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War Thunder. Official channel.
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| 6s | In the 20th century, there was one spectacular fiasco |
|---|---|
| 10s | in the Italian aircraft industry |
| 12s | that is still a topic of heated debate |
| 14s | among industry insiders, historians, and aviation enthusiasts. |
| 19s | We’re talking about the spectacular failure of fighters of the so-called ‘Serie 5’, |
| 25s | also known as the Stellar Trio. |
| 31s | The first red flag in the story was that, in 1937, |
| 34s | there was a massive shift in the balance of power in the Italian aircraft industry. |
| 39s | Fiat, a massive industrial behemoth, |
| 42s | seemingly lost its status as the only manufacturer that made planes |
| 46s | for the Regia Aeronautica. |
| 48s | The G.50 fighter aircraft, |
| 50s | designed under the helm of a young and promising engineer Giuseppe Gabrielli, |
| 55s | was very good... |
| 57s | But the Macchi M.C.200, |
| 59s | created by the industry veteran and aerodynamics expert Mario Castoldi, |
| 64s | was even better, |
| 65s | even though it was produced by a relatively small company. |
| 69s | Having sensed an opportunity, |
| 70s | the aircraft-building empire of Gianni Caproni |
| 73s | decided to make a foray into the field of making fighter aircraft as well. |
| 78s | Soon they started advertising their Reggiane Re.2000 to the military: |
| 83s | without much success, but with a lot of fervor. |
| 90s | Moreover, Italian aircraft engine manufacturers suddenly realized |
| 94s | that they were incapable of creating engines |
| 97s | that would be as powerful as contemporary foreign designs. |
| 101s | That was the second red flag. |
| 104s | Engines made by Fiat, Piaggio, Isotta Fraschini, and Alfa Romeo |
| 108s | simply couldn’t compete with their British, German, French, and American counterparts, |
| 114s | not to mention that they weren’t made in large enough numbers. |
| 117s | And the situation at Fiat was only getting worse. |
| 121s | When there was a chance to develop a fighter aircraft |
| 123s | around the Daimler-Benz DB 601, |
| 126s | which was a licensed German engine, |
| 129s | Mario Castoldi came up with the spectacular Folgore... |
| 133s | and easily won the competition. |
| 137s | Caproni-Reggiane also took part, and not without a bit of success: |
| 142s | their Re.2001 impressed the military |
| 146s | and was approved for production as a multirole fighter. |
| 149s | Naturally, Fiat also submitted a design... |
| 152s | Was it ‘G.50V’? Or ‘G.51’? |
| 156s | The name doesn’t really matter because it failed, |
| 158s | leaving the Turin-based company with nothing, |
| 161s | just around the time when the country, spurred by a mad ‘Duce’, |
| 165s | was heading towards the biggest war in history. |
| 168s | No one cared that Giuseppe Gabrielli from Fiat, the loser, |
| 172s | and Mario Castoldi, the triumphant winner, |
| 174s | were comrades and actively shared ideas with each other. |
| 178s | The top management only cared about the bottom line. |
| 181s | Fiat was ready to do anything to regain its position |
| 184s | as the indisputable leader of the industry, |
| 186s | simply because government contracts meant fantastic profits. |
| 191s | Not to mention Mussolini’s German friends |
| 193s | who were more than eager to get their own share of the Italian aviation pie. |
| 205s | And that’s when it all went down in flames. |
| 207s | We’ll never know why at that critical moment |
| 210s | Germany failed to supply Italy with even a single DB.601E engine, |
| 215s | the powerplant that would allow engineers to equip |
| 218s | the Folgore with an engine cannon, |
| 220s | which was a feature highly requested by pilots. |
| 223s | We’re also very unlikely to learn the reasons behind the very strange way |
| 227s | that Italy handled the production of the Daimler-Benz DB 605. |
| 232s | The 601 was produced in Italy by Alfa-Romeo, |
| 236s | but the 605 was somehow given to Fiat. |
| 239s | Why anyone thought that it was a good idea to go through all the hoops |
| 243s | of mastering the manufacturing process of a foreign engine twice |
| 247s | is a question without an answer. |
| 249s | What we do know is that General Francesco Pricolo, |
| 252s | who oversaw the development and service introduction of the Folgore, |
| 256s | was removed from office in November 1941. |
| 260s | Numerous failed attempts to kickstart the manufacturing process of the engine |
| 264s | needed for the Macchi M.C.202 |
| 267s | at Fiat factories very well could be the reason for that, |
| 271s | but that’s just one possible explanation out of many. |
| 277s | By the spring of 1941, the situation was completely out of control. |
| 283s | There were three ‘Serie 5’ fighter aircraft competing for the new contract, |
| 287s | but it looked like only one option actually made sense. |
| 291s | The Macchi M.C.205 Veltro was basically a Folgore with a new engine, |
| 296s | which meant that its production could be set up in a very short time, |
| 300s | while the prototypes delivered by Fiat and Reggiane |
| 304s | required establishing new manufacturing pipelines, from scratch. |
| 308s | Yes, the Veltro was still quite complicated to produce, |
| 311s | but the design could be streamlined and aerodynamically improved |
| 315s | as a part of the drive to develop the definitive version of the aircraft, |
| 319s | the M.C.205N Orione, |
| 322s | and then you could incrementally improve the design even further |
| 326s | for the future М.С.206. |
| 332s | But when the Veltro was put into trials against |
| 334s | other Series 5 aircraft in Rechlin, Germany, |
| 338s | Kurt Tank, who famously created the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, |
| 342s | singled out the Fiat G.55 and insisted that it was the only way to go. |
| 347s | Willy Messerschmitt, on the other hand, |
| 349s | had nothing but praise for the Reggiane Re.2005 Sagittario |
| 354s | made by Caproni-Reggiane. |
| 356s | What was the right choice then? |
| 357s | And how could you force two companies that lost the competition |
| 360s | to build the design of the one that won? |
| 363s | At that point, the Italian generals were at their wits’ end. |
| 366s | “Build anything”, they said. |
| 368s | “Please! Anything! We’re losing the war!” |
| 373s | And that’s what was built: |
| 375s | 262 Veltros, a couple of Orione prototypes, |
| 379s | a single barely finished M.C.206 and an M.C.207 that never took to the skies. |
| 385s | Fiat factories, badly hit by Allied air raids, |
| 388s | only managed to build 274 G.55s and a few G.56 prototypes before the surrender. |
| 396s | And Caproni-Reggiane... |
| 398s | Well, all in all less than fifty Re.2005 Saggittarios rolled off the factory floor, |
| 404s | even though the military needed thousands of fighters to protect the skies of Italy. |
| 409s | In the end, as it turned out, |
| 410s | the most produced fighter of the so-called ‘Serie 5’ was... |
| 414s | the Bf 109G. |
| 416s | Italy was forced to buy lots of those from Germany, |
| 419s | paying dearly for every single plane. |
| 422s | You know the end of that story: on September 3, 1943, |
| 426s | Italy signed the armistice that removed her from the ranks |
| 429s | of nations giving military assistance to Germany. |
| 434s | Some believe that the fiasco of the ‘Stellar Trio’ was all a big conspiracy |
| 439s | by Italian aircraft manufacturers, |
| 441s | but that’s just one of many ways people try to explain |
| 444s | how the drive to develop three magnificent planes resulted in nothing but ruin. |
| 449s | What do you think? |