air Force) on the Axis side, and the Aeronautica Cobaelligerante Italiana (Eng: Italian Co-belligerent Air Force) on the Allied side used the surviving aircraft.
After the war, the Aeronautica Militare (Eng: Italian Military Air Force) used the few Macchi 200 that were still functioning for another two years, until 1947, for training tasks.
Development
Before the Macchi 200, the Regia Aeronautica was equipped with fighter biplanes, such as the FIAT C.R. 30 and C.R. 32, which were considered among the best biplanes produced in Europe at the time.
During the early 1930s the Regia Aeronautica had in service some of the best biplanes of the world, not for nothing it was considered one of the best air forces in the world, with records in both civilian and military spheres.
In the mid-30s it became clear to the Italians that the biplane configuration was more than outdated and they needed new, state-of-the-art, low-wing, all-metal monoplane aircraft, and, only one year after the biplane FIAT C.R. 32 appeared in 1935, the leaders of the Royal Air Force issued a request for a new aircraft.
On 10th February 1936, the Direzione Generale Costruzioni Aeronautiche or DGCA ( General Directorate of Aeronautical Construction) requested the development of a low-wing monoplane ground interceptor fighter with retractable landing gear. The maximum speed was to be 500 km/h (310 mph), with a range of 2 hours, and a climb rate of 6,000 meters (19,685 ft) in 5 minutes. The requested armament was to be composed of one or two 12.7 mm (.50 in) machine guns, the engine had to be the FIAT A.74 radial with an entirely metal fuselage.
The largest aeronautical companies in Italy responded to this order. Aeronautica Macchi presented the Macchi M.C. 200, FIAT Aeronautica, a subsidiary of FIAT, had the FIAT G.50, Aeronautica Umbra S.A. (AUSA) had the AUSA AUT 18, Caproni the Caproni Vizzola F.5 and Industrie Meccaniche Aeronautiche Meridionali (IMAM) had the IMAM Ro. 51.
In 1938, Officine Meccaniche Reggiane also responded to the request by presenting the Reggiane Re. 2000 which did not see great success, however it was used to develop the more powerful Re. 2001 and Re. 2002.
The FIAT G. 50 prototype. Photo taken prior to its first test flight. Source: warfly.ru
Two winning projects were chosen. The Macchi M.C. 200 was found to have excellent flying characteristics, meeting most requirements that were stipulated in the original request. The FIAT G.50 was not as highly praised, but still accepted into service. The prototypes of both aircraft first flew in 1937, and both would enter service in 1939.
The Macchi MC 200 was designed by a team of engineers led by Mario Castoldi (1888-1968), a successful designer who had already worked on the Macchi M. 39 and M.C. 72, the latter still holding the speed record for a seaplane powered by a non-standard engine.
The initials M.C. stood for Macchi-Castoldi to emphasize the prestige that the company gave to its chief engineer.
Prototypes
Hastily produced, the prototype, with serial number MM. 336 (Matricola Militare; Military Serial Number), flew for the first time on 24th December 1937 from the Lonate Pozzolo runway, piloted by test pilot Giuseppe Burei that I judge the driving of the aircraft positively. Due to Burei’s untimely death during a flight test of the seaplane Macchi M.C.94, the subsequent test flights of the first prototype were conducted by Ambrogio Colombo.
First prototype during assembly in the Varese plant. Source: Aer.Macchi C. 200
On March 1st, 1938, Colombo was asked to impress the ministerial commission composed of General Ferdinando Raffaelli, Lieutenant Colonel Torre and Major Lippi. The reason for this request was simple. Macchi was late with developing the aircraft. FIAT and IMAM had already completed test flights months before, and there was a risk that the Macchi fighter would not be taken into consideration by the Regia Aeronautica.
During the exhibition flight for the commission, Ambrogio Colombo performed 38 exercises with the prototype fully loaded and at an altitude of 3,300 meters (10,827 ft).
There were no major differences between the first and second prototypes apart from a few small details, such as a one-piece rear canopy, anti-rollover structure and shorter exhaust pipes.
The second prototype, serial number MM. 337, during its first flight test. Note the full size landing gear gear cover. Source: Aer.Macchi C. 200
On 11th June 1938, during the test flights at the Guidonia runway with the 1° Centro Sperimentale Aviazione (1st Experimental Aviation Center), the body responsible for evaluating aircraft for the Regia Aeronautica, it was found that the aircraft tended to flipping if turns were too tight, with consequent loss of control (in 1940, two pilots of the 1st Wing, Lieutenant Tinti and Sergeant Major De Bernardinis, were killed during training on 1st March and in May due to this problem).
Mario Castoldi immediately began to design new wings to solve the problem (which was common to all the monoplanes presented for the competition), a solution that would take an excessive amount of time to design and implement.
Engineer Sergio Stefanutti of the Società Aeronautica Italiana Ambrosini (another Italian aeronautical company), was commissioned by the Experimental Aviation Center to find the cause of the Macchi’s control problems, solved the problem more simply, by gluing layers of balsa wood on the center and ends of the wings. Castoldi did not waste time, and the new wings were then mounted on the successor of the ‘Saetta’, the Macchi M.C. 202.
Around 1941, some Seattas of the 1st Fighter Wing, belonging to the first production series, were withdrawn from first line service due to the problems with the defective wing profile.
Engineer Mario Castoldi with MM. 337 piloted by Giuseppe Burei. Photo taken during the first test flight of the second prototype: Source: Aer.Macchi C. 200
With this problem corrected, the Macchi M.C. 200 proved to be a reliable, manageable aircraft. Despite the radial engine, it still had enough speed to compete with the Hawker Hurricane, which it bested in combat maneuverability, but was outmatched in firepower. As the war went on, the Saetta’s maneuverability, sturdy construction, and the reliability of the radial engine were the fighter’s only remaining strengths.. Primarily thanks to the experience of the pilots did the type manage to obtain some aerial victories.
The prototype serial number MM 336 remained in the Breda factory for a period of time, and was then returned to Macchi on 23rd August 1940, where it was left in disrepair. Due to the lack of engines caused by the war, at an unknown date, the MM 336’s engine was disassembled and mounted on the Macchi M.C. 200 serial number MM 8836. The prototype, without the engine, returned to Varese in September 1942 and from there, nothing more is known about it.
The second prototype was used for camouflage tests after the conclusion of flight tests, before being overhauled and sent to Rimini.
Structure
The structure of the MC 200 was entirely metal, a big step forward for the Italian aircraft industry at the time. The only other Italian aircraft with an all-metal structure before the MC 200 was the Breda Ba. 27, of which only 14 units were produced and otherwise remained at the prototype stage, along with the competing FIAT G. 50.
Structure of the Macchi MC 200’s fuselage. Source: cmpr.it
The new fuselage turned out to be quite robust, but was heavier, and let to longer production times It was made of molded duralumin and was covered with super avional plates (a special duralumin alloy) riveted with countersunk-head rivets, reducing aerodynamic drag.
Structure of the Macchi MC 200 seen from inside. Source: cmpr.it
Like the fuselage, the wings, mounted on the lower part of the fuselage, were also a single structure consisting of two spars with ailerons and ventral flaps. The whole wing structure was made of duralumin, apart from the ailerons, which retained the doped and painted canvas.
The prototype Macchi prototypes were equipped with a constant airfoil that increased the speed by a few kilometers per hour but caused autorotation problems which risked making the aircraft impossible to maneuver with the risk that the pilot could not even parachute out. On the production models, this was replaced by a variable airfoil.
The wing structure. Source: cmpr.it
Cockpit
The Macchi M.C. 200 cockpit. Source: cmpr.it
The cockpit had a single hand-control column. On the left side was the throttle, along with the controls for take-off and the flaps controls. The instrument panel had a gyroscope, speedometer, altimeter and other basic instruments for flight and an onboard ammunition gauge that ran up to 650 rounds per weapon. In the center of the instrument panel was the compass with a San Giorgio collimator located just above, for aiming the onboard armament.
On the first series of the Macchi MC 200, the windshield was a 5 centimeter (1.96 in) thick piece of glass, and the steel pilot’s seat had a thickness of about 3 centimeters (1.18 in) to protect the pilot. Behind the seat were oxygen cylinders, and those of the fire extinguishing system. The ARC 1 radio system and its batteries were located in front of the cockpit.
From the 26th Macchi MC 200 produced onward, a new tubular roll bar was introduced behind the armored seat. This was meant to protect the pilot if the plane landed inverted. It is not clear whether this was introduced after an accident or as a precaution. However, from the 3rd Series onward, this feature was again eliminated, the cockpit was open and unpressurized, and the rear canopy, no longer made of glass, was reinforced to act as the anti-roll structure.
The semi enclosed cockpit was introduced in August 1941, starting from the 12th aircraft of the 5th production series of Macchi and starting from the 65th aircraft of the 1st production series of Breda.
Macchi M.C. 200 of the 2nd Series. The anti-roll structure behind the pilot and the retractable tail wheel are visible. This aircraft was part of the 371ª Squadriglia of the 22º Gruppo Autonomo Caccia Terrestre during the Greek Campaign. Source: Macchi MC 200 Saetta
In the late production versions, an antenna fixed to the back of the canopy was added. This reduced the reception problems of the onboard radio.
Landing Gear
The landing gear with the third type of wheel covers. Source: cmpr.it
There were several types of landing gear covers used on the Macchi MC 200. On the first prototypes, the landing gear door completely covered the strut and the wheel. During landing, the lowest part was raised to avoid hitting the ground. This version was very complex to manage, and in case of malfunction the landing gear would break. Often the planes were forced to take off on makeshift runways on lawns, in case of malfunction the cover, due to the speed, would be stuck in the ground causing the breakage of the strut or worse, that the plane would fall on one side leading to the total destruction of the fuselage and wings.
The outer landing gear cover of the prototype. The lowest part is raised in the photo. Source: Macchi MC 200 Saetta
The models of the first series adopted a different type of outer landing gear doors, with a small inner gear door at the wing attachment points.
The 1st series Macchi MC 200 with the 2nd type of running gear cover. Source: Source: pinterest.comThe standard Macchi M.C. 200 outer running gear cover with the 372ª Squadriglia. Source: pinterest.com
The rear wheel on the first 146 examples was retractable, which slightly increased top speed but slowed production. In addition, during firefights, enemy fire could damage the mechanism that lowered and raised the wheel, leading to the risk that it would not come out during landing.
The rear retractable wheel of the landing gear of the Macchi M.C. 200. Source: cmpr.it
The tires were of the FAST type, produced by Pirelli of Milan. The dimensions of the front ones were 236 x 85 x 79 inches, while the rear wheel model had the Spiga type, also made by Pirelli, which was 82 x 31 inches.
Engine
The M.C.200 engine was the radial two-row FIAT Aeronautica 74 RC 38 ‘Ciclone’ ( Cyclone). It had 14 cylinders and was air-cooled, with a displacement of 31.25 liters (1,907 in³).
It had been developed by Engineer Tranquillo Zerbi and Professor Antonio Fessia based on the American Pratt & Whitney R-1535. The 600 kg (1,322 lbs) engine delivered a take-off power of 870 hp at 2,500 rpm, 840 hp at 2,400 rpm at an altitude of 3,800 meters (12,467 ft), and a maximum power of 960 hp at 3,000 rpm, which could only be maintained for short periods.
Photo of the FIAT A.74 RC 38 ‘Ciclone’. Source: Centro Storico FIAT
This engine guaranteed a maximum speed of 503 km/h (313 m/h) at 4,500 meters (14,763 ft). Its low fuel consumption also guaranteed a range of 570 km (354 miles) with two fuel tanks, one in the wings and the other under the cockpit, and a third auxiliary tank behind the pilot’s seat. In total, there were 313 liters (82.6 US gallons) of fuel. This could be extended to 870 km (540 miles) with an external tank of 450 liters (118 US gallon), at an average speed of 465 km/h (288 m/h) at an average height of 6,000 meters (16,685 ft) . Its climb rate was 6,000 meters in 7 minutes and 33 seconds.
FIAT A.74 RC 38 schematic. Source: svppbellum.blogspot.com
This engine, despite being outdated in performance and power compared to the most contemporary modern in-line engines of the war, was appreciated by pilots and technicians for its simplicity, ease of maintenance and ease of operation. This was true even in unsuitable climates, such as the deserts of North Africa and the freezing Russian steppes. However, there were problems with the carburetors that had quality issues in addition to not being suitable for such extreme climates.
A FIAT A.74 Engine mounted on a FIAT C.R. 42 biplane during maintenance. Source: stormomagazine.com
The engine cowling featured “bubbles” that protected the rocker arms of the cylinders.
This allowed a decrease of the diameter of the cowling, increasing visibility compared to the G. 50, which was equipped with the same engine.
In June 1940, all Fiat A.74 engines, produced under license by Reggiane, were replaced due to failures that brought oil temperatures to dangerous levels after an inspection by a captain of the Aeronautical Engineers and an engineer of the company.
In the first series, the cockpit was equipped with a fully enclosed canopy, which was prone to several problems. Over time, the glass became opaque which affected visibility, and it was also difficult to open above a certain airspeed, so it was opted to go for an open cockpit with only frontal protection.
The new fighters were required to have variable pitch propellers. On the two prototypes, and on the first 25 specimens produced, the propeller was the three-blade FIAT-Hamilton 34D-1. The first 25 production planes were equipped with an aerodynamic spinner to protect the propeller hub but. From the 26th plane onwards, the Piaggio P. 1001 propeller, designed by Castoldi himself, was mounted with the spinner removed. In both cases, the propellers had a diameter of 3.05 meters.
One of the first 25 planes produced with the FIAT-Hamilton 34D-1 propeller with a cap. pinterest.com
Armament
The machine guns are visible through the open inspection doors. Source: cmpr.itThe Breda-SAFAT machine guns without flash hiders. Source: cmpr.it
The armament consisted of two 12.7 mm (.50 in) Breda-SAFAT machine guns positioned on the engine cowling and synchronized with the propeller. They weighed 29 kg (64 lbs) each and were fed with two 370-round 12.7 x 81 mm SR Breda belts. This ammunition developed from British Vickers .5 V/565 Semi-Rimmed round.
There were various types of bullets produced by the Società Italiana Ernesto Breda per Costruzioni Meccaniche and by the Società Anonima Fabbrica Armi Torino (SAFAT). In addition to the classic full metal jacket bullet, the weapon could fire ammunition produced in Italy of the following types: tracer, perforating, explosive-incendiary, and explosive-incendiary-tracer (or multi-effect).
On average, these bullets weighed 34 grams each, for a total of 25.160 kilograms (55.46 lbs) of ammunition. The machine-gun firing rate was 700 rpm, but this was decreased to 574 rpm when synchronized with the propeller.
Ammunition resupply of a Macchi MC 200 of the 160ª Squadriglia of the Regia Aeronautica. Source: kitshow.net
Although quite powerful, these machine guns proved insufficient to deal with enemy threats as the war continued. Another big problem encountered was the small number of rounds on board. Only 740 rounds guaranteed just over a minute of continuous fire.
After the 25th plane, the machine guns were equipped with a flash hider so as to not blind the pilot when firing. The ammunition reserve was also increased to 740 rounds, as it consisted of only 600 rounds in total on the first planes. The spent cartridges, after being shot, were not ejected from the plane but stored onboard, so that they could be reused.
In 1937, engineer Castoldi proposed the adoption of two 7.7 mm (.303 in) Breda-SAFAT machine guns in the wings to the Regia Aeronautica. This required a consequent strengthening of the wing structure, and subsequent loss of speed, but the proposal was ignored.
On the Macchi MC 200CB, or Cacciabombardiere (fighter-bomber), version, the aircraft was equipped with two 3 kg (1.86 lbs) underwing pylons, capable of carrying bombs weighing up to 160 kg (353 lbs) each.
The bombs were used for infantry support missions. Although the maximum load was 320 kg (705 lbs), four 15 kg bombs (33 lbs) per pylon were commonly carried .
The aircraft could also carry two bombs up to a maximum of 160 kg (353 lbs) each or two 150-liter (40 US gallons) auxiliary tanks, increasing the range. The two 150-liter tanks could also be equipped together with the 450-liter centerline tank, effectively doubling the aircraft’s maximum range.
Schematic representation of the Italian aeronautical bombs used during the Second World War. The 50, 100 and 160 kg ones were the used on the Macchi MC 200CB. Source: talpo.it
In Italy
The first M.C. 200s were ready in the spring of 1939 and were delivered to the Regia Aeronautica during the same year. As of September 1st, 1939, 29 Macchi M.C. 200s had been delivered, of which 25 were allocated to front-line units, with the others given to flight training schools. In comparison, the Regia Aeronautica had 19 FIAT G. 50s and 143 FIAT C.R. 42s.
At the time of the Kingdom of Italy’s entry into the war on the 10th of June 1940, the number of M.C.200s in the Regia Aeronautica was 156. Of these, only 103 were in the front-line units and not all were combat ready. Similarly, there was in increase in other fighters on hand with 118 FIAT G. 50s and 300 FIAT CR 42s.
A Macchi M.C. 200 of the 81ª Squadriglia, 6º Gruppo of the 1º Stormo in Sicily. This aircraft belonged to the 1st SAI Ambrosini series. It had a fixed rear landing wheel but an enclosed cockpit. Source: Aer.Macchi C. 200
These 156 aircraft were split between different units, such as the 16º Gruppo Autonomo da Caccia Terrestre (16th Autonomous Land Fighter Group) of the XVI° Gruppo (16th Group) and the 181ª Squadriglia (181st Squadron) of the 6° Gruppo Caccia (6th Fighter Group) of the 1º Stormo Caccia Terrestre (1st Ground Fighter Wing), based at an unknown airport in Sicily.
7 Saetta had gone to the 369ª Squadriglia, 6 to the 370ª Squadriglia and 6 to the 371ª Squadriglia of the 152º Gruppo commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Giovanni Melotti, based at Vergiate airport in Lombardy. Another 7 Macchi MC 200 were in service with the 372ª Squadriglia, 6 with the 373ª Squadriglia and 6 with the 374ª Squadriglia of the 153º Gruppo of Captain Alberto Benefonti at the Caselle airport. The 152º Gruppo and 153º Gruppo were under the command of the 54º Stormo of Colonel Enrico Guglielmotti, with headquarters in Airasca.
The very first Macchi aircraft were delivered to the 91ª Squadriglia of the 10º Gruppo of the 4º Stormo, which was considered an elite unit. The 4th Wing received the MC 200 shortly before entering the war, but preferred to go to battle in Libya with the old FIAT CR 42 biplanes in late June 1940.
The reason for this downgrade was that the pilots of the 4° Stormo were all veterans of the Spanish Civil War, or possessed years of experience in aerobatic performances around the world, and were far more accustomed to their FIAT C.R. 32 and C.R. 42 biplanes. While they received the latest generation monoplane fighters, they did not have enough time to properly train on them, and subsequently turned down the opportunity to fly the Macchi M.C. 200.
It should also be emphasized that the pilots of the 4th Wing were the only ones not to appreciate the Macchi initially. On October 23rd, 1939, a few weeks after delivery, General Velardi, commander of another air unit, wrote to the General Staff of the Italian Royal Army that his pilots were more than satisfied with the new plane, and that within a few weeks of training they could use the new Macchi for aerobatic performances.
A Macchi M.C. 200 of the 54° Stormo with Italian pilots finishing a pre-mission briefing. Source: pinterest.com
The first victim of the new Macchi MC 200 was a British Short S.25 Sunderland four-engined seaplane on a reconnaissance mission on 1st November 1940, near Augusta in Sicily.
In the last weeks of December 1940, the pilots of the 181st Squadron of the 6th Fighter Group of the 1st Ground Fighter Wing had the task of escorting the Junkers Ju 87 ‘Stuka’ dive bombers of the I/StG.1 and II/StG.2 of the X Fliegerkorps. The Messerschmitt Bf 109 of 7./JG 26, which were supposed to escort the Stukas on their missions to Malta, had not yet arrived in Sicily.
During this mission, the Saettas proved effective and without any particular defects in dogfighting against the Hawker Hurricane. They were able to outclass the old Gloster Gladiator biplanes without much difficulty.
A Macchi M.C. 200AS produced by SAI Ambrosini takes off from a runway in Sicily. Source: pinterest.com
In Sicily, two Saettas of the 70th Squadron of the 23rd Autonomous Fighter Group based at Boccadifalco airport were used for night missions. Lieutenant Colonel Tito Falconi, commander of the group and Captain Claudio Solaro, commander of the squadron, were, according to documents, the only ones to fly the two Macchi at night.
According to the documents, between September and December 1941, these two fighters flew dozens of missions over Palermo, also participating in several engagements against British aircraft, but without managing to shoot any down. By the end of the year, the 23rd Group was sent back to the Turin Mirafiori airport to be reorganized.
After the North African Campaign, in July 1943, Allied troops invaded Sicily. At that time, the Regia Aeronautica had 81 Macchi M.C. 200, 41 with the 2nd Wing, 3 in the 22nd Group, 13 in the 157th Group, 4 in the 161st Group and 20 aircraft in the 82nd and 392nd Squadrons.
A Macchi M.C. 200 produced by Macchi with the 73ª Squadriglia in Sicily. Source: pinterest.com
One of the last battles occurred a few days before the Armistice of Cassibile in September 1943. On 2nd September 1943, while on patrol around the naval base at the port of La Spezia, Lieutenant Petrosellini of the 92nd Squadron of the 8th Group intercepted a group of 24 American Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses that were approaching to bomb the port facilities and industrial areas of the city. Petrosellini carried out two attacks on the behemoth US bombers alone, managing to shoot down one and damage a second. He then performed an emergency landing on Sarzana airport due to damage sustained from heavy defensive fire.
As of the 8th of September 1943, 33 Macchi M.C. 200 were in the ranks of the Regia Aeronautica.
Until September 1943, the ‘Saetta’ was the most widely used Italian fighter on all fronts. The first examples of its successor, the Macchi M.C. 202, entered front-line service in late September 1941, with the first examples of Macchi M.C. 205V appearing in February 1943.
Malta
Malta, or “L’Isola Maledetta” (The Damned Island), a British stronghold in the Mediterranean, was the setting for dozens of air battles in which the Macchi M.C. 200 took part.
Just above the Island of Malta, the first loss of an M.C. 200, a casualty of the Royal Air Force, was recorded on 23rd June, 1940. Nine Macchi M.C. 200s of the 79th Squadron, eight of the 88th Squadron, and one of the 81st Squadron, all belonging to the 6th Group, escorted ten Savoia Marchetti SM.79s of the 11th Bomber Wing to the island.
Immediately, the British launched two Gloster Gladiators to intercept them. Sergeant Major Molinelli of the 71st Squadron attacked one of the two British planes that were, in turn, attacking a bomber off Sliema. The ‘Saetta’ was hit and fell into the sea. It is not clear whether Major Molinelli survived.
Franco Lucchini, an Italian ace of the 90th Squadron of the 10th Fighter Group of the 4th Wing with 26 kills, took off on 27th June 1941 from Trapani Airport in Sicily. He was on an attack mission during which he shot down a Hawker Hurricane. Afterward, he shared many other victories with his companions of the 4th Wing.
Another loss recorded occurred on the morning of 25th July 1941, when about 40 Macchi M.C. 200s of the 54th Wing and were tasked with escorting a CANT Z.1007bis of the 30th Wing for photographic reconnaissance on Valletta. The mission was meant to photograph an English naval convoy that had been attacked the day before by torpedo bombers.
Above the island, about 30 Hurricanes descended upon the formation, causing the CANT Z. 1007 bis to fall into flames. The Saetta of second Lieutenant Liberti was shot down, with the loss of the pilot, as was that of Lieutenant De Giorgi, whose fate is unknown. The Italian fighter pilots declared the downing of four Hurricanes, two by Sergeant Major Magnaghi, one by Captain Gostini and one by Sergeant Omiccioli of the 98th Squadron.
On 27th of October 1940, Carlo Poggio Suasa of the 81st Squadron, 6th Group, assigned to the 1st Terrestrial Fighter Wing stationed at Catania-Fontanarossa airport, shot down a Hawker Hurricane over Malta.
On July 11th, 1941, during an attack on the Maltese airbase of Micabba, three Italian Aces, belonging to the 10th Group of the 4th Wing were engaged by seven or eight enemy Hurricanes. They were Leonardo Ferrulli (with 21 kills between the war), Carlo Romagnoli (11 kills and 6 probable) and Franco Lucchini (22 kills). After a grueling dog fight, the three MC 200s managed to disengage and were pursued for 40 km before the British gave up the chase and, with their aircraft damaged but still able to fly, they were able to return to Sicily safely.
On June 27th, 1941, the same units of the 10th Group, 4th Wing, commanded by Ace Carlo Romagnoli, took off from Catania-Fontanarossa airport in Sicily to escort a Savoia-Marchetti S.M. 79 on a reconnaissance mission.
Arriving at Malta, they were immediately intercepted by a group of Hawker Hurricane Mark I of RAF No. 46 Squadron that forced them to abort the mission and return to Sicily.
On September 4th, Romagnoli led a reconnaissance mission over Malta with a formation of 17 M.C. 200 ‘Saetta’. Their goal was to confirm the sinking of a merchant ship that had been hit that night by a Junkers Ju.87B Picchiatello of the 101st Autonomous Dive Bombardment Group piloted by Sergeant Major Valentino Zagnoli, in the vicinity of Kalafrana.
Once in Valletta, the Macchi carried out a reconnaissance of the port at 6,000 meters and, having found nothing, returned to Sicily. At this point, 21 Hawker Hurricane Mark II fighters of No.126 and No.185 Squadrons were waiting for them (thanks to Maltese radars) at about 7,500 meters. After the furious battle that followed, Second Lieutenant Andrea Della Pasqua of the 91st Squadron was missing after being seen bailing out with a parachute. He was never found.
The 76th Squadron of the 7th Group of the 5th Terrestrial Fighter Wing took part in the Battle of Pantelleria between 12th and 15th June 1942. There, the Axis forces, with 92 aircraft of the Regia Aeronautica and 48 of the Luftwaffe, destroyed two, and damaged four merchant ships at the cost of 29 lost aircraft and 12 dead pilots.
Due to the three-engined reconnaissance aircraft flying over Malta being easy targets, some mechanics modified about ten Macchi MC 200 with an Avia RB 20/75/30 camera positioned behind the pilot’s seat. This strategy decreased the fighter’s maximum speed, but made the reconnaissance aircraft unrecognizable to the enemy, as well as being far more agile and faster than the three-engined aircraft they replaced.
Greece
For air combat during the Greek Campaign, which started on October 28th, 1940, the 54th Wing was employed. Its 372nd Squadron had 12 Macchi MC 200, based at the Brindisi-Casale Airport in southern Italy.
Between November and December, the 373rd Squadron, with 11 MC 200s, also arrived at the Bari-Palese Airport, the 374th Squadron with 12 MC 200s at the Taranto-Grottaglie Airport and the 370th, with 8 MC 200, at Foggia Airport, all in Southern Italy.
These squadrons mainly carried out escort missions for Italian FIAT B.R. 20 and Savoia-Marchetti S.M. 79 bombers used against Greek strategic targets.
Sergeant Luigi Gorrini of the 85th Squadron of the 18th Fighter Group of the 3rd Ground Fighter Wing, an Italian ace with 19 confirmed and 9 presumed kills, took training courses to learn how to fly the Macchi M.C. 200 and FIAT G. 50 held at Caselle Torinese and Torino Mirafiori airports between August 29th and December 10th, 1940. After this, he and his squadron were transferred to Araxos airport in Greece, where he flew escort flights for naval convoys and aircraft from Italy to Greece and vice versa.
On December 17th, 1940 during a patrol over the island of Cephalonia, Gorrini spotted two Bristol Blenheims, hitting one of them (which he considered probably shot down) and damaging the second.
In March 1941, the 22nd Autonomous Land Fighter Group was sent to Greece. Its 371st Squadron went to Vlora, while the rest of the group, with 36 Macchi MC 200s and an unknown number of FIAT CR42s, moved to the airport of Tirana, both cities of occupied Albania. During their first fights, they went up against the Hawker Hurricanes and Gloster Gladiators of the RAF.
Macchi M.C. 200 of the 372ª Squadriglia. These planes were produced by Breda. The 153° Gruppo coat of arms is visible. Source: asisbiz.com
Thanks to reinforcements that arrived in Albania in April, the 18th Group was sent back to Italy to train on the Macchi MC 200CB. The training lasted until mid-July, by which time the Greek Campaign was over. The Group was subsequently transferred to North Africa.
During the Greek campaign, which lasted until April 1941, Royal Italian Air Force fighters claimed to have shot down 77 Hellenic Air Force (HAF) aircraft (plus another 24 presumed), of which 52 were shot down and 25 destroyed on the ground, at a loss of 64 Italian aircraft. During engagements against the RAF, the British claimed to have destroyed 93 Italian aircraft (and another 26 probable) for just 10 aircraft lost. However, at the end of the campaign, the British losses amounted to 150 pilots (dead or prisoners) and 209 aircraft lost, 72 shot down by Italian fighters, 55 destroyed on the ground and 82 destroyed or abandoned during the evacuation.
Yugoslavia
At the outbreak of hostilities against Yugoslavia, the only air units assigned to the sector were the 4th Wing, equipped with 96 Macchi MC 200, the 7th Group in Treviso, and the 16th Group in Ravenna, which had 22 each, the 9th Group in Gorizia and the 10th Group in Altura di Pola, which had 23 each, and, finally, 6 that were in service with the 256th Squadron in Bari.
At dawn on April 6th, 1941, before the Declaration of War, four M.C.200s of the 73rd Squadron took off without an exact mission, flew over the port of Pula and then arrived at the island of Cres, attacking a tanker and setting it on fire.
Macchi M.C. 200 of the 73ª Squadriglia after a landing accident. The pilot, Sub Lieutenant Albano Carraro, came out unscathed. The plane was repaired and put back into service. Source: asso4stormo.it
There were no noteworthy actions for the rest of the brief Yugoslavian campaign. The Macchi of the 4th Wing flew against Yugoslavia for the last time on April 14th, when 20 Saetta of the 10th Group patrolled the airspace 100 km south of Karlovac, but without encountering enemy aircraft.
In March 1941, in order to counter the new British Hawker Hurricanes, the Regia Aeronautica was forced to withdraw the FIAT CR 42 of the 150th Group from Albania, replacing them with 36 Macchi MC 200s of the 22nd Group based at Tirana airport and the 371st Squadron, which moved from the Rome-Ciampino Airport to Valona.
Despite its lower top speed compared to the Hurricane, in the hands of experienced Italian pilots who were well trained in aerobatic flight, the Macchi MC 200 proved to be a tough adversary for the British pilots.
Ground operations on the Yugoslav front ended on April 17th. According to the official report of the 4th Wing, in eleven days there were no losses, 4 enemy aircraft were shot down and 45 Yugoslav aircraft were destroyed on the ground, damaging another ten.
Other victories were achieved by destroying an oil tanker, a tanker truck and an unspecified number of mechanized vehicles, as well as destroying airport facilities.
Another 5 Yugoslav aircraft, Dornier Do 17Ks, were destroyed on the ground at a Greek airport where they had taken refuge during an Italian attack.
North Africa
The North African desert was the most important theater of operations for the Italian pilots and their Macchi M.C. 200 ‘Saetta’.
At the end of the operations in Yugoslavia, the 153rd Group returned to Italy. It was based at Grottaglie airport, in southern Italy, with the task of defending the Port of Taranto against RAF attacks.
One of its squadrons, however, was ordered to go to North Africa to support Rommel’s offensive in Cyrenaica.
The first eleven M.C.200s of the 374th Squadron, under Captain Andrea Favini (later to become Wing Chief), arrived on April 19th, 1941 at Castel Benito airfield, 35 km south of Tripoli. Until the end of June 9th, the Macchi aircraft remained under Favini’s command. During the period of activity, the squadron never reached more than 7 operable Macchi at the same time.
An interesting fact is that Captain Andrea Favini was still using a pre-production Macchi MC 200 with a FIAT-Hamilton 34D-1 spinner and propellers. This is very strange, as all the pre-production aircraft and the very first production series should have been modified by that point.
Given the continuation of operations, on July 2nd, 1941, Macchi M.C. 200 of the 372nd Squadron of the famous 153º Gruppo ‘Asso di Bastoni’ (Eng: 153rd Group ‘Ace of Wands’) arrived in North Africa. Later, the 373rd Squadron from Greece, together with the 157th Group, also arrived.
The 76th Squadron of the 7° Gruppo Autonomo Caccia Terrestre, commanded by Major Marcello Fossetta, also arrived with 22 Macchi M.C. 200. However, they lost almost all of their fighters during a British air attack on the Benina base 19 km east of Benghazi, where the unit was stationed.
The data of both Italian and British units report some skirmishes between Macchi and British aircraft.
On December 8th, 1941, a Macchi MC.200 of the 153rd Group clashed with Hawker Hurricanes of the British 974th Squadron. During a fight, a Macchi engaged a Hurricane. After a succession of very tight turns, the Macchi struck the Hawker’s cockpit, which then flipped over and plummeted in a dive, killing New Zealand RAF Flight Lieutenant Owen Vincent Tracey, who had 6 kills credited to his name.
The 153rd Group, in its July-December report, claimed to have flown 359 missions for a total of 4,686 flight hours by its pilots, and 19 enemy aircraft destroyed in flight, plus 12 probable, in addition to 35 aircraft destroyed on the ground.
In December 1941, the Macchi M.C. 200 began to be accompanied by Macchi M.C. 202 of the 8th and 150th Groups based at El-Nofilia airport.
In the early months of 1942, the 8th, 13th and 150th Groups were mainly used on escort missions for FIAT CR 42s in the ground attack configuration.
On July 20th, 1942 the 18th Group of the 3rd Wing arrived in Tripoli with the 83rd, 85th and 95th squadrons, with a total of about 40 MC 200s, of which 21 in the M.C. 200CB configuration. These new arrivals, which were positioned at the Abu-Aggag airbase, 370 km from Cairo, meaning that the Macchi 200 was still the most numerous Italian fighter in North Africa, with 76 units (of which about three quarters were operational), 37 of which were in the 2nd Wing.
The Macchi M.C. 200CB of the 18th Group carried out dozens of ground attack missions. One of the most famous was stopping the British attempt to recapture Tobruk by sea in July 1942, sinking the destroyer Zulu and seriously damaging two troop carrier ships.
On April 18th 1942, between 1725 hrs and 1830 hrs, five Macchi M.C. 200CBs attacked a column of tanks of the 1st Armored Division of the British 8th Army at Sidi Bou Ali, in the governorate of Susa, in Tunisia. 22 M.C. 202s of the 54th Wing escorting the ‘Saetta’ clashed with a formation of P-40s and Spitfires that had arrived to support the armored units. Captain Sergio Maurer, Lieutenant Giuseppe Robetto and Sergeant Mauri each shot down a Spitfire, while Sergeant Rodoz brought down a P-40.
Macchi M.C. 200 of the 373ª Squadriglia of the 153º Gruppo ‘Asso di Bastoni’ (with the playing card symbol on the frame) on an airstrip in North Africa. Source: pinterest.com
Despite the Regia Aeronautica’s gradual transition to the Macchi MC 202, the ‘Saetta’ remained the most widely used fighter aircraft. It was widely used as a secondary fighter by pilots when their MC 202s were undergoing repairs.
The 364th Squadron of the 150th Fighter Group, 52nd Wing, equipped with the Macchi M.C. 200 ‘Saetta’, operating from the airports of El Agheila, Benghazi and Martuba, participated intensively in intercept operations, surveillance flights, strafing ground targets, and escorting bombers.
The Macchi MC 200s were also able to successfully deal with Allied four-engined aircraft, despite their armament. On 14th August, Lieutenant Vallauri of the 2nd Wing intercepted four Consolidated B-24 Liberators during a reconnaissance mission in the skies above Tobruk. Instead of waiting for support from other fighters, he attacked them alone, managing to shoot down one of them.
