The Fiat CR.30 was a 1930s Italian single-seat

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

Celestino Rosatelli Celestino Rosatelli (8 April 1885 – 23 September 1945) was an Italian aeronautics engineer. Celestino Rosatelli was born in Belmonte in Sabina, close to Rieti, to Bernardino Rosatelli and Apollonia Santini. His parents noticed his brilliant m ...

and built by

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...

Design and development

The Fiat CR.30 was a new design by

for a single-seat fighter. Four

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...

s were built with the first flight occurring in March 1932. The CR.30 was a biplane with W-form interplane struts and a fixed tailwheel landing gear. The aircraft was powered by a 447 kW (600 hp) Fiat A.30 R.A. V-12

piston engine A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is typically a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert high temperature and high pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common featu ...

. Two prototypes were entered into an international meeting in Zurich in July 1932 and won the speed circuit contest at average speeds of 340 km/h (211 mph) and 330 km/h (205 mph). The impressive performance led to orders from the ''

Regia Aeronautica The Italian Royal Air Force (''Regia Aeronautica Italiana'') was the name of the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946. In 1946, the monarchy was abolis ...

'' (Italian Air Force) for 121 aircraft. Two of the prototypes were converted into two-seaters designated CR.30B for use as refresher trainers and

liaison aircraft A liaison aircraft (also called an army cooperation aircraft) is a small, usually unarmed aircraft primarily used by military forces for artillery observation or transporting commanders and messages. The concept developed before World War II and ...

. A large number of single-seaters were converted into two-seaters as they were replaced with more modern equipment. The air force later ordered an additional 20 new-build CR.30Bs. Two aircraft were converted to seaplanes with the designation CR.30 Idro. The aircraft was also operated by other European air forces with the Hungarian Air Force being the largest foreign operator, using two CR.30s from 1936 and one single-seater and ten CR.30bs from 1938.

Variants

;CR.30 :Single-seat production variant. ;CR.30B :Two-seat variant. ;CR.30 Idro :Seaplane variant.

Operators

; * Austrian Air Force received three CR.30 and three CR.30B aircraft.Haubner, F (1982). ''Die Flugzeuge der Österreichischen Luftstreitkräfte vor 1938.'' H Weishaupt Verlag, Graz ; * Chinese Nationalist Air Force ; *'' Luftwaffe'' operated captured former Austrian aircraft. ; * Royal Hungarian Air Force ; *''

'' ; * Paraguayan Air Force operated two aircraft from 1939 as advanced trainers. ; *

Spanish Nationalist Air Force Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

operated two CR.30s from 1938. ; * Venezuelan Air Force operated one CR.30 from 1938.

Specifications (CR.30)

References

*The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985), 1985, Orbis Publishing, Page 1794 {{Portal bar, Italy, Companies, Aviation CR.30 Biplanes Single-engined tractor aircraft 1930s Italian fighter aircraft

Design and development

Variants

Operators

Specifications (CR.30)

See also

References