leaded50
Legendary member
It served primarily in the Italian Regia Aeronautica in the 1930s and during the Second World War. it was the last of the Fiat biplane fighters to enter front line service.
RAF Intelligence praised its exceptional manoeuvrability, further noting that "the plane was immensely strong", though it was technically outclassed by faster, more heavily armed monoplanes. While primarily used as a fighter, various other roles were adopted for some variants of the type, such as the CR.42CN night-fighter model, the CR.42AS ground-attack aircraft, and the CR.42B Biposto twin-seat trainer aircraft.
Top speed was 423km/h....with the CR.42DB it was an attempt to improve the type's performance by installing a Daimler-Benz DB 601 V12 engine of 753 kW (1,010 hp !!!!!) at 518 km/h (323 mph) .
By the outbreak of the Second World War, the CR.42 was considered to be the best biplane in service
"A RAF Intelligence report in late October 1940 circulated to all pilots and their squadrons, with copies to Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, and the War Cabinet, declared: 'The manoeuvrability of the CR.42s, in particular their capacity to execute an extremely tight half roll, has caused considerable surprise to other pilots and undoubtedly saved many Italian fighters from destruction.'"
Hurrricanes and Spitfire had problems with thrm in the war, and both types was shot down by a CR.42. Unconfirmed also s P-38.
One member here called this his favorit plane, and i couldnt keep off
.... so wednesday i made the intenals for such a plane.....
RAF Intelligence praised its exceptional manoeuvrability, further noting that "the plane was immensely strong", though it was technically outclassed by faster, more heavily armed monoplanes. While primarily used as a fighter, various other roles were adopted for some variants of the type, such as the CR.42CN night-fighter model, the CR.42AS ground-attack aircraft, and the CR.42B Biposto twin-seat trainer aircraft.
Top speed was 423km/h....with the CR.42DB it was an attempt to improve the type's performance by installing a Daimler-Benz DB 601 V12 engine of 753 kW (1,010 hp !!!!!) at 518 km/h (323 mph) .
By the outbreak of the Second World War, the CR.42 was considered to be the best biplane in service
"A RAF Intelligence report in late October 1940 circulated to all pilots and their squadrons, with copies to Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, and the War Cabinet, declared: 'The manoeuvrability of the CR.42s, in particular their capacity to execute an extremely tight half roll, has caused considerable surprise to other pilots and undoubtedly saved many Italian fighters from destruction.'"
Hurrricanes and Spitfire had problems with thrm in the war, and both types was shot down by a CR.42. Unconfirmed also s P-38.
One member here called this his favorit plane, and i couldnt keep off
.... so wednesday i made the intenals for such a plane.....
