Macchi C.205
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| C.205 Veltro | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Regia Aeronautica C.205V with a North Africa dust filter | |
| Type | Fighter |
| Manufacturer | Aeronautica Macchi |
| Designed by | Mario Castoldi |
| Maiden flight | 19 April 1942 |
| Retired | 1947 |
| Primary users | Regia Aeronautica Luftwaffe |
The Macchi C.205 Veltro (Italian: Greyhound) was an Italian World War II fighter aircraft built by the Aeronautica Macchi. The C.205 was a development of the C.202 Folgore mounting a more powerful Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine.
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[edit] Design and development
In 1942, seeking to further improve the performance of the C.202 fighter, the Regia Aeronautica decided to license the German DB 605 liquid-cooled supercharged inverted V-12 engine producing 1,475 hp (1,100 kW). The engine was license-produced in Italy as the Fiat RA.1050 R.C.58 Tifone (Typhoon). Fighter manufacturers were invited to enter versions of their designs with this engine as the caccia della serie 5 ("series-5 fighter") and were provided with imported DB 605s for prototype use. All of the designs used the number 5 in the name, with the Macchi becoming the C.205 (instead of C.202bis or C.203).
Macchi had an advantage over the competition, as their C.202 used the DB 601 engine which was compatible with the DB 605. The C.205 could thus be in the air almost immediately, first flying on 19 April 1942. The Fiat G.55 Centauro and the Reggiane Re.2005 Sagittario were modified from earlier designs and would take some time to get into service.
In testing, the Centauro and Sagittario proved to be better performers at high altitude due to their larger wings. The Veltro used the same wing as the earlier Folgore but its weight had increased from 2 350 to 3 408 kg (5,180 to 7,515 lb) and the wing loading from 142 to 203 kg/m² (29 to 41 lb/ft²). The Veltro had performance similar to German designs with their higher wing loading and was at its best at medium altitudes where it could reach 642 km/h (347 knots, 399 mph). It was decided to produce the Veltro until the G.55 and the Re.2005 would become available.
[edit] Operational history
The C.205 entered production only five months after its maiden flight and began reaching the front-line groups in June 1943. It first flew in combat escorting bombers attacking Allied naval forces off Sicily. Although the first Veltros were insufficiently armed, like its predecessors, (without the MG 151 cannons later installed on the wings) the C.205 performed well in combat. On 2 August, six Veltros attacked twenty P-38 Lightnings and Curtiss P-40s, shooting down six of them for the loss of one[citation needed].
At the time of Armistice with Italy on 8 September 1943, Regia Aeronautica had received 177 Veltros. Six of these flew to allied airfields to serve with the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force, while another 29 reached northern airfields and were used by the Axis-aligned Italian Social Republic Air Force (ANR - Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana). Macchi produced an additional 112 aircraft for the ISR before production was shut down by Allied bombing in May 1944. In 1948-1949, Egypt received 62 refurbished C.205Vs, of which 41 were converted from C.202 airframes. These briefly saw combat against Israeli Air Force in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
[edit] Variants
With limited production and service life, the C.205 saw only a few modifications. After the first 100 examples, the wing-mounted 7.7 mm machine guns were replaced with a pair of 20 mm MG 151 cannon.
- C.205S
- Long-range escort fighter with a 200 liter (52.8 US gal) fuel tank replacing the fuselage machine guns; 18 converted from production aircraft.
- C.205N Orione
- Proposed DB 605-powered fighter with a more significant design revision than the C.202-derived C.205V. The aircraft had a new wing with the wingspan increased to 11.25 m (36 ft 11 in) and wing area increased to 19.00 m² (204.5 ft²), and new forward fuselage. Armament consisted of a 20 mm cannon firing through the propeller hub and four fuselage-mounted 12.7 mm machine guns on C.205N/1, and one engine-mounted 20 mm cannon, two wing-mounted 20 mm cannon, and two fuselage-mounted 12.7 mm machine guns on C.205N/2. Although 1,200 aircraft were initially ordered, the design was abandoned due to the Armistice. The first prototype flew on 1 November 1942, followed by the second aircraft on 19 May 1943. The second prototype reached 628 km/h (340 knots, 390 mph) in testing.
- C.206
- Similar armament to C.205N/1 with a larger wing and a Daimler-Benz DB 603 engine. Single prototype destroyed by Allied bombing before being completed.
- C.207
- Similar to C.206 but with armament of four 20 mm cannon, not built.
[edit] Operators
[edit] Survivors
Three C.205s have survived, with one each at the Air & Sea Transport Building of the National Museum of Science and Technology "Leonardo da Vinci", in Milan, in Udine and in the Museo dell'Aeronautica Militare Italiana (Italian Military Aircraft Museum) in Vigna di Valle, Italy.he Italian Air Force, together with Fiat and Aer Macchi, restored the C.205 stored at the Aerei al Museo della Scienza (Science Museum of Milan). The museum's "Veltro," after painstaking restoration work, was put back in the air in 1981. A Macchi C.205 wreck recovery was undertaken near Bologna for future restoration and display at Museo Caproni di Trento (Caproni Museum of Trento).
[edit] Specifications
Data from The Great Book of Fighters [1]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 8.85 m (29 ft 0 in)
- Wingspan: 10.58 m (34 ft 9 in)
- Height: 3.05 m (10 ft 0 in)
- Wing area: 16.80 m² (180.8 ft²)
- Empty weight: 2,581 kg (5,690 lb)
- Loaded weight: 3 408 kg (7,513 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 3 900 kg (8,600 lb)
- Powerplant: 1× Fiat RA.1050 R.C.58 Tifone liquid-cooled supercharged inverted V12 engine, 1,475 hp (1,100 kW)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 640 km/h (345 knots, 400 mph) at 7 500 m (24,600 ft)
- Range: 950 km (515 nm, 590 mi)
- Service ceiling: 11 500 m (37,730 ft)
- Wing loading: 202.9 kg/m² (41.55 lb/ft²)
Armament
- Guns:
- 2× 12.7 mm (0.50 in) Breda-SAFAT machine guns, 400 rounds/gun, in the nose
- 2× 20 mm (0.787 in) MG 151 cannon, 250 rounds/gun, in the wings
- Bombs: 2× 160 kg (350 lb) bombs
[edit] References
- ^ Green, William and Swanborough, Gordon. The Great Book of Fighters. St. Paul, Minnesota: MBI Publishing, 2001. ISBN 0-76031-194-3.
- Green, William. "The Macchi-Castoldi Series." Famous Fighters of the Second World War-2. London, Macdonald, 1962. No ISBN.
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