Fiat G.50

The Fiat G.50 Freccia (Italian: "Arrow") was an Italian fighter aircraft of World War II. It was the first Italian low-wing monoplane fighter with enclosed cockpit and retractable landing gear to go into production (without the enclosed cockpit though, as Italian pilots felt uncomfortable with it).

Development

The Italian war industry at the time was unable to build a suitable engine so they turned to the German Daimler-Benz DB601Aa engine that Alfa Romeo started building under license, starting a new era for the Fiat fighter as well as for the other Italian fighter models. German liquid cooled engines proved the Italian fighters battle worthy, yet Alfa Romeo production was never large enough to permit any sufficient number of fighters to serve the Italian war effort.

Operational History

Extremely maneuverable, it was one of the best fighters during the Spanish Civil War, yet by the time the World War II started it was considered underpowered and underarmed. About 780 were built, 35 of which were exported to Finland.

The first G.50s were sent to Italian fighter groups in November 1939. They saw limited action during the Battle of Britain. The remaining aircraft saw action in North Africa and the Mediterranean. By the time of the Italian Armistice, few G.50s were left in Italian service, a few were used as part of the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force.

The G.50 saw its longest and most successful operations in the two Finnish wars, Winter War 1939-1940 and Continuation War 1941-1944 against Soviet Union. The fighters arrived too late to effect the course of the winter battles of 1940, but nevertheless 13 aerial victories were gained in the short time, with Captain O. Ehrnrooth, lt. O. Puhakka and sg. L. Aaltonen being the most successful Fiat pilots with 2 victories each.

During the years of Continuation War the Fiat fighters were most successful during the attack phase of 1941, but several factors worked soon against the type. Soviets got better, newer fighter types into the front lines during 1942 and 1943, while the Fiats were getting old and tired, and lack of spare parts meant that pilots were allowed only minimal number of sorties. During 1941 the Fiat squadron, LLv 26, claimed 52 victories against the loss of two fighters. The most successful Fiat G. 50 fighter pilots were O. Tuominen (23 victories), O. Puhakka (11), N. Trontti (6), O. Paronen (4), U. Nieminen (4) and L. Lautamäki (4). The Finnish Fiats were finally phased out of front line duty in summer 1944.

Surviving G.50

Currently, a G.50 bis is undergoing restoration in the Museum of Yugoslav Aviation, in Surčin, near Belgrade airport.

Specifications (G.50)

Operators

Croatia

Finland

Italy

Spain

External links

[World War II aircraft page (In Italian)]

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.