Macchi MC.205

Macchi MC.205
Type:	Fighter plane
Design country:	Italy
Manufacturer:	Macchi
First flight:	April 19, 1942
Commissioning:	1942
Production time:	1942 to 1944
Number of pieces:	262

The Macchi MC.205V Veltro ( Italian for hunting or greyhound ) was an Italian fighter aircraft during World War II . It was part of the so-called "Series 5", although it was not a new design, like the Fiat G.55 and Reggiane Re.2005 .

The prototype of the Veltro was a further development of the Macchi MC.202 Folgore, in which an imported Daimler-Benz DB 605 A engine was installed in a cell of the MC.202.

history

Series production started immediately after the first flight on April 19, 1942, but this was delayed because the license version of the engine built by Fiat, the RA.1050 RC58 Tifone (Taifun), was not yet available in sufficient numbers. As a result, the Veltro was not ready for action until mid-1943, the first known deployment took place in July 1943 in an attack by torpedo bombers on Allied naval forces off Sicily .

When Marshal Badoglio made peace with the Allies two months later , the Regia Aeronautica had 66 Veltro fighters, but only six of them reached Allied airfields to continue fighting under the warring Italian air fleet ( Aeronautica Cobelligerante Italiana ). The rest flew on the Axis side in the National Republican Air Force ( Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana - ANR).

Since the production facilities of the Veltro were in the north of Italy, production could continue on a small scale after the armistice, a total of 262 Veltros were created.

The northern Italians used this pattern very successfully against the Allies.

At the beginning of October 1943, after the armistice between Italy and the Allies, the II / JG 77 temporarily flew some MC.205 in Lagnasco, until it handed them over to the Italian 1 ° Gruppo of the ANR on December 31, 1943 and again with Bf 109 G was fitted.

The types of the "Series 5" are considered to be the best series-built Italian fighter aircraft in World War II and were quite a match for such successful models as the US P51 Mustang .

From 1948 to 1949 Egypt ordered 62 refurbished MC.205Vs, 41 of which had been converted from Macchi MC.202 cells . The first delivery of 15 out of a total of 42 delivered machines was used against the Israeli air force on January 13, 1949, before Israel gained independence.

variants

In addition to use as a hunter, the Macchi was Veltro as a fighter-bomber used.

MC.205V / RF

Conversion of the first prototype MM.9487 to a photo reconnaissance unit with serial imaging device Rb.50 / 30. Further reconnaissance aircraft were derived from this, which differed mainly in their fuel capacity and thus range.

MC.205S

Long-range escort with a 200-liter fuel tank instead of the MGs in the fuselage. For this purpose, 18 machines of the main series were converted.

MC.205N Orione

Proposed variant with a Daimler-Benz-DB-605 engine and an enlarged wing span of 11.25 m as well as a wing area of ​​19 m². The fuselage bow was redesigned, increasing the length to 9.65 m. A 20 mm MG 151 was housed in the bow .

MC.205N-1

Prototype of a high altitude fighter based on the MC.205N. Armed with a MG 151/20 and four 12.7mm machine guns in the fuselage.

MC.205N-2

Prototype of a high altitude fighter based on the MC.205N. Armed with three machine guns 151/20 and two 12.7 mm machine guns.

MC.205V Bi-fusoliera

Similar to the German Messerschmitt Me 609 and Bf 109Z , two MC.205Vs were connected to a wing center section in this project to create a powerful combat destroyer. The project was not completed.

MC.206

Prototype based on the MC.205N with a Daimler-Benz DB 603 and larger wing. Armed with a MG 151/20 and four 12.7mm machine guns in the fuselage. The prototype was destroyed by a bombing raid before completion. Together with the Fiat G.56 and Reggiane Re. 2006 , the MC.206 should create the Series 6 of fighter aircraft.

MC.207

Design similar to the MC.206, with four MG 151/20.

C.208

Unfinished design

C.209

Jet engine project. Not finished.

operator

 Egypt

No.2 Squadron REAF. Used in the war with Israel in 1948/49.

 German Empire

The II / JG77 operated 25 MC.205V at times

 Italy

Aeronautica Regia

Aeronautica Cobelligerante Italiana (6 pieces)

 Italian social republic

Aviazione Nazionale Repubblicana (101 pieces)

 Croatia

The Zrakoplovstvo Nezavisne Države Hrvatske (ZNDH) received four MC.205V

Technical specifications

Macchi MC.205V

Parameters		Series I.	Series III
Dimensions	Wingspan	10.58 m
	Wing surface	16.80 m²
	length	8.85 m
	height	3.05 m
Weights	Empty weight	2581 kg
	Max. Payload	827 kg
	total weight	3408 kg
	Fuel supply	435 l
Engine	Type	Fiat RA1050 RC 58 Tifone ( DB 605 A built under license )
	design type	V12 piston engine with hanging cylinders, gasoline injection and mechanical supercharger
	Displacement	35.7 l
	Dry weight	720 kg
	Starting power	1085 kW (1475 PS) in 0 m at 2800 rpm for 5 min
	Climb performance	920 kW (1250 PS) in 0 m at 2600 rpm for 30 min
	Continuous output	795 kW (1080 hp) at 2300 rpm
	static full pressure height	5800 m
Flight performance	Top speed in 0 m	506 km / h
	Top speed in 7200 m full pressure altitude	629 km / h (at 3384 kg with 2 MG 151/20)
	Ascent time to 5000 m	4:47 min
	Climbing time to 6000 m	5:53 min
	Climbing time to 7000 m	7:06 min
	Climbing time to 8000 m	9:10 min
	Service ceiling	11,200 m
	Range	600 to 985 km
Armament		two 12.7 mm MG Breda SAFAT above the engine with 370 rounds each, firing synchronized by the propeller circle two 7.7 mm MG Breda SAFAT in the wings with 600 rounds each, unsynchronized, firing outside the propeller circle	two 12.7 mm MG Breda SAFAT above the engine with 370 rounds each, firing synchronized by the propeller circle two 20 mm MG 151/20 cannons by Mauser, each with 250 rounds in the wings, unsynchronized, firing outside the propeller circle as a fighter bomber, two 160 kg bombs under the wings
crew		a pilot

Received aircraft

Macchi C. 205 in Vigna di Valle

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

See also

• List of aircraft types
• Italian planes in World War II

literature

• Hans Werner Neulen: In the sky of Europe: Air forces on the German side 1939-1945 . Universitas, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-8004-1366-3 .
• Susan Harris: Encyclopedia of Aircraft: Technology, Models, Data . Weltbild, Augsburg 1994, ISBN 3-89350-055-3 .
• Ferdinand D'Amico, Gabriele Valentini: Camouflage and Markings of the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana 1943–1945 . Classic Publications, 2005, ISBN 1-903223-29-6 (English).
• William Green, Gordon Swanborough: Fighter Planes of the World: An Illustrated Encyclopedia . Stocker-Schmidt, Dietikon / Zurich 2002, ISBN 3-7276-7126-2 .
• David Mondey: The Hamlyn Concise Guide to Axis Aircraft of World War II . Bounty Books, 2002, ISBN 0-7858-1363-2 (English).

Web links

Commons : Macchi MC.205  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Regia Martina Italiana - Macchi: the fighters with the hunchback (English)
• Aer.Macchi MC.205 Veltro e Orione - (Italian with pictures and detailed drawings)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Aeronautica Militare: Museo Storico di Vigna di Valle. In: Macchi MC.205 “Veltro”. Ministero della Difesa, accessed January 23, 2011 (Italian).