C.205
The Macchi C.205 ''Veltro'' () (also known as MC.205, "MC" standing for "Macchi Castoldi") was a Second World War-era fighter aircraft designed and produced by the Italian aircraft manufacturer Aeronautica Macchi. Along with the Reggiane Re.2005 Sagittario and Fiat G.55 Centauro, the Macchi C.205 was one of the three "''Serie'' 5" Italian fighters built around the powerful German-sourced Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine. The C.205 was a development of the earlier C.202 ''Folgore'', work on which commenced in 1941. On 19 April 1942, the C.205V ''Veltro'' performed its maiden flight. During testing, the type proved that it could achieve a maximum speed of roughly . Due to a combination of design choices, including the DB 605 engine and a relatively high wing loading, it was capable of achieving comparable performance to contemporary frontline German fighter aircraft. Production aircraft were typically armed with a pair of 20 mm Mauser MG 151/20 cannon along with 12.7 mm Bred ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Luigi Gorrini
Luigi Gorrini, MOVM (12 July 1917 – 8 November 2014), was an Italian World War II fighter pilot in the Regia Aeronautica and in the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana. During the conflict, he flew with the ''Corpo Aereo Italiano'' (CAI, Italian Air Corps) during the Battle of Britain, fought over Libya and Tunisia, and was involved in the defence of the Italian mainland. Gorrini is believed to have shot down 19 Allied planes (24 according to some sources), and damaged another 9, of several types: Bristol Beaufighter, Bristol Blenheim, Curtiss P-40, Spitfire, P-38 Lightning, P-47 Thunderbolt, B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator. He piloted the biplane Fiat C.R.42 and monoplanes Macchi C.202 and C.205 ''Veltro''. With the ''Veltro'' he shot down 14 Allied planes and damaged six more. At the time of his death, he was the only surviving fighter pilot awarded the ''Medaglia d'Oro al Valor Militare'' (Gold Medal of Military Valor). North Africa and Greece Gorrini came to N ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Aeronautica Macchi
Aermacchi was an Italian aircraft manufacturer. Formerly known as Aeronautica Macchi, the company was founded in 1912 by Giulio Macchi at Varese in north-western Lombardy as Nieuport-Macchi, to build Nieuport monoplanes under licence for the Italian military. With a factory located on the shores of Lake Varese, the firm originally manufactured a series of Nieuport designs, as well as seaplanes. After World War II, the company began producing motorcycles as a way to fill the post-war need for cheap, efficient transportation. The company later specialised in civil and military pilot training aircraft. In July 2003, Aermacchi was integrated into the Finmeccanica Group (now Leonardo) as Alenia Aermacchi, which increased its shareholding to 99%. Military trainers Since the beginning, the design and production of military trainers have been the core business of Alenia Aermacchi. The products include: * SF-260, piston-engined or turboprop-powered screener/primary trainer * MB ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mario Castoldi
Mario Castoldi (February 26, 1888 – May 31, 1968) was an Italian aircraft engineer and designer. Biography Born in Zibido San Giacomo, Province of Milan, Castoldi worked for the experimental center of Italian Military Aviation at Montecelio, not far from Rome. In 1922, he moved to Macchi Aeronautica, where he became famous for designing a series of seaplanes that set world speed records. His first winning plane was the Macchi M.39 seaplane. It was designed in 1925–26 to compete in the Schneider Trophy race of 1926. Powered (like all the Macchi planes from this time) by a Fiat engine, it managed a top speed of 396 km/h (246 mph) and won the contest for that year. For the next four years, Castoldi designed several more racing seaplanes (the M.52, M.52R, and the M.67), which entered the Schneider Trophy races but they lost to the British racers (the Supermarine S.5, and the Supermarine S.6). Castoldi's most famous plane was the Macchi M.C.72 (designed over three y ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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MG 151 Cannon
