Fiat G.55

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G.55 Centauro
G.55 in Regia Aeronautica markings
Type	Fighter
Manufacturer	Fiat
Designed by	Giuseppe Gabrielli
Maiden flight	1942-04-30
Status	Retired
Primary users	Regia Aeronautica Argentina, Egypt

The Fiat G.55 Centauro (Italian: "Centaur") was a single-engine single-seat World War II fighter aircraft used by the Italian Air Force in 1943-1945. It was designed and built in Turin by FIAT-Aeritalia.

Contents 1 Design and development 2 Production 3 Operational history 4 German interest 5 After World War II 6 Fiat G.56 7 Specifications (G.55) 8 Operators 9 References 10 External links 11 Related content

[edit] Design and development

By 1939, all the main Italian aircraft factories had begun designing a new series of fighter, with inline engine as opposed to the radial engines that powered the Italian fighters in the early WWII. This process brought to the first generation of Italian fighters equipped with the Italian built copy of the Daimler-Benz DB 601 engine, the so-called Serie 1/2, whose most prominent representative was the Macchi C.202 Folgore. However, the process didn't stop, and already in 1941 designers shifted their attention on the new Daimler-Benz DB 605. Fiat designer Giuseppe Gabrielli, while experimenting a new version of his Fiat G.50 fighter, equipped with the DB 601, started a new design that was to be powered by the Daimler-Benz DB 605.

The first G.55 prototype flew on April 30, 1942, immediately showing its good performance and flight characteristics. It was armed with 1 Mauser MG 151/20 20 mm cannon, installed in the hub with 200 rounds, and 4 Breda-SAFAT 12.7 mm machine-guns, 2 in the upper engine cowling and 2 in the lower part, with 300 rounds each. This layout soon proved to be troublesome, both for rearming and for the feeding of the upper machine-guns: for this reason, the 2 lower machine-guns where moved in the wings, in the pre-production series, the Serie 0.

The prototype flew to Guidonia, where it was put into trials against the other fighters of the so-called Serie 5 Macchi C.205N Orione and the Reggiane Re.2005 Sagittario. The trials showed that the Centauro was the best performer and won the tender set by the Regia Aeronautica. The C.205N was good at low and medium altitudes, fast and with good diving characteristics but its performance dropped considerably over 8000 meters, particularly in handling. The Re.2005 was the fastest at high altitudes, but suffered of structural weakness. The G.55 prototype reached 620 km/h full loaded, a little less than expected, but had a strong airframe and was the best one regarding handling and stability at every altitude. The only negative remark noticed by G.55 pilots was the pronounced left-hand yawing at take-off.

[edit] Production

By early 1943 increased allied bombing raids over Italy had showed that there was no suitable high altitude fighter to deal with them effectively. The Macchi C.202 performance decreased above 8,000 m (25,000 ft), the typical altitude of the bombers and the MC.202s armament of 2x12.7 mm machine guns was hardly adequate to bring down the large American bombers. As said, of the Serie 5 fighters the Centauro showed the best high altitude performance, due to its large wing surface area. Also its powerful armament, standardized in the production Serie I in 2x12.7 mm machine guns in the engine cowling and 3x20 mm cannon (1 in the hub and 2 in the wings, substituting the 12.7 machine-guns), was enough to bring down the US bombers, along with the generous ammo load (G.55 had 250 rounds of 20 mm ammunition in the hub cannon as opposed to 120 rounds in the Re. 2005).

Thus, Regia Aeronautica commissioned the production of 1,800 G.55, raising that number to 3,600. A pre-production series of 34 examples was commissioned: these planes were mostly based on the prototype, with minor changes to improve its flying characteristics. They had a different weapon layout, as stated above, with the 2 lower cowling machine-guns moved into the wings. Only 19 of the 34 commissioned planes were built, and 6 of them were converted to the Serie I standard in factory.

The production version, named Serie I, had the standard armament of 3 MG 151/20 cannons and 2 Breda-SAFAT machine-guns, plus 2 underwing racks to bring either 2 bombs (up to 160 kg/ 353 lb) or 2 drop tanks (100 liter/26.4 US Gal). At the date of Armistice, September 8, 1943, 35 G.55 of all Series were built, including 3 prototypes: none of them flew to South Italy, were the legitimate government was. From that date on, the Centauro served with the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana, the air force of the fascist state created by Mussolini with the Germans' help in North Italy. The FIAT factory, in Turin continued the production under German control, until it was stopped on September, 1944: 148 G.55 were delivered to the ANR, 15 more were destroyed by US bombing raids and, when the factory was captured, 37 more exemplars were ready, while 73 were still on the production line, at various degree of completion.

