Italy: Regia Aeronautica Warplanes of the Second World War: Messerschmitt to Savoia-Marchetti
Aerei da guerra italiani della seconda guerra mondiale
Italian Warplanes of the Second World War
Regia Aeronautica 1930-1943
Messerschmitt to Savoia-Marchetti
Messerschmitt Bf 108B-2 Taifun (Typhoon) liaison (post-war Photo, civilian version). (Thuringius Photo)
Messerschmitt Bf 109G/K fighter. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Messerschmitt Bf 110C-4/G-4 night fighter. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Morane-Saulnier MS.230 Et.2 trainer. (Armee de l'Air Photo)
(Nadkachna Photo)
(Alan Wilson Photo)
Morane-Saulnier MS.230 Et.2 trainer, Praha-Kbely Museum, Czech Republic.
Morane-Saulnier MS.230 Et.2 trainer, Royal Military Museum, Brussels, Belgium. (Ad Meskens Photo)
Morane-Saulnier MS.406 C.1 fighter (shown in Armee de l'Air service). (Armee de l'Air Photos)
Morane-Saulnier MS.406, Reg No, D-3801 J-143 (Association Morane Charlie-Fox), France. (Kogo Photo)
Nardi FN.305 trainer. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Nardi FN.305 trainer (in Romanian Air Force service). (Romanian Air Force Photo)
(Alan Wilson Photo)
(Aldo Bidini Photo)
(Smolik Photos)
Nardi FN.305 trainer, on display in the Italian Air Force Museum, Vigna di Valle on Lake Bracciano in central Italy.
Nardi FN.315 trainer. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Nardi FN.316 trainer. (Regia Aeronautica Photo)
Piaggio P.16 heavy bomber. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Piaggio P.32 bomber. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Piaggio P.50-I heavy bomber. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Piaggio P.50-II heavy bomber. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Piaggio P.108A bomber in Luftwaffe service. (Luftwaffe Photos)
Piaggio P.108B bomber. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Piaggio P.111 high altitude research. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Piaggio P.119 fighter. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Potez 63-11 reconnaissance. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Potez 630/631 C.3 heavy fighter. (Regia Aeronautica Photo)
Reggiane Re.2000 Falco 1 (Falcon) fighter. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
(Alan Wilson Photos)
(Bene Riobo Photo)
(Stahlkocker Photos)
Reggiane Re.2000 Falco 1 (Falcon) fighter.
Reggiane Re.2001 Falco II (Falcon) fighter. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Reggiane Re.2002 Ariete (Ram) fighter. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Reggiane Re.2002 Ariete (Ram) fighter in Luftwaffe service. (Luftwaffe Photo)
Reggiane Re.2002 Ariete (Ram) fighter, the world's only complete example, is on display at the Museo Storico dell' Aeronautica Militare Italiana at Vigna di Valle, north of Rome. It is painted to represent an aircraft of the Regian Aeronautica's 239 Squadriglia during late 1943.
Reggiane Re.2002 Ariete (Ram) fighter. (Regia Aeronautica Photo)
Reggiane Re.2003 reconnaissance. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Reggiane Re.2004 fighter/bomber (identical fuselage, wings and other components to the Re.2005), shown here in mock-up form. (Regia Aeronautica Photo)
Reggiane Re.2005 Sagittario (Archer) fighter. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
(MLWatts Photo)
Reggiane Re.2005 Sagittario (Archer) fighter, Museo dell'aeronautica Gianni Caproni, Trento, Italy.
Reggiane Re.2006. The RAF studied the Re.2006 in 1946, but little was learned, so it was destroyed, having never flown. However, several parts survived, with the only known remaining part (a part of the landing gear) displayed at the Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci in Italy. (Regia Aeronautica Photo)
Rogožarski SIM-XIV-H Yugoslav coastal reconnaissance floatplane. (Royal Yugoslav Navy Photos)
SAIMAN 200 two-seat primary trainer designed and built by the Societa Industrie Meccaniche Aeronautiche Navali (SAIMAN). A number of these aircraft were captured and flown by Allied airmen during the war, including this one shown with USAAF 51-224 (perhaps made up) at Ponte Olivio. Sicily, 19 August 1943, with the nick-name "Patches". (USAAF Photo)
(ML Watts Photo)
SAIMAN 202M liaison. Museo dell'Aeronautica Gianni Caproni, Italy.
Savoia-Marchetti S.55X maritime patrol flying boat. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Savoia-Marchetti S.55X flying boat of Marshall Italo Balbo Sqn, visiting Victoria, Prince Edward Island in 1933. (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3651011)
(JCMA Photo)
Savoia-Marchetti S.55X maritime patrol flying boat. The last remaining example is preserved in the TAM "Asas de um sonho" museum, Sao Carlos, Sao Paulo, Brazil. The aircraft, registered I-BAUQ and named "Jahú", was the S.55 used by Commander Joao Ribeiro de Barros in his crossing of the South Atlantic in 1927.
Savoia-Marchetti S.56 flying boat trainer. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
(Alan Wilson Photo)
(Smolik Photo)
Savoia-Marchetti S.56 flying boat trainer, on display in the Italian Air Force Museum, Vigna di Valle on Lake Bracciano in central Italy.
(Ad Meskens Photo)
Savoia-Marchetti S.56 flying boat trainer. Reg. No. NC349N, built under licence in the USA by AAC, was used by police during the prohibition years to intercept rum smugglers. It is on display in the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Long Island, New York.
Savoia-Marchetti S.56 flying boat trainer, restored, is on display at the Carolinas Aviation Museum, Charlotte Douglass International Airport, Charlotte, North Carolina.
