Macchi C.202

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macchi_C.202

The Macchi C.202 Folgore (Italian "thunderbolt") was an Italian fighter aircraft
developed and manufactured by Macchi Aeronautica. It was operated mainly by the
Regia Aeronautica (RA; Royal (Italian) Air Force) in and around the Second World
War. According to aviation author David Mondey, the Folgore has been considered
to be one of the best wartime fighters to serve in large numbers with the Regia
Aeronautica.

The C.202 was designed by a team headed by the company's chief of design,
Italian aeronautics engineer Mario Castoldi. As per company tradition, Macchi
aircraft designed by Mario Castoldi received the "C" letter in their model
designation, hence the Folgore is commonly referred to as the C.202 or MC.202.
The C.202 was a development of the earlier C.200 Saetta, powered by an
Italian-built version of the German Daimler-Benz DB 601Aa engine and featuring a
redesigned fuselage for greater streamlining.

During July 1941, the Folgore went into service with the Regia Aeronautica. In
combat, it very quickly proved itself to be an effective and deadly dogfighter
against its contemporaries. During its service life, the C.202 was deployed on
all fronts in which Italy was involved. During late 1941, it commenced offensive
operations over Malta and in North Africa, where Italian and German forces were
engaged in heavy combat against British and later American operations. The C.202
continued to be used in North Africa as late as mid-1943, by which point the
type was withdrawn to support defensive efforts in Sicily and the Italian
mainland following their invasion by Allied forces. It also saw limited use on
the Eastern Front. Following the 1943 Armistice with Italy, the type was mostly
used as a trainer aircraft. The type was also operated by Croatia.

The Australian ace Clive Caldwell, who fought a wide variety of German, Italian
and Japanese fighters during 1941–45, later stated that the C.202 was "one of
the best and most undervalued of fighters". The C.202 also had its defects: like
its predecessor, the C.200, it could enter a dangerous spin. The radios were
unreliable, routinely forcing pilots to communicate by waggling their wings and
Western historians regard the C.202 as insufficiently armed, being furnished
with just a pair of machine guns that had a tendency for jamming. Still in
mid-Summer 1942, in North Africa, the Folgore achieved a ratio kill/loss better
than that of the Messerschmitt Bf 109s.

The Macchi C.202 Folgore was an Italian fighter aircraft, developed from the
earlier C.200 Saetta; its principal difference was its use of an Italian-built
version of the German Daimler-Benz DB 601Aa engine and the adoption of a revised
streamlined fuselage. Both the wing and fuselage structures were of a
conventional metal design, having a single vertical tail with two elevators, and
a wing of relatively conventional design with two main spars and 23 ribs. The
ailerons, elevators and rudder were metal structures with fabric covering. Apart
from the ailerons, the entire trailing edge of the wing was dominated by a pair
of all metal split flaps. The undercarriage was of a standard design; the two
widely set hydraulically-actuated main gears retracted inwardly into recesses
set into the wing, while the tail wheel was non-retractable.

The fuselage of the C.202 was a semi-monocoque shell, comprising four
light-alloy beams, complete with longerons and ovoidal bulkheads. It was
significantly streamlined over the preceding C.200 to increase performance by
reducing the parasitic drag encountered. The forward section housed both the
main armament and the Alfa Romeo RA.1000 R.C.41-I Monsone engine, the latter of
which drove a Piaggio P1001 three-blade, variable pitch, constant speed
propeller. As with the C.200, to counteract the torque of the engine, Castoldi
extended the left wing by 21 cm (8.5 inches); this meant that the left wing
developed more lift, offsetting the tendency of the aircraft to roll to the left
due to the rotation of the propeller. The wing was a bi-longeron structure,
which was attached to the fuselage center section via steel forgings; it was
fitted with flaps that were both statically and dynamically balanced.


Role
Fighter

Manufacturer
Macchi Aeronautica

Designer
Mario Castoldi

First flight
10 August 1940

Introduction
July 1941

Retired
1951

Status
Out of service

Primary users
Regia Aeronautica
Zrakoplovstvo Nezavisne Države Hrvatske
Luftwaffe

Number built
1,150

Developed from
Macchi C.200

Developed into
Macchi C.205

Although first deployed in mid-1941, the C.202 did not see action until later
that autumn; this delay came as a consequence of the many defects that were
discovered upon the first fighter deliveries. Some defects appeared similar to
those on the early C. 200 version: on 3 August, during a mock dogfight, Sergente
Maggiore Antonio Valle – an experienced pilot, credited with two kills in
Marmarica and recipient of a Medaglia di Bronzo al Valor Militare (Bronze Medal
of Military Valor) – at a height of 4,000 meters entered in a flat spin and
could not recover or bail out, losing his life. The oxygen system was also
regarded as being inefficient, causing, at least during the first sorties, up to
50/60 per cent of the pilots to abandon their missions and in some cases having
been determined to have caused fatal accidents. By November 1941, the C.202 had
appeared on the Libyan front. However, according to aviation author Gianni
Cattaneo, the type may have been more of a hindrance than help in that theatre,
attributing this to the pilots flying it only being semi-trained, which was in
turn caused by the type being rushed into service as Axis air superiority had
faded in North Africa, and a lack of spares to maintain it with. The C.202 had a
better time on the home front, where supplies were more plentiful and units had
more time to prepare and familiarise themselves with the type. The type was
quickly put to use outside of North Africa, seeing limited service against the
Soviet Union on the Eastern Front where, between 1941 and 1943, together with
C.200s, the fighter reportedly achieved an 88 to 15 victory/loss ratio. However,
according to authors Jeffery Ethell and Pietro Tonizzo, that ratio refers only
to the C.200 "Saetta".

Specifications (C.202CB Serie IV-VIII)

General characteristics
Crew: One
Length: 8.85 m (29 ft 0.5 in)
Wingspan: 10.58 m (34 ft 8.5 in)
Height: 3.49 m (11 ft 5 in)
Wing area: 16.82 m² (181.04 ft²)
Empty weight: 2,491 kg (5,492 lb)
Loaded weight: 2,929 kg (6,458 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 2,930 kg (6,460 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Alfa Romeo RA.1000 R.C.41-I Monsone liquid-cooled supercharged
inverted V-12, 1,175 PS (864 kW) at 2,500 rpm for takeoff

Performance
Maximum speed: 600 km/h (324 knots, 372 mph) at 5,600 m (18,370 ft)
Range: 765 km (413 nm, 475 mi)
Service ceiling: 11,500 m (37,730 ft)
Rate of climb: 18.1 m/s (3,563 ft/min)
Wing loading: 174.20kg/m² (35.68 lb/ft²)
Power/mass: W/kg (0.21 hp/lb)

Armament

2 × 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns in the engine cowling, 360/400 rpg
2 × 7.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns in the wings, 500 rpg
2 × 50, 100, or 160 kg (110, 220, or 350 lb) bombs
2 × 100 L (26.4 US gal; 22.0 imp gal) drop tanks



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