The ''Maschinengewehr'' (MG) 151 is a belt-fed autocannon for aircraft use, developed in Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1940 and produced by Waffenfabrik Mauser during World War II. It was originally produced in 15.1 mm caliber from 1940, with a 15×96mm cartridge, but due to demand for higher effect against aircraft, especially with the introduction of mine shells for the 20 mm MG-FF/M aircraft cannon, the design was rechambered to 20 mm caliber in 1941, using a newly developed 20×82mm cartridge which traded projectile velocity for explosive power. The initial 15 mm variant then became known as the MG 151/15, with the new 20 mm variant becoming the MG 151/20. The MG 151/20 cannon was widely used on German Luftwaffe combat aircraft throughout World War II, mainly as offensive armament, but also seeing some use as defensive guns. Existing MG 151/15 guns saw use as aircraft armament throughout the war, albeit more limited compared to the MG 151/20, but also as ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Breda-SAFAT Machine Gun
Breda-SAFAT (''Società Italiana Ernesto Breda per Costruzioni Meccaniche / Breda Meccanica Bresciana'' - ''Società Anonima Fabbrica Armi Torino'') was an Italian weapons manufacturer of the 1930s and 1940s that designed and produced a range of machine-guns and cannon primarily for use in aircraft. Based on the M1919 Browning machine gun, the Italian guns were chambered to fire indigenous ammunition with and calibres, predominantly ball, tracer for the 7.7mm, including high explosive incendiary tracer (HEI-T) (filled with 0.8 grams of PETN), or armour-piercing (AP) for the 12.7mm. Design and development During the 1930s both Breda and SAFAT (a division of FIAT) were given the task of producing designs for a new range of machine-guns for use in aircraft of the Regia Aeronautica, the offering from Breda being preferred. FIAT contested the decision but lost, resulting in the sale of SAFAT to Breda to form Breda-SAFAT. Despite the aim of producing an airborne machine-gun equal ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Daimler-Benz DB 605
The Daimler-Benz DB 605 is a German aircraft engine built during World War II. Developed from the DB 601, the DB 605 was used from 1942 to 1945 in the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter, and the Bf 110 and Me 210C heavy fighters. The DB 610, a pair of DB 605s geared to turn a single output shaft that replaced the similar DB 606, was used in the A-3 and all A-5 variants of Germany's only operational heavy bomber, the Heinkel He 177A. License-built versions of the DB 605 were used in the Macchi C.205, Fiat G.55, Reggiane 2005 and some other Italian aircraft. It was also used in the Swedish SAAB B 18B and initially in the pusher-design SAAB J 21. Approximately 42,400 DB 605s of all kinds were built. Design and development The primary differences between the 605 and 601 were greater displacement, higher revolutions, higher compression ratio and a more powerful supercharger. Engineers determined that the cylinders could be bored out to a larger diameter without seriously affectin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Adriano Visconti
Major Adriano Visconti di Lampugnano (11 November 1915 – 29 April 1945) was one of Italy's top flying aces of the Second World War, during which he shot down between 10 and 26 enemy aircraft. He was awarded four ''Silver Medal of Military Valor, Medaglia d'argento al Valor Militare'' and two ''Bronze Medal of Military Valor, Medaglia di Bronzo al Valor Militare "in action"''. Early years The son of Count Galeazzo Visconti and Cecilia Dall'Aglio, he was born in Tripoli, Libya, Tripoli, Italian Libya. His parents were two Italian colonists who settled in Italian Tripolitania, Tripolitania in 1911. Since he was a teenager he displayed a passion for aircraft. He joined the Italian Regia Aeronautica, Royal Air Force (''Regia Aeronautica'') in October 1936 and completed his pilot training at the Accademia Aeronautica in Caserta. Career Visconti graduated on the Breda Ba.25, Breda BA25, and later flew IMAM Ro.41, Ro.41s. In 1939 he was commissioned as a Sub-Lieutenant Aviator, Pilo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana
The National Republican Air Force (, ANR) was the air force of the Italian Social Republic, a World War II German puppet state in Italy. Description This air force was tasked with defending the industrial areas of the region, intercepting Allied bombers en route to southern Germany and the allied and occupied territories of the Axis, and giving close support to German and Italian land forces. Later during the war various units served with German forces based at Spilve, near Riga (''Reichskommissariat Ostland''), on the northern Russian Front, amongst others in the central and south area (Crimea) on the front. The ANR, after the 1943 armistice that divided Italy, received numbers of Italian aircraft, later augmented with their own local production, and further aircraft from Germany. This force was opposed to the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force ( ''Aviazione Cobelligerante Italiana'', or ACI, or ''Aeronautica Cobelligerante del Sud''), the Italian pro- Allied air force, thou ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hardpoint
A hardpoint is an attachment location on a structural frame designed to transfer force and carry an external or internal structural load, load. The term is usually used to refer to the mounting points (more formally known as a weapon station or station) on the airframe of military aircraft that carry list of aircraft weapons, weapons (e.g. gun pods and rocket pods), aircraft ordnance, ordnances (aerial bomb, bombs and guided missile, missiles) and support equipment (e.g. flare (countermeasure), flares and electronic countermeasure, countermeasures, targeting pods or drop tanks), and also include hardpoints (also known as pylons) on the wings or fuselage of a military transport aircraft, commercial airliner or private jet where external turbofan jet engines are often mounted. Aircraft In aeronautics, the term ''station'' is used to refer to a point of carriage on the frame of an aircraft. A station is usually rated to carry a certain amount of payload. It is a design number whi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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North American P-51 Mustang
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by a team headed by James H. Kindelberger of North American Aviation (NAA) in response to a requirement of the British Purchasing Commission. The commission approached NAA to build Curtiss P-40 fighters under license for the Royal Air Force (RAF). Rather than build an old design from another company, NAA proposed the design and production of a more modern fighter. The prototype NA-73X airframe was completed on 9 September 1940, 102 days after contract signing, achieving its first flight on 26 October. The Mustang was designed to use the Allison V-1710 engine without an export-sensitive turbosupercharger or a multi-stage supercharger, resulting in limited high-altitude performance. The aircraft was first flown operationally and very successfully by the RAF and as a t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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WikiProject Aircraft
A WikiProject, or Wikiproject, is an affinity group for contributors with shared goals within the Wikimedia movement. WikiProjects are prevalent within the largest wiki, Wikipedia, and exist to varying degrees within Wikimedia project, sibling projects such as Wiktionary, Wikiquote, Wikidata, and Wikisource. They also exist in different languages, and translation of articles is a form of their collaboration. During the COVID-19 pandemic, CBS News noted the role of Wikipedia's WikiProject Medicine in maintaining the accuracy of articles related to the disease. Another WikiProject that has drawn attention is WikiProject Women Scientists, which was profiled by ''Smithsonian Magazine, Smithsonian'' for its efforts to improve coverage of women scientists which the profile noted had "helped increase the number of female scientists on Wikipedia from around 1,600 to over 5,000". On Wikipedia Some Wikipedia WikiProjects are substantial enough to engage in cooperative activities with outsi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced continuously throughout the war. The Spitfire remains popular among enthusiasts. Around List of surviving Supermarine Spitfires, 70 remain airworthy, and many more are static exhibits in aviation museums throughout the world. The Spitfire was a short-range, high-performance interceptor aircraft designed by R. J. Mitchell, chief designer at Supermarine Aviation Works, which operated as a subsidiary of Vickers-Armstrong from 1928. Mitchell modified the Spitfire's distinctive elliptical wing (designed by Beverley Shenstone) with innovative sunken rivets to have the thinnest possible cross-section, achieving a potential top speed greater than that of several contemporary fighter aircraft, including the Hawker Hurricane. Mitchell continued to refine ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |