Italy (1939 – 1945)
Fighter – 1,153 built

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In the mid-30s it became clear to the Italians that the biplane configuration was more than outdated and they needed new, state-of-the-art, low-wing, all-metal monoplane aircraft, and, only one year after the biplane FIAT C.R. 32 appeared in 1935, the leaders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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Cockpit

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.

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

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 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 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 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.

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.

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.

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.

Armament

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Gallery

Illustrations by Carpaticus

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