"Folgore"

Built around the Daimler Benz DB 601A engine (due to the lack of adequately powerful Italian engines), the Macchi C.202 "Folgore" flew for the first time on August 10, 1940, exactly two months after the entrance of Italy into WW2. The aircraft was a beautiful Italian single-seat fighter and its flight characteristics were so outstanding that it was in service within just one year (an exceptional fact, considering the usual timing of the Regia Aeronautica). The engine was built under licence by Alfa-Romeo and the production of the plane, besides Macchi, was sub-contracted also to the Breda and SAI Ambrosini factories. Despite this, the total amount of C.202's produced was only 1,100 units, a drop of water in the sea of emergencies that the Regia Aeronautica had to face in the Mediterranean and North African front.

The appearance of the C.202 in the North African and Maltese skies was quite a shock for the British pilots, who suddenly found their Hurricanes outclassed and their Spitfires Mk V having a hard time against the new Italian fighter. The C.202, on the other hand, continued to suffer from the same defect of the other Italian fighters - it was undergunned. Originally only two 12,7mm machine guns were placed over the engine, but were later joined by two 7,7mm machine guns placed in the wings. The resulting firepower was too light and even a marksman pilot had to struggle to obtain a deadly pattern on his target.

"The Damned Hunchback"

Born as a transport aircraft, the Savoia Marchetti S.79 was one of the fastest planes of its time, with a maximum speed of over 260 mph. The prototype, coded I-MAGO, made its first flight in October 1934 and after that, over 1,200 S.79s were produced. The plane, with its three-engine layout, was almost immediately adapted for military use, being not only the fastest multi-engined plane in Italy, but also faster than many contemporary fighters. And, notwithstanding the problems caused by the reduced size of the fuselage (the bombs had to be installed in vertical position), with the addition of the characteristic "hump" behind the cockpit to accomodate a pair of defensive 12.7 machine-guns, and a ventral gondola to accomodate both the bombardier and another defensive 7.7 MGs, the "Sparviero" begun its career in the Regia Aeronautica. The first S.79s were delivered to 12° Stormo B.T. in October 1936. It was a completely new machine for Regia Aeronautica standards, the first bomber to have a retractable undercarriage, for instance. Transition was slow but steady. Some of the defects of the plane were "dampened" by using fighter pilots at first, and by the trust many aircrews developed for it. Meanwhile, between 1937 and 1938, a few examples of the S.79 were modified to establish new world speed records in its category. Such records were repeatedly set, with the last on December 1938, at the incredible speed of over 320 mph! On February 1937 the S.79 "blooded" its wings in the Spanish Civil War, where an Italian expeditionary corps had been sent. Out of one hundred S.79s, only two were lost in two years of operations, a further proof of the soundness of the project. The Spanish success, however, was more a disgrace than an advantage for the Regia Aeronautica - high ranks convinced themselves that Italy had planes capable of facing any enemy, while evolution of aircraft design was instead experiencing a new boost. On June 10, 1940, when Italy entered World War II, the bomber version of the S.79 equipped fourteen Gruppi of the air force, for a total of 612 aircraft (built by SIAI and, under licence, by Macchi, Reggiane and Aeronautica Umbra).

The "Sparviero" bomber (soon to be nicknamed by the English "The Damned Hunchback", due both to the bulbous upper fuselage and to the capacity it had to absorb punishment) was deployed on the North African, Balkan, Mediterranean fronts and against Malta. It performed exceedingly well, considering its shortcomings, namely the scarce and badly placed defensive armament, and the light bomb load.

"lightning" 

As a consequence of the lamentations of the Italian fighter pilots during the War of Spain for the lack of really fast fighters, the Italian Air Ministry issued in 1937 a request for a new fast monoplane and the results were the Fiat G.50, the IMAM Ro.51 and the Macchi C.200. The new fighter created by Ing. Mario Castoldi around the reliable Fiat RC.38 engine was a very nice and sleek plane, with an adequate power and very good flying characteristics, with the exception of a problem that plagued the first serie of examples: the tendence to sudden enter autorotation no sooner certain angles of attack were attained. This was due to a problem with the constant-profile wing and was soon solved with the adoption of a modified wing with span-wise variable profiles. The accidents however had created a bad reputation around the C.200 and the first planes delivered to 4° Stormo Caccia in late 1939 were refused by the unit who preferred the more reassuring Fiat Cr.42 biplane! The C.200 was nonetheless delivered to other units and by the entrance in war of Italy on June 1940 it equipped 6°, 152° and 153° Gruppo for a total of 144 aircraft.