The Fiat CR.1 was an Italian

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 ...

of the 1920s. Of wood-and-fabric construction, it was designed by Celestino Rosatelli, from whom it gained the 'CR' designation. Its most distinctive feature was that the lower wings were longer than the upper ones.

Design and development

Regia Aeronautica requested two

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 ...

aircraft from Fiat in the early 1920s. The results were designated MM.1 and MM.2, identical except for the rudder (one had a rounded, counterbalanced rudder) and engines (they had differing marks of Hispano-Suiza

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 ...

s). The airplane was a

of conventional layout, with fixed tailskid landing gear and an open

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a Pilot in command, pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the ...

, with the pilot's head aligned with the trailing edge of the upper wing. The V8 engine powered a fixed-pitch two-blade wooden propeller. The landing gear had a fixed axle between the wheels. It carried two synchronized 7.7 mm (.303 in) Vickers machine guns firing through the propeller arc. The two prototypes were evaluated against another biplane fighter, the SIAI S.52, and proved superior in maneuverability and top speed. Accordingly, contracts were issued to three Italian companies for three batches of production aircraft, to be designated CR.1: *109 units to be built by Fiat; * 40 units to be built by OFM of Napoli; *100 units to be built by SIAI. After two preproduction prototypes were again flight tested, a total of 240 units were placed in Italian military service, beginning in 1925.HTML CR.1 history
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Operational history

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 ...

'' ordered 240 CR.1s and began equipping its 1st Fighter Group in 1924. By 1926, 12 Italian fighter squadrons had been allocated the aircraft. In the same year, Fiat introduced an updated all-metal version, the CR.20. Though both Belgium and Poland evaluated and rejected the aircraft, an export order was received from

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

. Their nine CR.1s, fitted with the 224 kW (300 hp) Hispano-Suiza HS8N8 engine, served in Latvian Naval Aviation until 1936. In the 1930s, some CR.1s were fitted with Isotta Fraschini Asso Caccia engines of 328 kW (440 hp), which improved their performance. These units were given to 163 ''Squadriglia'', based at Rhodes in the Aegean Sea. Those units were withdrawn from active service in 1937.

Variants

;MM.1 :Prototype. ;MM.2 :Prototype. ;CR.1 :Single-seat fighter biplane ;CR.2 :One evaluation model, equipped with an Armstrong Siddeley Lynx radial engine. ;CR.5 :One evaluation model, equipped with an Alfa Romeo Jupiter radial engine. ;CR.10 :One evaluation moded, equipped with a

Fiat A.20 The Fiat A.20 was an Italian aero-engine of the 1920s. It was a water-cooled V12 engine that was used by early versions of the Fiat CR.20 fighter and the Macchi M.41 seaplane. In 1923, FIAT built the A.15, a 430 hp (320 kW) water-co ...

water-cooled V-12 engine with two Lamblin

radiator Radiators are heat exchangers used to transfer thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling and heating. The majority of radiators are constructed to function in cars, buildings, and electronics. A radiator is always a ...

s. ;CR.10 Idro :The CR.10 converted to a floatplane.

Operators

; *''

'' ; * Latvian Air Force *

Latvian Navy Latvian Naval Forces ( lv, Latvijas Jūras spēki) is the naval warfare branch of the National Armed Forces. It is tasked with conducting military, search and rescue operations, mine and explosive sweeping on the Baltic Sea, as well as ecologica ...

Specifications (CR.1)

References

External links

Fiat CR.1 (Spanish)
{{Fiat aircraft Biplanes Single-engined tractor aircraft 1920s Italian fighter aircraft CR.01