A few days later, on 23rd August 1942, three M.C.200s intercepted and attacked a group of B-24 Liberators en route to Tobruk. Sergeant Zanarini and Second Lieutenant Zuccarini shot down one Liberator while the third pilot damaged another. The entirety of the 2nd Wing was 198 aircraft in August 1942 (including Macchi M.C. 200 and M.C. 202,) which flew an unspecified number of missions that lasted a total of 394 hours of missions over Tobruk and 1,482 hours escorting 77 Axis convoys from Southern Italy to the North African coast.
The Allied air superiority was becoming more and more overwhelming. Unfortunately, precise data for the actions of the following months is not available. In October, ten Macchi 200 were lost by the 2nd Wing.
Macchi M.C. 200 of the 372ª Squadriglia while refueling before take-off. The pilots discuss the mission. Source: pinterest.com
At the beginning of November 1942, there were only 15 ‘Saetta’ on the front line in the 2nd and 3rd Wings (there is no data on the losses of the 54th Wing during the period). This was a very limited number. In July, there had been 76, meaning an average loss rate of about 12 aircraft per month.
The M.C. 200s were now outclassed in speed and armament by the latest versions of the Hawker Hurricane, Curtiss P-40s, and the more powerful Supermarine Spitfires. Despite this, the Macchi still managed to score a few victories.
In November, Lieutenant Savoia and Sergeant Major Baldi shot down two Bristol Beaufighters, while Sergeant Turchetti managed to shoot down two aircraft.
During the same month, some replacements arrived but they were not enough. On the 1st of December, the 2nd Wing had only 42 ‘Saetta’, of which 19 were in flying condition, while the others were under repair.
A Macchi abandoned on the side of a runway after a botched landing. Source: pinterest.com
After the Battle of El Alamein, the Macchi were used to cover the retreat of the Italian-German troops. However, the lack of spare parts, fuel and the overwhelming technological and numerical Allied superiority meant that many aircraft were lost.
In October 1942, the 18th Group received the Macchi MC 202 of the 4th Wing, which, after months of actions, had been repatriated for reorganization.
On 11 January 1943, units of the 3rd Wing were used in the attack against some British airbases in the Wadi Tamet area.
The Macchi MC 202 escorted the Macchi MC 200CB fighter-bombers in bombing operations. Luigi Gorrini managed to shoot down the Spitfire Mark V of Flying Officer Neville Duke of the 92nd Squadron, as reported by the British pilot himself in one of his books.
In January 1943, all non-operational units were repatriated, with very few Macchi MC 200s remaining in North Africa as part of the 384th Squadron in Tunis and the 13th and 18th Groups in El Hamma.
The last group to be equipped with MC 200s was the 18th Group of Major Mario Becich, which fought with the ‘Saetta’ until the end of the campaign. The last major air battle of the Macchi MC 200 in North Africa was on 29th March 1943. Then, in the Gabès sector, 15 M.C.200s of various units intercepted an unknown number of P-40s and Spitfires, shooting down 4 enemy aircraft at the cost of one damaged aircraft forced to land on the way back.
The remains of three Macchi M.C. 200 and a FIAT C.R. 42 abandoned at the Castel Benito airport in late 1942. Source: pinterest.com
Soviet Union
A contingent of Macchi M.C. 200s was sent to the front in the Soviet Union, despite the fact that they had an open cockpit.
The Comando Aviazione del Corpo di spedizione italiano in Russia (Aviation Command of the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia) was officially constituted on July 29th, 1941 at the Tudora airport. Major Giovanni Borzoni Group landed at this airport on 12th August with the 359th Squadron of Captain Vittorio Minguzzi, which had 11 other pilots, including Captain Carlo Miani and Lieutenant Giovanni Bonet. The 362nd Squadron of Captain Germano La Ferla also arrived with 11 other pilots. The 369th Squadron, commanded by Captain Giorgio Jannicelli, which had 13 pilots, and, finally, the 371st Squadron of Captain Enrico Meille, which had 11 pilots, completed the setup, all belonging to the 22nd Autonomous Land Fighter Group.
On August 16th, the 61st Aerial Observation Group arrived with 32 Caproni Ca.311 (34th, 119th, and 128th Squadrons) and a Savoia-Marchetti S.M.82 for support.
Macchi M.C. 200 ‘Saetta’ of the 22º Gruppo Autonomo Caccia Terrestre, 359ª Squadriglia in Krivoi Rog, Soviet Union, 1941. Note the tarpaulins covering the cockpits to prevent rain or dirt intrusion. Source: asisbiz.com
The 22nd Autonomous Land Fighter Group had a total of 51 MC 200s, two Savoia Marchetti S.M. 81 and three Caproni Ca. 133s. It was sent to the Eastern front from the Tirana Airport ( where they were located after March 1941). For its first missions, starting from August 27th, 1941, it was stationed at the Krivoi Rog airport.
On the same day, some aircraft of the 22nd Autonomous Group and some others of the 6th Group assigned to the 1st Ground Fighter Wing arrived in the Soviet Union. In total, eight Soviet aircraft, two Poliakov I-16s and six Tupolev SB-2s. were shot down.
Carlo Poggio Suasa, of the 81st Squadron of the 6th Group, shot down two Poliakov I-16s in a single day.
Due to the lightning advance of Axis troops in the Soviet Union, at the end of August, the unit had to move to the Kryvyi Rih airport and to Zaporižžja by the end of September. On 9th November, the 371st Squadron moved to the Donetsk sector, breaking away from the rest of the group.
Between August and the beginning of December, the 22nd Autonomous Fighter Group shot down another 8 Soviet fighters and bombers, apparently without suffering any losses. 4 more Soviets were downed in December.
Macchi M.C.200 of the 53° Stormo, 22° Gruppo Autonomo Caccia Terrestri, 362ª Squadriglia near a Bf 109 in Novo Orlovka, Soviet Union, 1941. Source: pinterest.com
During the Soviet Christmas ground offensive against Italian troops at Novo Orlovka, Italian pilots attacked Soviet troops in the Burlova sector. During these actions, they also shot down five Soviet fighters without any losses.
During one of these missions on December 28th, the ‘Saetta’ of the 359th Squadron shot down nine Soviet aircraft in the Timofeyevka and Polskaya areas, including six Polikarpov I-16 fighters and three bombers, without suffering losses.
On December 29th, 1941 the 369th Squadron lost its commander, Captain Giorgio Jannicelli. During a solo reconnaissance mission, he was intercepted by more than ten I-16 and Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 fighters and, after a grueling air battle, he was shot down. For his bravery, he was awarded the posthumous Gold Medal.
The Italian Macchis in the Soviet Union were unable to carry out any missions throughout January, and the first few days of February 1942 due to bad weather. On February 4th and 5th, the Regia Aeronautica launched an operation to destroy Soviet air bases. The first was at Kranyi Liman, where the MC 200 destroyed 21 Soviet aircraft on the ground and another 5 fighters were shot down during dogfights over the airport.
Between March and April, the airports of Luskotova and Leninsklij Bomdardir were also attacked.
By the end of March 1942, the 22nd Gruppo Autonomo Caccia Terrestre had scored a further 21 aerial victories against the Soviet Air Force.
On May 4th, 1942, the 22nd Autonomous Land Fighter Group, which still had a few operational aircraft, was replaced by the 21st Autonomous Land Fighter Group, consisting of the 356th, 382nd, 361st and 386th Squadrons. The 21st Group, commanded by Major Ettore Foschini, brought with it 12 new Macchi M.C. 202 fighters and 18 new Macchi M.C. 200s, probably the fighter-bomber version.
During the second battle of Kharkov, fought between May 12th to 30th 1942, Italian pilots carried out escort missions for German scouts and bombers. They earned the admiration of the commander of the German 17th Army, in particular for their daring and effective attacks in the Slavyansk area on Soviet fighters trying to shoot down German bombers.
In the summer of 1942, following the German advance, the 21st Group moved first to the Makeyevka airfield, and, later, to those of Tazinskaya, Voroshilovgrad and Oblivskaya.
The group shoots down 5 enemy aircraft in May, 5 in June and 11 in July.
Macchi M.C. 200 ‘Saetta’ of the 369ª Squadriglia, Soviet Union, 1942. Source: ww2aircraft.net
Increasingly, Italian pilots were asked to escort German planes, but the Macchi aircraft wore out very quickly because of the lack of spare parts. On July 25th and 26th, five M.C.200s were shot down during aerial combat with the Soviets.
In the summer, 17 Macchi 202 ‘Folgore’ arrived from Italy to reinforce the line-up of ‘Saette’, by then worn out by incessant use. At the beginning of December, the Macchi MC 200s still on the line numbered 32 plus 11 Macchi MC 202s. The losses suffered became more and more consistent due to the technological advancement of the Soviet aircraft.
On 6th August 1942, some MC 200CBs carried out a bombing mission east of the Don, hitting Soviet artillery and infantry with their 50 kg bombs.
In December, only 32 Macchi M.C. 200s and 11 Macchi M.C. 202s were available. The Soviet Air Force, which was starting to become better combat trained, as well as the increasing prevalence of anti-aircraft fire also caused additional losses. In fact, over half of the missions that the Macchi were requested to carry out were ground attacks against Soviet tanks and infantry.
The last Italian action that employed a large number of aircraft was on 17th January 1943, when 25 Macchi MC 200 and MC 202 machine-gunned troops on the ground in the Millerovo sector.
Macchi M.C. 200 ‘Saetta’ of the 21 Gruppo. Pilot Elis Bartoli shows the damage that resulted from Soviet anti-aircraft fire. Source: asisbiz.com
On January 18th, 1943, commander Ettore Foschini received the order to withdraw, first to the airport of Stalino in Donetsk, and from there to Zaporižžja. On February 20th, 1943, the Group was at Odessa airbase, waiting to return to Italy. On 15th April, the Group left Odessa and, after four stops, arrived at the Florentine airport of Peretola at the end of the month.
Thirty Macchi M.C. 200s and nine M.C. 202s returned to Italy, while 15 damaged aircraft were dismantled and used for spare parts, abandoning them at airfields during the retreat.
A total of 66 Italian fighter planes had been lost on the Eastern Front for various reasons, but they managed to shoot down 88 enemy aircraft during 17 months of operation in the theater of war.
In a postwar document written in Italy, it is stated that, in 17 months, the fighters of the Regia Aeronautica on the Eastern Front carried out 3,759 actions against the Soviets, 511 in support of the infantry by dropping bombs, 1,310 machine-gun attacks on ground targets, 1,938 escorts to bombers or scouts. 88 enemy planes were destroyed at the expense of the loss of 15 Macchi M.C. 200 lost in combat. The best Italian unit in the Soviet Union was Captain Germano La Ferla’s 362nd Squadron, which destroyed 13 Soviet aircraft on the ground and shot down 30 fighters and bombers in air engagements.
Luftwaffe
After the armistice of September 8th, 1943, the German Army managed to recover a small number of Macchi M.C. 200s from Italian airports and put them in service with the Luftwaffe, mostly as training aircraft.
As far as known, these never took part in actions against Allied targets.
A destroyed Macchi M.C. 200 which was in service with the Luftwaffe. Source: british-eevee.tumblr.com
Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana
After the Armistice of 1943, of the 33 Macchi MC 200s operational at the time, 10 remained in the German-occupied territories. Not much is known about these 10 units, but it can be assumed that almost all of them were confiscated by the Luftwaffe.
Several Macchi M.C. 200s remained in service with the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana (Eng: National Republican Air Force) for training purposes. Some of these vehicles had probably been recovered from depots or hangars and returned to service after an overhaul period.
Aeronautica Cobelligerante Italiana
Macchi M.C. 200AS with sand filters and Aeronautica Cobelligerante Italiana coats of arms and the Savoia cross on the vertical stabilizer. The registration number looks like MM 4337. Source: pinterest.com
As many as 23 Macchi MC 200s managed to reach the south of Italy after the Armistice of September 8th, 1943. Almost all of these belonged to the 8th Group, which had escorted the Regia Marina fleet (Eng: Italian Royal Navy) from La Spezia to Malta. In the summer of 1944, the 23 Macchi were assigned to the Fighter School of Leverano, where they were used for training until they could no longer be maintained.
