Fiat BR.20
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Fiat BR.20 Cicogna (Italian: "stork") was a twin engined bomber in the Italian Regia Aeronautica during World War II.
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[edit] History
The BR.20 was first flown at Turin in 1936 and shortly after this first flight the aircraft became central to the propaganda campaign lauding Italian engineering. In 1937 two stripped down BR.20s were built for entry into the prestigious Istres-Damascus air race gaining sixth and seventh place. In 1939 a modified long range version of the BR.20 under the command of Maner Lualdi made a highly publicised nonstop flight from Rome to Addis Ababa.
85 BR.20s were sold to Japan and saw action in the Second Sino-Japanese War. However, the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force was dissatisfied with their performance and soon replaced them with Mitsubishi Ki-21s. One was sold to Venezuela.
BR.20s fought briefly in the Spanish Civil War and were used in bombing raids over Teruel and Ebro. Nine of them took part in the Nationalist air parade in Madrid at the war's close. The BR.20s that had served in Civil War were given to the Spanish government.
By the time Italy had entered World War II, a new variant the BR.20M had been produced. The BR.20M had a different nose section with added glazed sections for the bombardier. The machine gun was removed. 264 BR.20Ms were built.
The aircraft fought in the brief campaign against France and also served with the Corpo Aereo Italiano stationed in Belgium during the Battle of Britain. BR.20s were involved in day and night raids against Ipswich, Ramsgate and Harwich.
During the course of the war, BR.20s were used in North Africa, Albania, Greece and Malta. They were also used extensively in Yugoslavia against Tito's partisans. By 1943, when the Italian armistice was signed, many had been relegated to training, though 81 were with operational units, mostly in the Balkans and Italy;later served in Eastern Front also.
The final production variant was the BR.20bis with a fully glazed nose, a retractable tail wheel, a more streamlined fuselage, pointed fins, improved performance and much heavier armament. 15 of these were built from March to July 1943.
Experimental versions included the BR.20C, with a 37 mm cannon in the nose.
[edit] Operators
[edit] Specifications (Fiat Br.20M)
Data from The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II[1]
General characteristics
- Crew: 5
- Length: 16.68 m (54 ft 8 in)
- Wingspan: 21.56 m (70 ft 8.75 in)
- Height: 4.75 m (15 ft 7 in)
- Wing area: 74.0 m² (796.5 ft²)
- Empty weight: 6,500 kg (14,330 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 10,100 kg (22,270 lb)
- Powerplant: 2× Fiat A.80 RC.41 radial engine, 746 kW (1,000 hp) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 440 km/h (273 mph)
- Cruise speed: 340 km/h (211 mph)
- Range: 2750 km (1,709 miles)
- Service ceiling: 8,000 m (26,250 ft)
- Rate of climb: m/min (ft/min)
- Wing loading: kg/m² (lb/ft²)
- Power/mass: kW/kg (hp/lb)
Armament
- 3× 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns
- 1600 kg (3,528 lb) of bombs
[edit] References
- ^ Bishop, Chris (ed.) 1998, The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II, Barnes & Noble, New York. ISBN 0-7607-1022-8.
- Mondey, David. The Hamlyn Concise Guide to Axis Aircraft of World War II. Chancellor Press, 2002.
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