Fiat G.55

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Fiat G.55
Fiat G.55
Fiat G.55 in the Aviation Museum of Vigna di Valle
Type: Fighter plane
Design country:

Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Italy

Manufacturer:

Fiat

First flight:

April 30, 1942

Commissioning:

1943

Production time:

1942 to 1944

Number of pieces:

274 (wartime),
75 (postwar period)

The Fiat G.55 Centauro (Centaur) was an Italian fighter aircraft in World War II and the successor to the G.50 .

history

The G.55 was designed by Giuseppe Gabrielli. The first - still unarmed - prototype of this aerodynamically improved model took off on its maiden flight on April 30, 1942; only the third and last had a cannon and four MG on board. Field testing began in March 1943, but by then the Italian Ministry of Aviation had already decided on series production.

However, this ended in September 1943 after 16 G.55 / 0 and 15 G.55 / 1 for the Regia Aeronautica , all machines produced after that went to the Fascist-Italian air forces of the Republic of Salò . By the end of the war, 274 Centauros had been produced, and 37 more were about to be completed. Thanks to its robust structure, excellent visibility, speed and good maneuverability, the pattern was very popular with pilots. In the spring of 1944 two prototypes were equipped with the German DB-603A engine after some changes to the nose section. This G.56 mentioned planes were, as it was found in tests in March 1944, equal to the best German and Allied aircraft that time, if not superior.

Due to the acute shortage of DB-603 engines, series production did not take place, however, one of the prototypes survived the war and was then used by Fiat as a test machine. The company also used leftover parts from the war production of the G.55 to build the G.55A , whose prototype first flew on September 5, 1946. This model differed from the G.55 only in the armament and the flight instruments. Fiat built 19 G.55A for Aeronautica Militare Italiana , while Argentina received 30 copies. The two-seat school version G.55B was built ten times for Italy and 15 times for Argentina; the prototype was flown for the first time on February 12, 1946.

Military users

Syrian Fiat G.55
Aeronautica Regia
Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana
Aeronautica Militare

Technical specifications

Parameter G.55 / I G.56
Conception Fighter plane Test fighter
crew 1
length 9.37 m 9.46 m
span 11.85 m
height 3.13 m 3.77 m
Wing area 21.11 m²
Empty mass 2630 kg k. A.
Max. Takeoff mass 3718 kg 3854 kg
Top speed 630 km / h 685 km / h at an altitude of 7000 m
Rise time 7.12 min at 6000 m altitude k. A.
Service ceiling 12,700 m 13,000 m
Range 1200 km 1280 km
Engines a 12-cylinder V-engine Fiat RA 1050 RC58 Tifone
( Daimler-Benz-DB-605A - licensed construction) 		a 12-cylinder V-engine Daimler-Benz DB 603A
power 1,475 PS (approx. 1,080 kW) 1,750 PS (approx. 1,290 kW)
Armament three 20 mm Mauser MG 151/20 cannons , two 12.7 mm MG Breda-SAFAT
Bomb load Suspensions for two 160 kg bombs

Received aircraft

An aircraft is on display in the Italian Aviation Museum Vigna di Valle .

See also

Web links

Commons : Fiat G.55  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Aeronautica Militare: ITALIAN AIR FORCE MUSEUM. In: FIAT G.55 CENTAURO. Ministero della Difesa, accessed June 16, 2009 (Italian).