[edit] Operational history

After the initial testing on Spring, 1943, the G.55 prototype was detached with the 353rd Squadriglia (flight - very similar in composition to the Luftwaffe Staffel -) of XX Gruppo (squadron), 51st Stormo (wing), for initial operating trials. In May, the Squadriglia transferred to Sardinia, were it began its interceptions: the G.55 had his baptism of fire on June 5, 1943, along with the C.202 and C.205. In the same month, 12 G.55/0 were delivered to the IV Gruppo complementare, a reserve squadron assigned to support with aircraft and personnel the 51st, 52nd and 53rd Stormi and the CLXI Gruppo autonomo. Soon, this planes were delivered to the 353rd Squadriglia, that was reassigned to the airport of Ciampino, near Rome, to help in the defence of the capital. In July and August, the Squadriglia flew several mission over Rome, soon joined by the remaining flights of the XX Gruppo, that was to be equipped with the Centauro. In August, the first exemplars of G.55/I were delivered by FIAT to the 372nd Squadriglia. In September, at the date of Armistice, all the existing G:55 were captured by the Germans or flown to North Italy by their crew. The Centauro entered in service with the ANR: it was decided to produce 500 G.55, of which 300 G.55/I and 200 G.55/II of the Serie II, that were to be armed with 5 MG 151/20 and no machine-guns. As said, only 148 were delivered to the ANR units that, as the number of avalaible G.55 dwindled, were progressively re-equipped with the Bf 109G, of various subversions, even though Italian pilots tended to avoid the substitution of the G55 with a plane that they considered inferior. The ANR had 2 Gruppi Caccia terrestre (fighter squadrons): the first was initially equipped with the C.205, from November 1943 to May 1944, then, re-equipped with the G.55/I in June 1944 until it switched to the Bf 109G starting from November 1944. The 2nd Gruppo was the main unit on G.55, of which had 70 examples between December 1943 and August 1944, before being progressively re-equipped with the Bf 109G. The first unit in ANR to be equipped with G.55 was the Squadriglia Montefusco, in November 1943, operating from Piemonte until March 29, 1944, when it was absorbed by the 1st Gruppo and transferred in Veneto. The 2nd Gruppo, with its 3 squadriglie (the 4th, Gigi Tre Osei, the 5th, Diavoli Rossi, and the 6th, Gamba di Ferro) operated near Milan and Varese until April 1944, then it was transferred near Parma and Pavia, then again near the Garda Lake (Brescia and Verona).

[edit] German interest

In December 1942 a technical commission of the Regia Aeronautica was invited by Luftwaffe to test some German aircrafts in Rechlin. The visit was part of a joint plan for the standardization of the Axis aircraft production. In the same time some Luftwaffe officers visited Guidonia where they were particularly interested in the performances promised by the Serie 5 plane. On December 9 these impressions were discussed in a Luftwaffe staff meeting and raised the interest of Goering itself. In February 1943 a German test commission was sent in Italy to evaluate the new Italian fighters. The commission was led by Oberst Petersen and was formed by Luftwaffe officiers and pilots and by technical personnel, among them the Flugbaumeister Malz. The Germans carried with them also several aircrafts included a Fw 190A and a Bf 109G for direct comparison tests in simulated dogfights.

The tests began February 20. The German commission was very impressed by the Italian aircraft, the G.55 in particular. In general, all the Serie 5 fighters were very good at low altitudes, but the G.55 was competitive with its German opponents also in term of speed and climb rate at high altitudes still maintaining superior handling characteristics. The definitive evaluation by the German commission was "excellent" for the G.55, "good" for the Re.2005 and "average" for the C.205. Oberst Petersen defined the G.55 "the best fighter in the Axis" and immediately telegraphed his impressions to Goering. After listening the recommendations of Petersen, Milch and Galland, a meeting held by Goering on February 22 voted to produce the G.55 in Germany.

