Macchi C.205

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Macchi M.C.205

Regia Aeronautica's M.C.205
Type	Fighter
Manufacturer	Macchi
Designed by	Giovanni Castoldi
Introduced	1943
Retired	1947
Status	Retired
Primary users	Regia Aeronautica Luftwaffe

The Macchi C.205 Veltro (Greyhound) was an Italian World War II fighter aircraft built by the Aeronautica Macchi. The 205 was a development of theC.202 Folgore mounting a more powerful Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine and considered one of the best fighters to be used by the Italian airforce.

Looking to improve the performance of their front line fighters, in 1942 the Regia Aeronautica decided to change to the new 1,475 hp (1,100 kW) DB 605 engine, license produced in Italy as the FIAT RA.1050 Tifone. Fighter manufacturers were invited to enter versions of their designs with this engine as the "5 series" and were provided with imported 605's for prototype use. All of the designs used a 5 in the name, with the Macchi becoming the C.205 (instead of C.203).

Macchi had an advantage over the competition, as their C.202's used the DB 601 engine, which was compatible with the 605. The C.205 could thus be in the air almost immediately. The Fiat G.55 Centauro and the Reggiane Re.2005 Sagittario were modified from earlier designs and would take some time to get into service.

In testing the Centauro and Sagittario proved to be better performers at high altitude due to their larger wings. The Veltro used the same wing as the earlier Folgore but weights had increased from 2,350 to 3,408 kg and the wing loading from 142 to 203 kg/m². The Veltro had performance similar to German designs with their higher wing-loadings and was at its best at medium altitudes where it could reach 642 km/h. Plans were made to produce both the G.55 and Re.2005 and put the Veltro into production immediately.

Veltros reached the front-line groups in June 1943 and first flew in combat escorting bombers attacking Allied naval forces off Sicily. The planes fought continually over the next two months and proved to be superior to allied aircraft. In one instance on the 2nd of August, six Veltros attacked twenty Lockheed P-38s and Curtiss P-40s, shooting down six of them for the loss of one.

In August the Italian government made peace with the Allies, by which time the Regia Aeronautica had a 66 Veltros. Six of these flew to allied airfields to serve with the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force, while another 29 reached northern airfields and were used by the Axis-aligned Italian Social Republic Air Force.

Production continued after the armistice, eventually a 265 had been built before Allied bombing destroyed the production lines in Varese. Prototypes of several high-altitude versions had been built, the C.205N-1 Orione had a larger wing of area 19.00 m² and was armed with a single MG151/20 20 mm cannon firing through the propellor, two 12.7 mm machine guns in the upper fuselage and two 12.7 mm machine guns in the wing roots. The similar N-2 had three MG151/20 20 mm cannons, with two in the wings, and two of the 12.7 mm guns in the upper fuselage. Design on production versions of these planes with even more wing area (21 m²) were on the drawing boards as the C.206 (similar to the N-1) and C.207 (four 20 mm cannons). These would mount the larger Daimler-Benz DB 603 engine of 1750ps. The C.206 prototype was destroyed in the bombing of the Varese factory before being completed.

[edit] Operators

Profile of MC 250.
Copyright by Giovanni Paulli. www.paulligiovanni.com

[edit] Specifications

General characteristics

Crew: one pilot
Length: 8.85 m (29 ft)
Wingspan: 10.58 m (35 ft 19 in)
Height: 3.05 m (10 ft)
Wing area: 16.80 m² (180.8 ft²)
Empty weight: 2,581 kg (5,690 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 3,900 kg (8,580 lb)
Powerplant: 1× FIAT RA1050 RC 58 Tifone (licensed version of the German Daimler-Benz DB 605) V12 engine, 1,475 hp (1,100 kW)