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Fly 1/72 FIAT G.50bis/AS Freccia (Arrow) by Giovanni Di Nocera |
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Although produced in comparatively fewer numbers than corresponding Macchi aircraft of WWII, the Fiat G.50 nonetheless draws as much interest, particularly amongst scale aviation modelers. The most interesting use of this aircraft was in the clash between Finland and Russia in 1940-1944. In the hands of Finnish pilots, the Fiat G.50 achieved remarkable success and was responsible for 101 Soviet aircraft shot-down for the loss of only two Fiats. This success mirrored the Italian performance in southern Russia using the more effective Macchi MC.200. The total production of Fiat's amounted to 791 of all types. The Fiat G.50 was designed by the young and gifted Ing. Giuseppe Gabrielli in 1937 and he drew upon this experience to design one of the war's best fighters, the Fiat G.55 Centauro. He later designed the highly successful Fiat G.91 multirole combat jet aircraft, winning the European competition for its type and the plane was subsequently adopted for use by the AMI, the Luftwaffe and the Portugese air force. In Greece and North Africa: At the start of the Greek campaign, in October 1940, three units were equipped with G.50's for operations in the Balkans-the 24° Gruppo C.T. at Tirana and the 154° Gruppo C. T. at Berat in Albania and the 2° Gruppo C.T. in Southern Italy; 43 machines in Albania and 33 in Italy. Despite valiant resistance, the Greek Air Force was almost at the end of its powers and only the intervention of British forces in November 1940 prevented an early collapse of Greek resistance. Although the CR.42 was superior to the Gladiator, the G.50 pilots learned that it was not advisable to try and dog-fight the R.A.F. biplane, but rather to exploit their superior speed. The G.50's were engaged in intensive fighting over Greece until February 1941 and the ferocity of the air battles gave rise to quite discordant claims regarding "kills". Two examples suffice; on 20th February 1941 Italian pilots claimed that 12 enemy aircraft were shot down by 22 G.50's without loss, while British reports for the same day record four Italian fighters as being shot down by six Hurricanes on their first sortie of the day. Later, on 28th February, Italian claims totalled 12, while the R.A.F. claimed 27 "kills" without loss, mostly by the newly arrived Hurricanes and a Gladiator squadron. Without detracting from the valour and aggressiveness of the pilots of both sides, these examples illustrate the difficulty of gathering historically accurate data, despite the good faith of the pilots.
The first G.50 unit to be withdrawn, the 20° Gruppo C.T. was withdrawn from Greece, prior to transfer to Libya, in December 1940, and the fighter units in Greece were progressively re-equipped with the Macchi C.200 which was much more suitable for combat with the opposing Hurricanes. From October 1940 to April 1941 Italian fighter strength in the Greek theatre and Southern Italy combined was as follows:
The first prototype of an improved version, the G.50bis, was first flown on 9th September 1940. This model was similar to the original G.50, but featured increased fuel capacity, a new radio installation, a slightly modified fuselage profile, armour for the pilot's seat, small changes in the canopy design and a rudder of new design, with increased chord and reduced height. In all, 421 G.50bis aircraft were built by C.M.A.S.A. and Fiat-Aeritalia at Turin. Fiat built 344 machines (MM5933-6247 and MM8561-8591) while the remaining 77 were produced by C.M.A.S.A. Nine were supplied to Croatia, but it is doubtful if they were used in action. The G.50bis was mainly used in Libya, with the addition of sand filters for the carburettor air intake and the oil radiators. The first G.50bis machines arrived in Libya late in December 1940 with the 358a Squadriglia, later absorbed into the 20 Gruppo (150o and 152o Squadriglie). They were followed in January 1941 by the 155o Gruppo C.T. The Fiats participated in the Italian retreat to Tripolitania and the re-conquest of Cyrenaica. During this period a number of G.50's were modified in the field as fighter-bombers, racks being installed underwing to accommodate small bombs. These fighter-bombers were particularly active over the Sidi Barrani area, where they achieved mixed success in combat with Hurricanes and P-40's. The arrival of moremodern Italian fighters (the C.200 and later the C.202) permitted the withdrawal of the G.50bis from first-line service in North Africa, and in December 1941, the only unit in this theatre with the type was the 120 Gruppo C.T. based at Castelbenito (Tripoli). The number of G.50bis aircraft in Libya varied from 20 in February 1941 to a maximum of 80 in October and 35 in December. Similarly, the G.50bis was relegated to second-line and local-defence duties in other theatres, as in Sardinia (24° Gruppo C.T.), in Greece (151° Gruppo C.T.) and in the Aegean (154° Gruppo C.T.). The last batches of aircraft equipped the 158° and 159° Gruppi Assalto in 1943 pending the introduction of the Re.2000. Among the last actions of the G.50bis were those fought by the 368a Squadriglia around Sfax in Tunisia and the desperate missions flown against the Allied landings in Sicily where Fiats of the Gruppi Assalto (attack units) attacked landing craft south of Augusta Bay. On the date of the Armistice only 48 G.50's remained (17 were serviceable), distributed as follows:
Source: Cattaneo, G. "The Fiat G.50", Profile Publications, Number 188, Surrey, England, 1967. |
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The Fiat G.50 was the first Italian low-wing monoplane fighter with an enclosed cockpit and retractable landing gear, most were built with open cockpits in response to pilots' objections regarding supposedly poorly designed closed cockpits of the first 45 production aircraft. The main production G.50bis variant with open cockpits saw service with the Regia Aeronautica, the Italian Cobelligerent Air Force, the Finnish Ilmavoimat, the Croatian Zrakoplovstvo Nezavisne Drave Hrvatske, the Spanish Ejército del Aire, the Yugoslavian Zrakoplovstvo vojske Kraljevine Jugoslavije World War II air forces and the Luftwafee. Prototypes and variants included the G.50bis/A Regia Marina Aquila carrier fighter, the G.50ter, the G.50V/G.51 Daimler-Benz DB 601, the G.50A/N night fighter and the G.50B two-seater advanced trainer, all built between 1937 and 1942. The kit I used is the Fiat G 50 bis / AS by Fly in 1/72 scale. The markings are for 352-2, 352a Sq. 20o Gruppo Aut. CT. at Martuba. The color is in three colours: Verde Mimetico 3 Fs 34102, Giallo Mimetico Fs 33434, Marrone Mimetico 2 FS 30076 Grigio Mimetico FS 33293 with the NACA in Lemon yellow FS 33655. Paints used were Vallejo, MPR and Mig, using my Chinese airbrush clone with a 0.3 opening. The kit is of the low pressure injection type, with resin details, such as internal NACA. I proceeded to create some reinforcements for the planes of the thing and the wing-fuselage, where there are some problems in gluing due to the gaps that are created, which are easily filled. The engine has separate cylinders which need to be glued and the valve rods created: A decent kit to which you need to pay a little more attention in order to be able to "tame" it, but then with good camouflage they are satisfying. The decals are pretty good. |
Aircraft: Fiat G.50 Manufacturer: Fiat S.A. Type: Fighter Year: 1939 Engine: Fiat A.74 RC 38, 14-cyclinder radial, air-cooled, 870hp Wingspan: 36 ft (10.98 m) Length: 25 ft 7 in (7.80 m) Height: 9 ft 8 1/2 in (2.95 m) Weight: 5,280 lb (2,395 kg) (Loaded) Maximum Speed: 294 mph (473 km/h) at 19,685 ft (6,000 m) Ceiling: 35,200 ft (10,700 m) Range: 420 miles (675 km) Armament: 2 x 12.7mm (0.5 in) SAFAT machine guns Crew: 1 |
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