Fiat CR.42 Falco
The Fiat CR.42 Falco is a single-seat sesquiplane fighter developed and produced by Italian aircraft manufacturer Fiat Aviazione. It served primarily in the Italian Regia Aeronautica in the 1930s and during the Second World War.
The CR.42 was a development of Fiat’s earlier CR.32 fighter, powered by the more powerful supercharged Fiat A.74R1C.38 air-cooled radial engine and with improvements. It proved to be relatively agile in flight, attributed to its very low wing loading and a sometimes decisive tactical advantage. RAF Intelligence praised its exceptional manoeuvrability, further noting that "the plane was immensely strong", though it was technically outclassed by faster, more heavily armed monoplanes. While primarily used as a fighter, variants such as the CR.42CN night-fighter model, the CR.42AS ground-attack aircraft, and the CR.42B ''Biposto twin-seat trainer aircraft had other roles.
During May 1939, the CR.42 entered service with the Regia Aeronautica; it was the last of the Fiat biplane fighters to enter front line service. By 10 June 1940, when Italy entered the Second World War, roughly 300 had been delivered; these defended metropolitan areas and important military installations at first. By the end of 1940, the Falco had been involved in combat on various fronts, including the Battle of France, the Battle of Britain, Malta, North Africa, and Greece. By the end of the war, Italian CR.42s had been used on further fronts, including Iraq, the Eastern Front and the Italian mainland. Following the signing of the Italian armistice with the Allies on 8 September 1943, the type was relegated to use as a trainer by the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force, while some Italian CR.42s were seized by the Germans and used by the Luftwaffe'' for ground-attack operations.
The CR.42 was produced and entered service in smaller numbers with the air forces of other nations, including Belgium, Sweden and Hungary. By the end of production, in excess of 1,800 CR.42s had been constructed, making it the most numerous Italian aircraft to be used during the Second World War. It has been claimed that the fighter had performed at its best during its service with the Hungarian Air Force, specifically during its deployment against Soviet forces on the Eastern Front of the war, where it reportedly achieved a kill to loss ratio of 12 to 1.
Design and development
Origins
During the late 1930s, while a new generation of monoplane fighter aircraft was being introduced by the various air services of Europe, there was still a considerable time before they would be developed and available enough to assume total responsibility for strategic air power operations. By the outbreak of the Second World War during September 1939, many powers still fielded biplanes, such as the British Gloster Gladiator and the Italian CR.42. As such, even as the first flights of the latter were being conducted during 1939, despite an acknowledgement of its effective obsolescence, it was also recognised that such biplanes would find a use in plentiful second-line roles. This pragmatic observation turned out to be correct as not only would the CR.42 be built in greater numbers than any other Italian fighter of the war, it would also see action on every front in which the Regia Aeronautica fought upon.The CR.42 was basically a development of the design of the earlier Fiat CR.32, which in turn had been derived from the CR.30 series created in 1932. During the Spanish Civil War of the mid-1930s, the Regia Aeronautica had employed the CR.32 and had reportedly accomplished significant successes using the fighter. The positive combat experience gave sufficient encouragement to the type's principal manufacturer, Fiat Aviazione, for the company to produce a proposal for the development of a more advanced derivative of the design, incorporating the newly finalised supercharged Fiat A.74R1C.38 air-cooled radial engine and several other enhancements. Key features of the fighter, which was designated as the CR.42, included its relatively clean aerodynamic exterior, a very strong structure, and a high level of maneuverability, a combination which had traditionally appealed to Italian pilots according to Cattaneo.
Both the proposal and the concept of a developed biplane was well received by the Regia Aeronautica, who placed a high value on the agility of the aircraft; confidence may have also been high due to the earlier wars in Ethiopia and Spain, both fought against relatively disorganised opposition, giving a deceptive impression of effectiveness. During its formal military evaluation, the prototype CR.42 was tested against the rival Caproni Ca.165 biplane fighter, and was judged to be superior d, although the Ca.165 was a more modern design with a higher speed, albeit at the cost of maneuverability. During flight tests, it demonstrated a top speed of at and at ground level. Climb rate was 1 minute and 25 seconds to and of 7 minutes and 20 seconds to.
During late 1939, by which time a major European war already seemed inevitable, the CR.42 was ordered for the Regia Aeronautica. as part of the R plan, under which Italy was to procure 3,000 new fighter aircraft, such as the monoplane Fiat G.50 and the Macchi C.200. At the outbreak of the Second World War, the CR.42 was considered to be the best biplane in service. Although the age of the biplane was noticeably already coming to a close by this point, a number of other foreign air forces expressed considerable interest in the new fighter. Once quantity production had been established, a number of early Falcos were delivered to foreign customers, even to the extent of re-directing aircraft originally intended for delivery to the Regia Aeronautica; these customers included Belgium, Hungary and Sweden.
Further development
Soon after its introduction to service, Fiat developed a number of variants of the type. The CR.42bis and CR.42ter featured increased firepower, while the CR.42CN was a dedicated night fighter model, the CR.42AS was optimised for performing ground attack missions, and the CR.42B ''Biposto commonly served in a twin-seat trainer role. Of these, the Biposto, which was furnished with a longer fuselage than other models to enable a second seat to be placed in tandem with the pilot, became the most extensively modified of all the CR.42 variants. Its length was increased by 68 centimeters over the standard fighter, to a total of 8.94 m; the height was 23 centimeters less. Empty weight was only more, as the wheel fairings had been removed. Overall weight was 2,300 kg. Top speed was 430 km/h at 5,300 meters, only 8 km/h less. Up to 1945, a pair of machine guns were commonly fitted. About 40 aircraft were produced by Agusta and Caproni Trento.In addition, various experimental configurations of the CR.42 was both studied and constructed for trial purposes. These included the I.CR.42 and the re-engined CR.42DB. Beginning in 1938, Fiat had worked on the I.CR.42, then gave the task to complete the project to CMASA factory in Marina di Pisa on the Tirreno sea coast. The only prototype was built in 1940. Tests started at the beginning of 1941, at the Vigna di Valle base, on Lake Bracciano, north of Rome. Top speed was 423 km/h, range was 950 km while ceiling was reduced to 9,000 m. Empty weight went from, full weight from.
The CR.42DB was an attempt to improve performance by installing a Daimler-Benz DB 601 V12 engine of. This prototype, MM 469), was flown by test pilot Valentino Cus in March 1941, over Guidonia Montecelio, near Rome. During test flights it attained a top speed of, ceiling of and a range of. The project was cancelled as the biplane configuration did not offer any advantages over contemporary monoplane fighter designs. Although this variant never went into production, to the present day, the CR.42DB has continued to hold the distinction of being the fastest biplane to have ever flown.
Historians are still not certain exactly how many CR.42s were manufactured. The most likely estimate is thought to be 1,819 aircraft in total, including the 63 CR.42LWs produced under Luftwaffe'' control, and a further 140 fighters that were produced for the various export customers for the type.
Design
The Fiat CR.42 was a robust and relatively clean single-seat biplane fighter aircraft; in spite of the biplane configuration of the aircraft, it was a modern, "sleek-looking" design, based around a strong steel and alloy structure. The CR.42 was furnished with fixed main landing gear, the legs of which were attached to the underside of the lower wing stubs; both the legs wheels were enclosed within streamlined fairings for aerodynamic reasons. The upper wing was larger than its lower wing, a configuration known as a sesquiplane. The aircraft proved to be exceptionally agile in flight, a characteristic which had been attributed to be a result of the fighter's very low wing loading. The very strong structure of the fighter enabled pilots to perform virtually all manoeuvres. Shortcomings of the CR.42 included its slower speed in comparison to monoplanes, and a lack of armour, firepower and radio equipment.The CR.42 was typically powered by a single supercharged Fiat A.74R1C.38 geared air-cooled radial engine driving a metal three-blade Fiat-Hamilton Standard 3D.41-1 propeller of diameter. During the aircraft's development, particular attention was paid to the design of the NACA cowling which accommodated the engine; the cowling had a series of adjustable flaps for cooling purposes. The engine bay incorporated a fire extinguisher. Early CR.42s were armed with a single 7.7 mm and one 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine gun, which were installed in the decking of the upper fuselage and fired directly through the propeller. A counter for the rounds fired was present amongst the cockpit's instrumentation.
The fuselage of the CR.42 was a welded steel-tube triangulated framework built of light-alloy formers; the forward fuselage was covered by metal panelling, rear of the cockpit it was fabric covered. The wings used a structure that was constructed mainly of light duralumin alloys and steel; the leading edge was metal-skinned while the rest of the wing was fabric covered. The upper wing, which was the only one to have with ailerons, was joined in the center and supported above the fuselage via an inverted V-shaped cabane, while the lower wings were directly attached onto the lower longerons of the fuselage. The tail unit was a cantilever, with a duralumin framework and fabric covering.