Two Macchi M.C. 200 of the Aeronautica Cobelligerante Italiana in South Italy. The one in the foreground was equipped with wing pylons and a sand filter. The registration number was removed. Source: pinterest.com
Aeronautica Militare
Unfortunately, not much is known about the Macchi M.C. 200 in service with the Aeronautica Militare (Italian Air Force) after the war. A number of these, probably the surviving aircraft from the 23 Saettas used by the Aeronautica Cobelligerante Italiana, were kept in service using spare parts found all over the Italian peninsula, some with new parts that were produced after the war. They were used until 1947.
Being obsolete by the war’s end, the Macchi MC 200s were used in the 2ª Squadriglia of the Scuola Caccia (Fighter School) of Lecce for the training of a new generation of Italian fighter pilots.
Others
The MM337 prototype was presented at the Yugoslavian Belgrade Air Show in June 1938 and immediately attracted worldwide interest.
The MM. 337 exhibited at the Belgrade Air Show in June 1938. Source: Aer.Macchi C. 200
Spain, Finland, Sweden and Romania asked to evaluate the aircraft but, due to political problems and the Italian government’s ban on exports, these negotiations did not move forward.
Only the request of the Royal Danish Navy for 12 Macchi M.C. 200 to replace their old Hawker Nimrods was accepted. However, when Germany invaded Denmark in 1940, the delivery was canceled and the aircraft remained in Italy.
Switzerland also requested 36 examples. Italy responded by offering the first batch of 24 and the second one of 12. All examples would have been without radios and would have cost 58,000 USD (equivalent to about 1.1 million USD today) each without ammunition. Due to the imminent entry into the war, the General Staff of the Royal Army blocked the negotiations before Switzerland allocated the funds.
The USAAF 86th Fighter Squadron of the 79th Fighter Group of the 9th Air Force Division came into possession of a Macchi MC 200 at Grottaglie. This one had belonged to the 357th Squadron, from where it was later transferred to Gerbini in Sicily. It was piloted by Captain Jack H. Kauffman, who used it to train his fellow soldiers to fight against Italian aircraft.
The Macchi M.C. 200 of the 357ª Squadriglia used by USAAF pilots. Source: pinterest.com
British Evaluation on the Macchi M.C. 200
Former Squadron Leader D. H. Clarke wrote in 1955 in one of his books that, in Sorman, North Africa, he came into possession of a Macchi M.C. 200, serial no. MM 5285. After three days of overhaul, the British officer boarded the Macchi and took it to their base at El Assa.
Clarke stated that the Macchi had excellent visibility, a spacious cockpit with an open cabin (which he regarded very positively), was rustic but simple and had comfortable controls. The engine was quiet and easy to maintain and the vehicle was very maneuverable.
During simulated combat against a Hawker Hurricane II, a Curtiss P-40 and a Spitfire V, it could outturn all three. The downsides that Clarke pointed out were the poor armament (although he considered the ammunition reserve adequate) and the flipping problem.
The RAF captured more aircraft during the war. Another one was captured in North Africa and was shipped to the USA, while other aircraft were captured intact in Sicily and used for training British pilots, to familiarize them with enemy aircraft.
A Macchi MC 200AS captured by British troops with RAF coats of arms at an airport in Sicily. The identification number was MM. 5815. Behind it is a Savoia Marchetti SM 79. Source: pinterest.com
Camouflages and Coat of Arms
Being one of the most long-lived and most produced aircraft of the Regia Aeronautica during the Second World War, it is easy to understand that the Macchi M.C. 200 had many camouflage schemes during its operational life on the various fronts on which it operated.
The prototypes, at the time of their test flights and their presentation to the Army Staff in Guidonia, had no camouflage or paint applied, with the natural aluminum being exposed. On the rudder, there was the Italian Tricolour with the Savoia symbol in the middle. This was the flag of the Kingdom of Italy until 1947. On the side of the cockpit, there was the Fascio Littorio painted inside a round frame with a blue background.
The Fascio Littorio was the symbol of the Partito Fascista Italiano (Eng: Italian Fascist Party) which, after Benito Mussolini’s rise to power, became the symbol of the dictatorship, like the swastika for Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party.
On both sides of the wings, there were also the “Fasci Littori Alari” (Eng: Wing Fasci Littori), circular rosettes 96 cm in diameter with a black outline and white background inside which were painted 3 stylized Fasci Littori. As the war progressed, the Fasci Littori Alari were slightly modified. The ones on the underside were painted white, with a black background.
Various italian coat of arms, 1 is the Fasci Littori Alari, 2 the Fascio Littorio painted on the fuselage, 3 the Croce di Savoia and 4 the Cockade of the Aeronautica Cobelligerante Italiana. Source: wikipedia.it and author collage
The first examples produced by Macchi and then used in Italy and those used in the Soviet Union were painted in dark green (Verde Mimetico 2; Eng: Green Camouflage 2) with dark brown spots (Bruno Mimetico; Eng: Brown Camouflage) with yellow outlines (Giallo Mimetico 4; Eng: Yellow Camouflage 4).
Some variations existed.. For example, the brown spots could be covered by small yellow mottling or, as in the case of the 79th Squadron of the 6th Group of the 1st Wing, the dark green background was covered with yellow spots and brown spots.
Starting from June 1940, the planes of the Regia Aeronautica received a new feature. In order to avoid incidents of friendly fire, the Italian Tricolor, which could be confused with the tricolor of French planes, was replaced by the Croce di Savoia (the Italian Savoia royal family symbol), a white cross by ministerial order.
However, the dispatch did not specify the exact dimensions of the cross and the units painted different types before a standard model of the Croce di Savoia was chosen.
Also, the Macchi, Breda and, later, SIA Ambrosini production plants painted the crosses differently. Macchi painted a cross with longer vertical arms, while Breda painted a Greek cross (all arms of equal length) and SIA Ambrosini painted the cross on the whole height of the rudder.
The white band on the fuselage was introduced at the beginning of 1941 with the same purpose.
The Croce di Savoia of different origins, the 1st is from Macchi, the 2nd from Breda, the 3rd is from SAI Ambrosini and finally, the 4th is an example made by a unit. Source: Macchi MC 200 Saetta and author collage
Between the spring and summer of 1941, a rule issued by the Ministry of War ordered that all Regia Aeronautica fighters be painted with a yellow nose to avoid incidents of friendly fire.
The order lasted only a few months, but many pictures show Italian aircraft with a characteristic yellow nose.
Also, in this case, the dispatch was misunderstood and some units (especially in the Soviet Union) painted the fuselage line and the wingtips in yellow.
The two planes of the 70th Squadron of the 23rd Autonomous Group were repainted by the unit completely in pitch black. They also covered all the markings.
SIA Ambrosini painted its M.C. 200 in dark green (Verde Oliva 2; Eng: Olive Green 2) and only in rare cases did the units repaint them. In North Africa, there were many camouflages, all on a khaki base (Nocciola Chiaro 4; Eng: Light Hazelnut 4 or Giallo Mimetico 4; Eng: Yellow Camouflage 4) with dark green spots (Verde Mimetico 2; Eng: Camouflage Green 2).
Three examples of camouflage used in North Africa. The first is a Macchi M.C. 200AS produced by SAI Ambrosini. It belonged to the Brigadier General, aircraft number 9 of the 373ª Squadriglia of the 153° Gruppo Autonomo. The second was a Macchi M.C. 200AS produced by Macchi. The third Macchi M.C. 200AS was the 2nd aircraft of the 363ª Squadriglia of the 150° Gruppo of the 53° Stormo Caccia Terrestre produced by Breda. Source: pinterest.com with author’s collage
After the fall of Fascism in Italy, on July 25th, 1943, pilots were ordered to obscure the Fascio Littorio, which were covered with the paint the units had available.
After the Armistice of 8th September, a number of Macchi MC 200s remained in the hands of Italian pilots who fought for the Aeronautica Cobelligerante Italiana. They were ordered to cover the tricolor coat of arms on the wings and on the fuselage, and to obscure all previous insignia, such as the white band on the fuselage, the coat of arms of the unit and the Croce di Savoia (although some were retained). The Aeronautica Cobelligerante Italiana used Macchi MC 200 with both dark green monochrome camouflage and that used in North Africa, khaki with dark green irregular spots.
After the war, the few surviving examples were used in aluminum color with tricolor cockades on the fuselage and wings.
The specimens captured by the British and the Americans had Allied coat of arms to cover the Italian ones. For example, the US specimen retained squadron identification numbers, but all other symbols were obscured or covered with US symbols.
The upper right wing and lower left wing beams were covered with paint while the upper left and lower right wing were covered with the United States Army Air Forces insignia.
The fuselage fascia was repainted yellow and received another USAAF insignia and the tail received a British tricolor.
Production
A Macchi M.C. 200, serial number MM. 5192, at the Bresso plant of the Società Italiana Ernesto Breda per Costruzioni Meccaniche. Source: pinterest.com
In total, 1,153 examples of Macchi M.C. 200 ‘Saetta’ were produced between May 1939 and October 1942 ,including the two prototypes and 12 different production series.
It is difficult to classify the production of MC 200 fighters based on “series” because the plane was produced by 3 different companies. Different “series” have to be defined per company.
With the slow rate of production, some updates were initiated by one company in one production series, and by another company in another production series. Some series had substantial differences, others only small changes to speed up production or to try to keep the aircraft up to date with the most modern Allied fighters.
The companies that produced them were Aeronautica Macchi, which produced 395 planes plus the two prototypes starting from May 1939 in the Varese plant, the Società Italiana Ernesto Breda per Costruzioni Meccaniche, which produced 556 planes, and the Società Aeronautica Italiana Ambrosini, which produced a total of 200 planes.
In late 1939, it was proposed thay FIAT should produce the Macchi M.C. 200 in their factories in Turin. Needless to say, FIAT refused, criticizing the Macchi as too complex to produce.
Production line of Macchi M.C. 200 at the Bresso Plant of Breda. Source: Aer.Macchi C. 200
In 1939, 62 Macchi 200 were produced, 10 between May and July, 26 between August and October and another 26 between November and December. An interesting fact is that these aircraft were ‘produced’ but not ‘tested’ or ‘delivered’ to the Regia Aeronautica.
In fact, as in many other cases with the Italian war industry of that period, small components were missing that forced the aircraft to be kept in depots for weeks. There were also problems with a lack of test pilots or, even worse, a lack of air force pilots to deliver the new aircraft.
Finished Macchi M.C. 200 at the Bresso Plant of Breda, ready for the delivery to the units. Source: Aer.Macchi C. 200
Variants
Macchi M.C. 200 prototype – With fully retractable landing gear and closed cabin, 2 planes were produced by Macchi. Their first flight was on 24th December 1937.
Macchi M.C. 200 Pre-series – Serial numbers MM. 4495 to MM. 4520. Like the prototypes, it had retractable landing gear and a closed cabin, solved the overturning problems, and had a FIAT-Hamilton 34D-1 propeller with a hub cap.
Macchi M.C. 200 – Serial numbers MM. 4520 to MM. 4641. After the 146th model, the rear wheel of the landing gear was fixed.
Macchi M.C. 200 – Serial numbers from MM. 4641 to MM. 4736. After the 241st model, the cabin was left open.
Macchi M.C. 200 A2 – Equipped with wings and retractable landing gear taken from the successor, Macchi M.C. 202. The wings, redesigned by Mario Castoldi, no longer needed to be ballasted and solved the problem of overturning.
Standardized in 1942 to speed up production at Breda and SIAI, which were producing the Macchi M.C. 202 simultaneously. It also simplified the logistic line of front-line units.
Macchi M.C. 200 B2 – This version received only the wing attachment of the M.C. 202, the rest of the wing was of the Macchi MC 200. Like the A2 version, it was produced to speed up production and simplify the logistic line.
Macchi M.C. 200 AS – AS stands for Africa Settentrionale (Eng: North Africa). It was equipped with a sand filter for the carburetor.
Macchi M.C. 200CB – CacciaBombardiere or CB (Eng: Fighter-Bomber). With two wing pilons for bombs up to 160 kg or 150-liter auxiliary tanks.
Proposal
Better armed Macchi M.C. 200 – Proposal by engineer Castoldi to equip the M.C. 200 with two 7.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns in the wings.
The idea was not approved by the Regia Aeronautica.
Macchi M.C. 200 Bis
Designation of a prototype produced by Breda (MM. 8191) with a 14-cylinder Piaggio P. XIX engine delivering a maximum power of 1,175 hp. It was derived from the Gnome-Rhône 14K Mistral Major and used on the Reggiane Re. 2002. It was tested during April-May 1942 by test pilot Acerbi. Castoldi was very annoyed because he did not approve the project.
The Macchi M.C. 200 Bis. Source: pinterest.com
Macchi M.C. 201
Two prototypes were built, with serial numbers MM 437 and MM 438. Given the availability of other, more powerful engines, Castoldi and Macchi spent very few resources on this project.
It was planned to equip the aircraft with the 1,000 hp FIAT A.76 RC.40 14-cylinder radial engine and some aerodynamic improvements, such as a more streamlined fuselage and a pressurized cabin.
Since the engine was not yet available, the prototypes were equipped with the 840 hp FIAT A.74 RC.38. The first prototype was flown for the first time on August 25th, 1941, by test pilot Guido Carestiato. It reached a speed of 512 km/h, while the second prototype was flown in September of the same year.
The two homologated vehicles, MM 8616 and MM 8617, were flown to Guidonia by Marshal Gori and Sergeant Staube on June 28th, 1942. The aircraft was not pursued because the expected engine was not available until 1943, by which time Italy had already started producing German inline engines under license for more than a year.
The Macchi M.C. 201. Source: wikipedia.com
Surviving Macchi M.C. 200
Given the large production numbers, there are still three MC 200s exhibited in museums.
A destroyed fuselage and radial engine are exhibited at the Museo dell’Aeronautica Gianni Caproni in Trento, North-East Italy. Serial number unknown.
An example is exhibited at the Museo Storico dell’Aeronautica Militare in Vigna di Valle near Rome. Original serial number MM.8307, serial number exhibited MM.7707.
The last surviving example is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Riverside, Ohio. This aircraft belonged to the 372ª Squadriglia of the Regia Aeronautica. In order to replace losses, the plane was transferred in November 1942 to the 165ª Squadriglia in North Africa.
Due to the Battle of El Alamein and the hasty retreat from the Benghazi airport, the plane was abandoned with the coat of arms of the 372nd Squadron and did not receive the 165th Squadron coat of arms. It was captured by British troops and was subsequently shipped to the United States, where it was displayed around the country to sell war bonds.
It was later sold to the New England Air Museum, where it remained on display until 1989, when it was purchased by a private owner who had it restored in Italy by a team from Aermacchi (the new name of the company) and then sold to the US museum. Fortunately, the aircraft is displayed with the original coat of arms of the 372nd Squadron of the Regia Aeronautica and MM. 8146 serial number.
Conclusion
The Macchi M.C. 200 was one of the most produced fighters in Italy during the Second World War. It proved to be a reliable fighter, easy to produce and fly, with adequate power and speed and served on all fronts where the Regia Aeronautica was employed.
As the war progressed, it became increasingly obsolete against newer, more powerful types, but still saw service until the end of the war and even after.
Climb speed: Climb to 6,000 m in 7 minutes and 33 seconds
Crew: One pilot
Armament: 2 Breda-SAFAT 12,7 mm with 370 rounds each
Gallery
Illustrations by Carpaticus
Macchi M.C. 200 Serial Number M.M. 336, December 24, 1937Macci M.C. 200 1st Series 91st Squadron, 10th Squadron. Gorizia 1939Macchi M.C. 200 1st Series of the 88th Squadron, 6th Group. Catania, winter 1940Macchi M.C. 200 23th Series of the 362th Squadron, 22th Autonomus group. August 1941, Krigoriov, Soviet UnionMacchi M.C. 200AS of the 373th Squadron, 153th Autonomus Group, North Africa, Summer 1941Macchi M.C. 200 of the first series produced by Breda in Milan before its delivery to unitsMacchi MC 200AS captured by British troops in Sicily, September 1943Macchi M.C. 200AS of the 93th Squadron, 8th Autonomus Group piloted by Marshal Bruno Batazzi of the Aeronautica Cobelligerante Italiana in Gerbini, October 1, 1943Macchi M.C. 200 of the Italian Air Force of the 2nd Fighter Squadron of the Fighter School in Lecce, 1946
Credits
Written by Arturo Giusti
Edited by Ed J. & Stan L.
Illustrations by Carpaticus
Aermacchi C.200 – La Bancarella Aeronautica Torino, Gianni Cattaneo
Macchi MC 200 Saetta – Maurizio Di Terlizzi
Macchi MC. 200/FIAT CR. 32 – Italo De Marchi and Pietro Tonizzo
Macchi MC 200 Saetta, pt. 1 (Aviolibri Special 5) – Maurizio Di Terlizzi
Macchi MC 200 Saetta, pt. 2 (Aviolibri Special 9) – Maurizio Di Terlizzi
Aermacchi, Bagliori di guerra (Macchi MC.200 – MC.202 – MC.205/V) – Nicola Malizia
The Macchi-Castoldi Series, Famous Fighters of the Second World War-2 – William Green
I brutti Anatroccoli della Regia – Daniele Lembo
The Macchi MC.200 (Aircraft in Profile number 64) – Gianni Cattaneo
Yugoslavia (1933-1947)
Training aircraft – 81 Built
Front view of the FP-2. [vazduhoplovnetradicijesrbije.rs]The FP-2 was designed as an advanced two seater biplane trainer for the Yugoslav Royal Air Force in late 30s. It would be used to equip pilot training schools for some years before WW2. During World War II, it would be used by the Axis powers, which managed to capture a number of them, for limited ground attack operations. The FP-2 would survive the war in smaller numbers and remain in use up to 1947.
History
As the Yugoslav Royal Air Force began to develop and acquire more modern types of aircraft, the need for advanced training aircraft became apparent. Due to the obsolescence of older trainers, the Yugoslav Royal Air Force Command issued orders to begin developing a new series of advanced trainers in 1933. One of the designs submitted was the Fizir FP-1 biplane made by Zmaj. Despite its disappointing overall performance, a new design was desperately needed. At the same time, a design team composed of Rudolf Fizir and Dušan Stankov began working on a new model named FP-2. In a later address to Zmaj management in May of 1940, Dušan Stankov wrote that he was responsible for the design of the FP-2, with little to no input from Rudolf Fizir. While the Royal Air Force command was more in favor of a monoplane design, the FP-2 nevertheless received a green light.
Name
The capital letters in the name FP-2 are an abbreviation for “Fizir Prelazni 2” (Физир Прелазни ФП-2). Depending on the source, it is also sometimes identified as F.P.2. During its operational service in the Yugoslav Royal Air Force, it was also known as F.P.2-K7 after its engine name, or Fizir-Stankov F.P.2 after its designers. This article will use the FP-2 designation, as it is best known today.
What is interesting is that the FP-2 name may suggest that it was an improved version of the earlier FP-1. In reality, these two projects had nothing in common. This name was done mainly for administrative reasons, in order to obtain the funds allocated for FP-1.
Work on the Prototype
Work on the first prototype began in early 1933. At this time, the Yugoslav Royal Air Force officials were negotiating with the French for licenced production of several Gnome-Rhone engine designs, including the K-7, K-9 and K-14. For this reason, it was decided to test the performance of these engines by installing them into several prototype aircraft. This decision included the FP-2 ,which was to be powered by a French Gnome-Rhone K-7, making 420 hp.
The first prototype was officially completed by the end of 1933. It was flight tested by Zmaj test pilot Pavle Bauer. The pilot performed a series of test flights without any problems. As the first flights were successful, the FP-2 was given to the Yugoslav Royal Air Force for further testing in early 1934. For the testing of the FP-2, a commission of seven members was tasked with determining its exact flight performance. The test flight series began on the 19th of February, and after only four days a preliminary report was submitted to the Yugoslav Royal Air Force Command. The report gave mostly positive remarks on the FP-2 performance, with a few changes requested, such as increasing of the fuel load, a better position for the instruments inside the cockpit, modifications of the seats etc. The K-7 engine performance was deemed sufficient, and it was also noted that the testing of the FP-2 with any other engines at the moment was not required. This commission also urged for the FP-2 to be put into production as soon as possible.
The FP-2 design team expected that a production order was to be given shortly by the Yugoslav Royal Air Force Command. But this was not the case for several reasons. The main problem was the inability of the Rakovica factory to locally produce the K-7 engine by 1936. Due to high prices, the Yugoslav Royal Air Force could not buy these engines directly from France. Another issue was the adoption of the new Rogožarski ‘PVT’ high-wing training aircraft which used the same engine and offered better performance than the FP-2.
In order to solve this problem, the Zmaj engineers decided to replace the K-7 with the nine-cylinder Valter Pollux II (320 hp) engine. The ensuing flight tests carried out showed that the new engine only worsened the flight performance of the FP-2, due to lower power output. Thus, Zmaj was forced to replace it with the original K-7.
From the end of October to the first half of November 1934, more tests were carried out on the FP-2 with the K-7 by a second commission. This new commission had six members and was tasked with FP-2’s overall performance more thoroughly. These tests also included the testing of a few different types of propellers. The results showed that the metal type propellers gave better performance. In addition, the operational radius was evaluated and the results showed that, at the speed of 100 mph (161 km/h), the FP-2 could stay operational for three hours. Several pilots flight tested the FP-2 and, in general, positive remarks were given about its performance. The changes in the cockpit instrument arrangement was also rated as an improvement. After the tests were completed, this commission gave positive reviews for the FP-2 and suggested that it should be adopted for production as a basic trainer, but not as a fighter trainer due to the lack of performance for this role.
Technical Characteristics
The FP-2 was designed as a single-engine, two-seater basic trainer biplane. The FP-2 was made using wood as its main construction material and then covered with canvas. Its wooden elements were connected using metal pleats and rivets. The fuselage consisted of 16 oval shaped frames that were all connected with four long wooden spars. The wing’s construction was made of wood and then covered with fabric. Rear tail unit was made using a combination of metal and wood, which was then covered in fabric. The landing gear was a fixed design with two wheels equipped with shock absorbers. There was no rear tail wheel and instead used a small skid which also was provided with a shock absorber. In winter, the front wheels could be replaced with skis.
It was powered by the French K-7 Gnome-Rhone 313 kW (420 hp) engine. The engine itself was placed on a ring shaped housing made of metal and duralumin construction. The maximum speed achieved with this engine was 148 mph (238 km/h). Being designed as a trainer aircraft, its crew consisted of a pilot/instructor and the student.
In Service Before War
For its service in the Yugoslav Royal Air Force, the first prototype was purchased for 577,000 Dinars in 1934. Next year, the contract for the construction of the first batch of 20 aircraft was signed. These were to be produced and given to basic training schools by 1936. All 20 aircraft were completed on time and were given to the First and Second basic training Schools. A few were temporarily given to the Fighter plane school until the more advanced PVT could be built. Once the PVT was adopted for service, the fighter school FP-2s were given to the basic training schools.
The FP-2 was mainly used to replace older training aircraft models that were in service. In its intended role, the FP-2 proved to have satisfactory performance and generally fulfilled the role of a basic trainer successfully. Only one accident was reported in 1938, when, due to a pilot error, control of the plane was lost and it crashed to the ground. The pilot managed to jump out of the plane and safely landed.
The FP-2 was considered a successful basic trainer by the Royal Air Force before the war. [airwar.ru]During the production run, there were only minor modifications between the different planes. The FP-2 which were built in 1939 were modified with improved control panels with more updated instrumentation. Zmaj also proposed a modified FP-2H powered by the K-9 engine for use by the navy, but it was not adopted.
By March 1941, around 9 FP-2 aircraft were reportedly awaiting repairs at the Zmaj factory. The fifth batch of 15 FP-2 were to be built by mid-1941. The materials and engine were assembled but, due to the outbreak of the war, none were delivered to the Yugoslav Air Force. Production of the FP-2 was carried out until the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941.
During the April War
At the time of the Axis attack on Yugoslavia in April 1941, all FP-2 were still assigned to the two basic training schools. The First pilot school was transferred near Sarajevo shortly before the outbreak of the war, along with 10 FP-2. The school was operational until the German capture of Sarajevo. The commander of this school, Colonel Adalbert Rogulja, ordered the entire unit to surrender to the Germans without attempting to sabotage its aircraft.
The Second pilot school, located at the Kapino polje near Nikšić, had 15 FP-2. As the area was not attacked by Axis forces, this school was operational until the end of war. The remaining FP-2s were stationed in smaller numbers across Yugoslavia. One was destroyed by the Germans in Novi Sad, and a few more in Niš and Pančevo. By the war’s end, both the Germans and Italians managed to capture an unknown number of FP-2s.
In German Service
The Germans managed to capture the Zmaj factory and an unknown number (possibly more than 15) of FP-2 across Yugoslavia. But they were more interested in the factory itself than the FP-2, and for this reason did not use the aircraft that were captured.
In Italian Service
The Italians managed to capture around 13 fully operational FP-2. One was transported to Italy to be flight tested with other captured Yugoslav aircraft (Do-17K and Hurricane) in early June 1941. The remaining 12 FP-2s were stationed at Tirana, but then repositioned in May 1941 to Shkodër to join the 5° Gruppo, which was part of the 39ª Squadriglia. This unit was equipped with older IMAM Ro-37 aircraft. As these were prone to malfunction, the Italians simply reused the FP-2 and pressed them into service. They were mainly used for liaison missions between Tirana and Shkodër. But Partisan activity began to increase in the area and faced with a lack of any other aircraft, the Italians began to arm the FP-2s. The FP-2s were armed with machine guns taken from the Ro-37 aircraft.
The 39ª Squadriglia would be operational until June 1943 in the Shkodër region. It was then returned to Italy and, while it is not clear, there is a chance that at least three FP-2 were still operational with this unit. The final fate of the FP-2s in Italian service is unfortunately not known.
In NDH Service
After the April War ended, the Germans captured all surviving aircraft production factories, including Zmaj, in Yugoslavia. They restarted production for their own needs. The newly formed NDH (Independent State of Croatia) puppet state asked the Germans for a number of aircraft for their newly formed air force. This included any available Yugoslavian aircraft that survived the war. The Germans supplied the NDH with FP-2s captured in Sarajevo during the war.
In the case of the FP-2s at the Zmaj factory, there were engines and parts for the incomplete fifth production series that could potentially be built. The Germans delayed any decision whether to allow the NDH to take these aircraft. In 1943, an arrangement was reached between the NDH Aviation Force officials and the representatives of Zmaj for the delivery of the 15 FP-2 aircraft. The production process was slow due to the lack of a qualified workforce and constant sabotage by resistance movements. By 1944, only eight FP-2s were completed for the NDH. The remaining seven would remain in Zmaj factory hangars until they were captured by the victorious Communist Partisan forces in October 1944.
During the war, the NDH Air Force used the FP-2 in its original role of a training aircraft. As the Partisan activity began to rise, some FP-2s were modified by adding bomb racks for six 12 kg (27 lb) bombs. These were then used to fight the Partisans, but as neither the pilot nor the observer were supplied with parachutes, these operations were dangerous.
FP-2 in Croatian service during the Second World War. [histaviation.com]By 1944, it was obvious that the Axis were on the losing side and, for this reason, many NDH pilots tried to escape to the Partisan side whenever it was possible. One of them was Mitar Оbućanin. While flying an FP-2 (6822) in late August 1944, he escaped to the Partisan held island of Vis. This plane would be used by the Partisans for reconnaissance and liaison. Another attempt was made in October by pilot Drago Markotić and assistant Milan Aćimović. The escape failed and the plane was shot down by German AA ground fire. The pilot was captured and executed but his assistant managed to escape.
This FP-2 (6822) is the plane in which Croatian pilot Mitar Оbućanin defected to the Partisan side. It was then put into service by the Partisans from the isle of Vis. The FP-2 received a large Red Star painted on its side.[vazduhoplovnetradicijesrbije.rs]The NDH had around 23 FP-2s in their Air Force. The aircraft supplied by the Germans received serial numbers 6801 to 6815 and the ones acquired from Zmaj were 6816 to 6823.
After War Service
With the liberation of Zemun, where the Zmaj factory was located, seven incomplete FP-2s were found abandoned. By late April 1945, two FP-2s were completed and put to use by the new Communist Yugoslav Air Force. The last five were completed by mid 1945. In total, around 13 were operated by the Yugoslav Air Force after the war. They would not remain long in service due to a lack of spare parts. They were mostly used as a target tug to haul flying targets for ground AA crew training.
The parts of one FP-2 can now be seen at the Belgrade Aviation Museum near the Nikola Tesla Airport.
Side view of the FP-2. [airwar.ru]One of the 13 FP-2s operated by the new Communist Yugoslav Air Force after the war. [vazduhoplovnetradicijesrbije.rs]
Production
The FP-2 was produced in several batches from 1934 to 1940. The first batch consisted of 20 aircraft, followed by a second one with 15 planes in 1937, another 15 planes in 1939, and the final batch of 15 in 1940. An additional 15 planes were to be built in 1941, but due to the outbreak of the war, this was never completed.
Before the war, the total production number of FP-2s made by Zmaj was 65 aircraft, plus the prototype. During the war and, in small numbers, after the war, an additional 15 were built. In total, 81 FP-2 were built.
Modifications
FP-2 – Main production version
FP-2H – A proposed naval version powered by the K-9 engine, but not adopted for service.
Operators
Kingdom of Yugoslavia – Used some 66 planes for pilot training.
SFR Yugoslavia – After the war used seven aircraft of this type. They were all captured at the Zmaj factory. These planes were designed for the NDH but never delivered on time.
NDH – A dozen aircraft of this type were delivered to the Air Force of the NDH in 1941 by the Germans. In 1944, another eight aircraft were delivered from the Zmaj factory in Zemun.
Italy – Used 13 captured planes from May 1941 to June 1943 against the rebels in Montenegro and Albania.
Germany – Captured smaller numbers of FP-2s but did not use them.
FP-2 Specifications
Wingspan
35 ft 5 in / 10.8 m
Length
25 ft 11 in / 7.9 m
Height
9 ft 6 in / 2.9 m
Wing Area
310 sq ft / 28.8 m²
Engine
One Gnome-Rhone 7K, 7-cylinder radial, 313kW (420 hp) engine
Empty Weight
1.630 lbs / 740 kg
Maximum Takeoff Weight
3.170 lbs / 1,450 kg
Maximum Speed
148 mph / 238 km/h
Cruise speed:
124 mph / 200 km/h
Effective range
360 mi / 580 km
Maximum Service Ceiling
22,300 ft / 6,800 m
Crew
Two (Instructor and student)
Armament
None
Gallery
Illustrations by Carpaticus
FP-2 in Croatian service during the Second World WarFP-2 in Italian Service – 39ª Squadriglia
Credits
Article by Marko P.
Edited by Stan L. and Ed J.
Illustrations by Carpaticus
Č. Janić i O. petrović (2011) Kratka Istorija Vazduhoplovstva U Srbiji, AEROKOMUNIKACIJE Beograd.
D.Babac (2008), Elitni Vidovi Jugoslovenske Vojske U Aprilskom Ratu, Publish.
Vojislav V. Mikić (2000) Zrakoplovstvo Nezavisne Države Hrvatske 1941-1945, Vojno istorijski institut Vojske Jugoslavije
Vojislav V. Mikić (1998) Italijanska Avijacija u Jugoslaviji 1941-1943, Vojno istorijski institut Vojske Jugoslavije
B. Nadoveza and N. Đokić (2014), Odbrambena Privreda Kraljevine Jugoslavije, Metafizika Beograd.
T. Lisko and D. Čanak (1998), The Croatian Air Force In The WWII, Nacionalna i sveučilišna knjižnica, Zagreb
F. Vrtulek (2004) Ludbrežanin Inženjer Rudolf Fizir, Podravski Zbornik.
An Re.2002 belonging to the 239 Squadriglia stationed at Tarquinia airfield in Italy during June 1943. [vvsregiaavions.com]Following the failure of the Re.2000, the engineers from Reggiane tried to design a new aircraft to fill the role of ground attack aircraft. This would lead to the development of the improved Re.2002 aircraft. While the Regia Aeronautica (Italian Air Force) ordered 500 of this version, due to problems with production, only about half of that number were ever built.
History
In the late 1930s, Italian aircraft manufacturer Reggiane was attempting to gain attention from the Reggia Aeronautica with its Re.2000. While this aircraft initially showed good flying performance, it was not adopted for service. For this reason, Reggiane’s chief engineer, Roberto Longhi, set out to develop a new aircraft that would fulfill the role of a fighter-bomber aircraft, which the Italian Air Force was in desperate need of. Roberto Longhi made sure to address the shortcomings of the Re.2000’s fuel tanks when designing the new aircraft. These were prone to leaks, so he replaced them with conventional fuel tanks. For this new aircraft, that would later be known as the Re.2002 Ariete (Ram), a large 1,175 hp Piaggio P.XIX R.C.45 Turbine (Whirlwind) – D 14 cylinder air-cooled radial engine was chosen. The Piaggio P.XIX R. engine was still in the development phase at that time and not yet ready for service. The choice of using an engine still in the development phase would have a great negative impact on the later production of the aircraft. A radial engine was preferred over an inline liquid-cooled engine due to the fact that it was durable and less vulnerable to ground anti-aircraft fire. The new aircraft had a number of similarities to Reggiane’s earlier designs, possessing the overall shape of the Re.2000, and the Re.2001’s internal construction.
First Test Flight
The maiden flight of the Re.2002 (M.M. or MM 454) prototype took place in October 1940. It was flown by test pilot Mario de Bernardi. After the first flight, the pilot noted that the Re.2002 had good general flying performance, but there were problems with the engine overheating. After several more test flights, constant engine overheating problems forced further flights to be halted, and the aircraft was returned to Reggiane for necessary engine modifications. After a number of upgrades to the engine were completed in March 1941, the test flights continued. During these tests, the Re.2002 managed to achieve a top speed of 417 km/h (260 mph).
The first prototype, ready to take to the sky. The picture was taken at the Guidonia airfield in April 1941. [vvsregiaavions.com]Front view of the prototype. While it was chosen for production by the Italian Air Force, the production aircraft received some modifications. These included the use of a Re.2001 canopy and the addition of a fixed rear landing wheel. [vvsregiaavions.com]
Technical Characteristics
The Re.2000 was designed as a low wing, all-metal construction single-seat ground attack plane. The fuselage consisted of a metal frame covered with aluminum sheets held in place by using flush-riveting. The elliptical wings were built using a metal frame covered with a stressed skin duralumin structure. One fuel tank was located in each wing, with an additional third one placed just behind the pilot. If needed, additional auxiliary fuel tanks could be added under the fuselage or the wings.
Side view of the Re.2002 prototype. The most obvious change compared to later production planes was the removal of the rear glazed part of the canopy. [vvsregiaavions.com]The landing gear system was unusual, but standard for Reggiane aircraft. When it retracted backward, the wheel rotated 90° before it retracted into the wheel bay. For better landing, the landing gear was provided with hydraulic shock absorbers and pneumatic brakes. The smaller rear wheel was initially retractable, but was changed to a fixed type at the start of production. The Re.2002 was powered by a 1,175 hp Piaggio P.XIX R.C.45 Turbine-D 14 cylinder air-cooled radial engine derived from the french Gnome-Rhône 14K Mistral Major. This engine was equipped with a three-blade variable pitch Piaggio P. 1001 propeller made by Piaggio.
The initial cockpit canopy was unchanged from the Re.2000 and opened to the rear. The production version had a canopy taken from the Re.2001. This canopy opened to the side.
Rear view of the Re.2002. [vvsregiaavions.com]The Re.2002 possessed the same offensive capabilities as its Re.2001 cousin. It consisted of two Breda-SAFAT 12.7 mm heavy machine guns mounted in the engine cowling. The ammunition load for the left machine gun was 390 rounds, with 450 rounds for the right. Two additional 7.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns were placed in each wing. The ammunition load for the right machine gun was 350 rounds and 290 rounds for the left.
Being designed to act as a ground attack plane, the Re.2002 was equipped with one bomb rack placed under the fuselage with an additional rack placed under each wing. The central bomb rack could carry up to 650 kg (1,430 lb). The smaller wing racks could each carry up to 160 kg (350 lb) of payload.
The Reggiane family tree line. While the Re.2002 shared many visual similarities with the Re.2000, its construction was more similar to that of the Re.2001. [Reggiane Fighters in Action]
Production for the Italian Air Force
The first production aircraft, which was built in October 1941.[vvsregiaavions.com]Following the completion of test flights, the Italian Air Ministry (Ministerio dell’Aeronautica) gave an order for 200 Re.2002s to be produced. The first production aircraft were completed in October 1941. Due to engine production difficulties, the distribution of new aircraft to front line units was only possible in late 1942. While the initial order of 200 was increased to 300, only between 48 to 147 (depending on the source) were built for the Italian Air Force by September 1943. Initially a production order of 200 was placed in March 1942, which would be increased to 300 later in 1943. The sources unfortunately disagree about the number of produced aircraft. For example, sources like J. F. Bridlay (Caproni Reggiane Re 2001 Falco II, Re 2002 Ariete and Re 2005 Sagittario) listed a production number of 147 aircraft, which is the highest number listed in the sources. Other like Duško Nešić (Naoružanje Drugog Svetsko Rata-Italija) and David Monday, (The Hamlyn Concise Guide To Axis Aircraft OF World War II) gives us a number of 50 aircraft. While George Punka (Reggiane Fighters In Action) gives us a number of 48 aircraft. All previous numbers do not include later aircraft, especially built for the Germans which is often listed as around 60 or so. The lower production numbers were due to many reasons, lack of production capabilities, scarce resources, supply problems with engines, among others. The disagreement among sources may be the consequence of confusing the number of produced versus actually delivered aircraft.
Further Development
With only a small number of aircraft ever built, there were only a few known modifications and proposals for the Re.2002. One was an experimental version created by combining the Re.2002’s fuselage with the Re.2005’s wings. This aircraft was known as Re.2002 bis, but was never truly completed. The second version was to be used on two Italian aircraft carriers, the Aquila and Sparviero. While catapult launch tests were conducted on at least one Re.2002, due to the cancellation of the Italian aircraft carriers, construction of this version was never pursued. One Re.2002 was tested in the Re.2003 two-seater reconnaissance aircraft configuration. As the Re.2003 was not adopted for service, only one prototype was built. The last proposal included a torpedo carrier version, but this was never implemented. The majority of these do not appear to have received any special designation.
In Italian Service
After the introduction of the Re.2002 into service, some additional changes were made in comparison to the prototype. These include: improvements to the engine cowling, introducing a fixed rear tail wheel, and changing the canopy with a new one based on the Re.2001. The improved engine cowling actually caused some issues during dive-bombing runs, as the engine would sometimes simply stall. From the 17th aircraft onward, a new lower engine mount was tested with a different cowling type.
Delivery of the first operational Re.2002 for military use was only possible in November 1942. The Re.2002s were allocated to the 102º Gruppo, with its 209ª and 239ª Squadriglia, stationed at Lonate Pozzolo. This unit had experience operating ground attack aircraft, previously operating German-supplied Ju-87 dive bombers. The next month, the 101º Gruppo, with its 208ª and 238ª Squadriglia, also began to receive their first Re.2002s to replace their outdated FIAT C.R. 42 biplanes.
During the Allied invasion of Sicily in July of 1943, the Italian Air Force stationed there had only 165 operational aircraft. Two groups, equipped with some 32 Re.2002 in total, were also present as part of the 5º Stormo. The first combat action was on the day of the invasion on the 10th of July, when Re.2002s managed to sink an Allied transport vessel called Talamba. Four aircraft and the commander of the 5º Stormo Colonel Guido Nobili were lost during this action. The next day, a group of 11 Re.2002s began a new attack on the Allied ships stationed near Augusta-Syracuse. The British battleship HMS Nelson was damaged with a 250 kg (551 lbs) bomb, with the mission resulting in the loss of two Re.2002s. In retaliation, the Allies bombed the Re.2002 airfields a few hours later. Due to losses, the surviving Re.2002s were repositioned to Manduria. After receiving reinforcements, the Re.2002s attempted another attack on July 19th, but lost six aircraft in the process. On 20th and 26th July, transport ships Pelly and Fishpool were sunk.
An Re.2002 during its short operational life with the Italian forces in Sicily. [vvsregiaavions.com]In early September 1943, Allied forces landed in Southern Italy. The Italian command, in despair, dispatched a small group of aircraft supported by 15 Re.2002s in an attempt to drive them back. On 8th September, 1943, due to immense Allied pressure and rising military losses, the Italians surrendered. By this time, the 101º and 102º groups had only 24 Re.2002s, but only half were combat ready. During the two months of fighting, some 32 aircraft were lost. While 19 were lost in direct combat, the remaining were destroyed in Allied bombing actions or accidents.
In early September 1943, the 50º Stormo, with its 158º and 159º Groups, was undergoing the process of conversion to the Re.2002. But, due to Italian capitulation, only the 159º Group received Re.2002s which were not used operationally.
In German Hands
The Germans operated around 60 Re.2002 aircraft. These were mainly used against the French resistance movement. [vvsregiaavions.com]Following the Italian capitulation, Germany launched Operation Achse (Axis) with the aim of capturing a large portion of the territory of their former ally. This included a number of production facilities, such as the Reggiane factories. The Germans seized some 14 fully completed aircraft, and around 10 more which were under construction. As there was sufficient material available, the production of the Re.2002 continued for some time under German supervision. Due to the same persistent engine delivery problems, Reggiane officials proposed mounting the 1,600 hp BMW 801 engine in the Re.2002, along with other modifications such as an updated wing design. One engine mount was tested in Germany, which led to a production order of some 500 new aircraft in late 1943. However, as the Reggiane factories were destroyed in early 1944 by an Allied bombing raid, the delivery of this modified version was impossible. In the meantime, some 60 aircraft were produced by Caproni under German supervision. Reggiane was actually owned by Caproni, thus all the necessary tooling and equipment for the continued production of this aircraft was available. Not all 60 were accepted for service by the Germans. Due to the Allied advance in April 1945, around 25 were seized by the Germans, while the remaining airframes were destroyed. Additionally, two aircraft were built at Biella. Unfortunately, the exact use of these aircraft by the Germans is not well documented. For example, it is unknown if they were ever used against the Allies in Italy. It is known that these were used by Geschwader Bongart against French resistance around Limoges, Vercors, and Aisne in 1943 and 1944.
Former Italian Re.2002 that was seized or produced for the Germans received the standard German markings, including a Balkenkreuz and a Swastika. [vvsregiaavions.com]
On the Allied Side
Smaller groups of around 40 Re.2002s, that were previously used by 5º Stormo, were operated by the new Aeronautica Cobelligerante Italiana (Italian Co-belligerent Air Force) in cooperation with the Allies. In October 1943, these were used to form the Gruppo Tuffatori, a dive-bombing group. In 1943, they saw action in supporting the Italian Resistance Movement in Northern Italy, an area which was controlled by the Germans. In 1944, they were also employed in attack operations across the Adriatic Sea, towards the Yugoslavian coastline. One of the last combat missions of the Re.2002 was a bombing run against Axis targets in Dubrovnik on 29th March, 1944. While the Co-belligerent Army lost 9 aircraft in combat, further combat missions had to be aborted due to a general lack of spare parts, their operational life lasted less than 12 months. The surviving aircraft were reallocated to the Fighter Training School at Lecce-Leverano in June 1944. There, they were used for pilot training for a few months, before they had to be discarded, once again due to a lack of parts and poor mechanical condition.
The Esercito Cobelligerante Italiano had close to 40 Re.2002 aircraft in its inventory. These would be used sometimes to support Italian Partisans in Northern Italy and on the Yugoslavian coastline. [vvsregiaavions.com]
Production Versions
Re.2002 (MM 454) – Prototype aircraft
Re. 2002 – Production version
Prototypes and Proposed Versions
Re. 2002 bis – An experimental version created by combining the Re.2002’s fuselage with the Re.2005’s wings. One built, but never used operationally.
Re. 2002 Aircraft Carrier Version – possibly one modified for this role
Re. 2002 – Proposed torpedo carrier version
Re. 2002 – Powered by a 1,600 hp BMW 801 engine. While the engine mount was tested and a production order was given, no aircraft were ever fully completed
Re.2002 – One aircraft modified and tested as Re.2003
Operators
Kingdom of Italy – 147 aircrafts were delivered to Regia Aeronautica
Germany – After the Italian surrender to the Allies, Germany seized around 60 aircraft.
Esercito Cobelligerante Italiano – Operated some 40 Re.2002 aircraft
Surviving Aircraft
Today, there are only two surviving Re.2002 aircraft. One was located at the Italian Air Force Museum. The second incomplete Re.2002 can be seen at the French Musée de la Résistance et de la Déportation of Limoges.
The only fully surviving Re.2002, located at the Italian Air Force Museum. [Wiki]The partly complete Re.2002 located at the French Musée de la Résistance et de la Déportation of Limoges. [Musée de la Résistance]
Conclusion
While the Re.2002 proved to be able to fulfill the role of fighter-bomber that the Italians were lacking. Due to a number of factors, its production was severely hindered. While work on the Re.2002 began in 1940, the production could not start before late 1942. Due to engine delivery problems, only a small number of aircraft were ever delivered to the Italian Force. Its first action against the Allies in Sicily ironically proved to be their last under the Fascist regime. While some would be used up to the war’s end, due to a lack of spare parts, most would be used as training aircraft until finally being discarded.
Re.2002 Specifications
Wingspans
36 ft 1 in / 11 m
Length
26 ft 9 in / 8.16 m
Height
10 ft 4 in / 3.15 m
Wing Area
220 ft² / 20.4 m²
Engine
One 1,175 hp Piaggio P.XIX R.C.45 Turbine (Whirlwind)-D 14 cylinder air cooled radial engine
Empty Weight
5,270 lbs / 2,390 kg
Maximum Takeoff Weight
7,140 lbs / 3,240 kg
Climb Rate to 6 km
In 8 minute 48 seconds
Maximum Speed
267 mph / 430 km/h
Cruising speed
250 mph / 400km/h
Range
683 miles / 1,100 km
Maximum Service Ceiling
36,090 ft / 11,000 m
Crew
1 pilot
Armament
Two 0.5 in (12.7 mm) heavy machine guns and two 0.31 in (7.7 mm) machine guns
One 1430 lb (650 kg) and two 350 lb (160 kg) bombs
Gallery
Illustrations by Carpaticus
Re.2002 in the Italian Royal Air Force (Regia Aeronautica Italiana)Re.2002 from Esercito Cobelligerante Italiano (Italian Co-belligerent Army)Re.2002 in German Luftwaffe Service
Credits
Written by Marko P.
Edited by Stan Lucian & Ed Jackson
Illustrations by Carpaticus
Duško N. (2008) Naoružanje Drugog Svetsko Rata-Italija. Beograd.
M. Di Terlizzi (2002) Reggiane RE 2000 Falco, Heja, J.20, Instituto Bibliografico Napoleone.
G. Cattaneo (1966) The Reggiane Re.2000, Profile Publication Ltd.
J. W. Thompson (1963) Italian Civil And Military Aircraft 1930-1945, Aero Publisher
G. Punka (2001) Reggiane Fighters In Action. Signal Publication.
Re.2002 Photographic Reference Manual
C. Shores (1979) Regia Aeronautica Vol. I, Signal publication.
J. F. Bridlay (1972) Caproni Reggiane Re 2001 Falco II, Re 2002 Ariete and Re 2005 Sagittario, Profile Publications
David. M, (2006) The Hamlyn Concise Guide To Axis Aircraft OF World War II, Bounty Books.
Finland (1940-1944)
Kingdom of Italy/Italian Social Republic (1941-1945)
Independent State of Croatia (1942)
France (1936-1953)
Yugoslavia (1933-1947)