Savoia-Marchetti S.66 search and rescue flying boat. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Savoia-Marchetti SM.73 transport. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Savoia-Marchetti SM.74 transport. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Savoia-Marchetti SM.75 Marsupiale (Marsupial) transport. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero (Sparrowhawk) bomber/transport. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero (Sparrowhawk) bomber/transport, in RAF markings. Three of four Savoia-Marchetti S.M.79 Sparviero (Sparrowhawk)s flew into Heliopolis, Greece on 19 April 1941 carrying gold bullion. These were former Yugoslav Air Force aircraft which went into operation with No. 117 RAF Squadron in Khartoum on 30 April 1941. A fourth arrived shortly afterwards. Savoia-Marchetti S.M.79 Sparviero (Sparrowhawk) (Serial No. 3712), AX702, flew with the Yugoslav Air Force and was delivered to No. 117 Squadron on 26 May 1941. S.M.79K (Serial No. 3713), AX703 went to the same unit, then on to No. 117 Squadron. It crashed on 17 November 1941 near Takoradi, after the failure of one of its engines. S.M.79K (Serial No. 3714) arrived with AX702, final fate not known. S.M.79K (Serial No. 3702), AX705 was the third aircraft and served with No. 2 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit at Heliopolis from 3 January 1942, until it was damaged in a landing accident on 27 February 1942 and struck off charge.
Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero (Sparrowhawk), (Serial No. MM 22174) of the Regia Aeronautica, was taken over by No. 145 Squadron, RAF at Castel Benito on the unit’s arrival there on 8 February 1943. This aircraft was repainted in British markings with the Squadron code letters ZX, and used extensively as a Squadron communications aircraft and wore the name Gremlin HQ. The aircraft was later handed over to a USAAF unit, but was destroyed by fire before it could be flown. Another aircraft captured at Castel Benito was a Fiat G.50 Freccia single-engined fighter, which was also painted in RAF markings, but later handed over to the USAAF 79th Fighter Group. (RAF Photos)
Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero (Sparrowhawk) bomber/transport, in USAAF markings. (USAAF Photo)
(Alan Wilson Photos)
Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero (Sparrowhawk) bomber/transport, an ex-Lebanese aircraft on display at the Museo Storico dell' Aeronautica Militare Italiana at Vigna di Valle, north of Rome.
(M.L. Watts Photo )
(Ennio Varani Photo)
(Matteo Ianeselli Photo)
Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero (Sparrowhawk) bomber/transport, on display at the Museo dell'Aeronautica Gianni Caproni at Trento, Italy.
Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 Pipistrello (Bat) bomber. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Savoia Marchetti SM.82PW Canguru transport/bomber. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
(Oren Rozen Photo)
Savoia Marchetti SM.82PW Canguru transport/bomber on display in the Italian Air Force Museum, Vigna di Valle on Lake Bracciano in central Italy.
Savoia-Marchetti SM.83 transport. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Savoia-Marchetti SM.84 bomber. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Savoia-Marchetti SM.85 dive bomber. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Savoia-Marchetti SM.86 dive bomber. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Savoia-Marchetti SM.87 transport floatplane. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Savoia-Marchetti SM.88 heavy fighter. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Savoia-Marchetti SM.89 bomber. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Savoia-Marchetti SM.91 heavy fighter/bomber. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Savoia-Marchetti SM.92 heavy fighter/bomber. (Regia Aeronautica Photo)
Savoia-Marchetti SM.92 heavy fighter/bomber in Luftwaffe service. (Luftwaffe Photos)
Savoia-Marchetti SM.93 dive bomber in Luftwaffe service. (Luftwaffe Photos)
Savoia-Marchetti SM.95 transport. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Allied aircraft captured by the Regia Aeronautica
These aircraft were repainted in Italian markings and primarily used for evaluation. Other aircraft were captured but were not flyable.
Breguet 19 B.2 (shown in Armèe de l'Air colours). (Peyot Photo)
Breguet 693 AB.2 (shown in Armèe de l'Air colours). (Armèe de l'Air Photo)
Bristol Beaufighter Mk. 1F. (Regia Aeronautica Photo)
Bristol Blenheim Mk. IV. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Consolidated B-24D Liberator, USAAF bomber. (Regia Aeronautica Photo)
Dornier Do 17K, ex-Yugoslav Air Force captured by Italy. (Regian Aeronautica Photo)
Fairey Albacore. Two British Fairey Albacores were captured by the Italian forces in North Africa. RN (Serial No. X9154) of 821 Squadron failed to return from a bombing raid on an Italian airfield on 5 Aug 1942 and force landed at Fuka, where it was captured with the pilot and crew taken prisoner. This Albacore was repaired and flown by 9th Gruppo of the 4th Stormo. During the withdrawal from the Libya in the fall of 1942, the aircraft was abandoned at Tripoli as unserviceable. A second Albacore RN (Serial No. X8941) was captured on the night of 23-24 Jan 1942. X8941 was an 828 Squadron aircraft based at Hal Far, Malta, which had failed to return from a night operation. The wreck of this aircraft was present at Guidonia Flight Test Center, in June 1942. (Regia Aeronautica Photo)
Fairey Swordfish, captured by Italian forces. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Hawker Fury in Italian markings. (Regia Aeronautica Photo)
Hawker Hurricane Mk. I. (Regia Aeronautica Photo)
Lockheed P-38G Lightning captured by Italian forces on 12 June 1943 after mistakenly landing in Capoterra. It was flown by Colonello Angelo Rotondi for attacks on B-17 bombers over Torvajanica. (Regia Aeronautica Photos)
Rogožarski Fizir.
Rogožarski PVT (Portuguese markings). (Jane's, 1938 Photo)
Zmai Fzir FP-2 in Italian markings. (Regia Aeronautica Photo)
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