The interest of the Germans, apart from the good test results, derived also from the development possibilities they was able to see in the G.55 and in the Re.2005. Particularly, the G.55 was bigger and heavier and was considered a very good candidate for the new DB 603 engine. Other visits were organized in Germany during March and May 1943 in Rechlin and Berlin. The G.55 was again tested at Rechlin at the presence of Milch. Gabrielli and other FIAT personnel were invited to visit German factories and to discuss the evolution of the aircraft. The specifications of the German G55/II included the DB 603 engine, five 20 mm guns and a pressurized cockpit. The suggestion of weapons in the wings, limited to one 20 mm gun for each wing, originated the final configuration of the Serie I, while the DB 603 engine was successfully installed in the what became the G.56 prototype. As a concrete results of the German interest in the G.55, the Luftwaffe acquired three complete G.55/0 airframes (MM 91064-65-66) for evaluations and experiments giving in change three DB 603 engines and original machinery for the setup of other production line of the Italian copy of DB 605. Two of the Luftwaffe G.55's remained in Turin, at the Aeritalia plants, where they were used by German and Italian engineers to study the planned modifications and the possible optimizations to the production process. Later these two were converted to Serie I and delivered to the ANR. The third one was transferred to Rechlin for tests and experiments in Germany. The DB 603 engines were used to build the G.56 prototypes.

The interest in the G.55 program was still high after the Armistice: in October 1943 Kurt Tank, who previously personally tested a G.55 in Rechlin, having nothing but praise for the aircraft, was in Turin to discuss about the G.55 production. However, war events and the not yet optimized production process were the reasons for which the G.55 program was eventually abandoned by the Luftwaffe. Early production of G.55 required about 15,000 man-hours; while there were estimations to reduce the effort to about 9,000 man-hours, the German factories were able to assemble a Bf 109 in only 5,000 man-hours.

[edit] After World War II

After the end of the conflict Fiat started the production of G.55A, a fighter/advanced trainer whose first prototype flew on September 5, 1946. The Aeronautica Militare Italiana acquired 19 and Argentine Air Force 30, of which 19 later sold to Egypt. The G.55B was a two-seat advanced trainer, acquired in 10 units by the Aeronautica Militare and in 15 units by Argentina.

[edit] Fiat G.56

The Fiat G.56 was basically a Fiat G.55 with a German Daimler-Benz DB 603 engine. Two prototypes were built, flight tests starting in the spring of 1944.

Maximum speed was 685 km/h and the aircraft was armed with 3 German 20 mm cannons, 1 firing through the propeller hub, the other two installed in the wings.

[edit] Specifications (G.55)

General characteristics

• Crew: One
• Length: 9.37 m (30 ft 9 in)
• Wingspan: 11.85 m (38 ft 10 in)
• Height: 3.13 m (without the antenna mast) (10 ft 3 1/4 in)
• Wing area: 21.11 m² (227.23 ft²)
• Empty weight: 2,730 kg (6,005.67 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 3,720 kg (8,183.56 lb)
• Powerplant: 1× Fiat R.A 1050 Tifone (license-built Daimler-Benz DB 605A-1) liquid-cooled inverted V-12, 1,085 kW (1,475 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 620 km/h at 7,000 m (385 mph at 22,965.88 feet)
• Range: 1,160 km or 1,650 with 2 100 liter drop tanks under wings (720.94 miles or 1,025.48 with 2 26.4 US Gal drop tanks under wings)
• Service ceiling: 12,700 m (41,666 ft)
• Rate of climb: m/s (ft/min)
• Wing loading: kg/m² 176.2 (lb/ft² 36.01)
• Power/mass: kW/kg 0.291 (hp/lb 0.18)

Armament

In the G.55 Serie 0:

• 1x20 mm MG 151/20 cannon, engine-mounted (250 rounds)
• 4x12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns, 2 in the engine cowling, 2 in the wings (300 rounds each)

In the G.55 Serie I:

• 3x20 mm MG 151/20 cannons, one engine-mounted (250 rounds) and two wing-mounted (200 rounds each)
• 2x12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns in the engine cowling (300 rounds each)
• Provision for two 160 kg (353 lb) bombs on underwing racks

[edit] Operators

• Argentina (Post War)
• Egypt (Post War)
• Italy

[edit] References

• Ali D'Italia # 10 - Fiat G.55 - Gregory Alegi
• Italian Civil and Military Aircraft 1935-1943 - Johnatan Thompson
• I caccia della serie 5, Re2005, Mc205, Fiat G.G5 - Nino Arena
• Pictorial History of the Regia Aeronautica Vol.2 - Di Amico/Valentini
• Air War Italy, axis air forces from liberation of Rome to the surrender - Di Amico/Valentini
• Axis Aircraft of World War II, by David Monday

[edit] External links

• Virtual G55 project

[edit] Related content

 

Comparable aircraft

Macchi C.205 - Reggiane Re.2005 - Messerschmitt Me 109 - P-51 Mustang

 

 

See also

• Italian aircraft production 1935 to 1945