The Nardi FN.305 was an Italian fighter trainer and liaison monoplane developed by the Fratelli Nardi company.

Development

The FN.305 was designed as a trainer and liaison aircraft and the prototype first flew on 19 January 1935. The FN.305 was a low-wing cantilever monoplane of mixed construction. It had tailskid landing gear, with the main gear retracting inwards. It was powered by a nose-mounted 200 hp (149 kW) Fiat A.70S inline piston engine. The prototype was a tandem two-seater with an enclosed cockpit. It was intended to produce both single-seat and two-seat variants and the next prototype was a single-seat fighter trainer followed by a two-seat basic trainer prototype which both had open cockpits. Nardi FN

Two long-range FN.305D variants were then produced powered by a 200 hp (149 kW)

Walter Bora The Walter Bora was a Czechoslovakian nine-cylinder, air-cooled radial engine for powering light aircraft that was developed in the 1930s by Walter Aircraft Engines.Gunston 1989, p. 174. Variants ;Bora II :Direct drive engine ;Bora II-R : Geare ...

radial engine. The first FN.305D was a two-seater which was used on a record-breaking flight between Rome and Addis Ababa in March 1939 gaining a class record for covering the 4463.8 km (2,773,68 miles) at an average speed of 240 km/h (149 mph). The second FN.305D was a single-seater bought by Yugoslavia for an aborted attempt at a nonstop North Atlantic flight. The prototype was re-engined with an

Alfa Romeo 115 The Alfa Romeo 115 is an Italian six-cylinder air-cooled inverted inline engine for aircraft use, mainly for training and light planes, based on the de Havilland Gipsy Six engine. Production totalled approximately 1,600 units. Derivatives of the ...

engine as the FN.305A which then entered production by

Piaggio Piaggio Group () is an Italian motor vehicle manufacturer, which produces a range of two-wheeled motor vehicles and compact commercial vehicles under five brands: Piaggio, Vespa, Aprilia, Moto Guzzi and Derbi. Its corporate headquarters are ...

as the Nardi works were not large enough. The Italian Air Force had ordered 258 aircraft, most of them two-seat FN.305A fighter trainers and liaison aircraft. A few of the aircraft were completed as single-seat open-cockpit FN.305Cs and enclosed-cockpit FN.305Ds. Following the Italian order in 1938 nine aircraft were sold to Chile and 31 to Romania. Romania then built 124 aircraft under licence by

SET Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics *Set (mathematics), a collection of elements *Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively Electro ...

. The largest export order came from France, which ordered 300 but only 41 had been delivered when Italy declared war on France in June 1940. They were used as liaison aircraft and fighter trainers. The final export customer was Hungary which ordered 50. An improved version was developed as the Nardi FN.315.

Variants

;FN.305 :Prototype ;FN.305A :Two-seater and main production variant. ;FN.305B :Single-seat open cockpit variant. ;FN.305C :Single-seat enclosed cockpit variant ;FN.305D :Long-range variant with a 200hp (149kW)

radial engine, two built, one single-seater and one two-seater.

Operators

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Bulgarian Air Force The Bulgarian Air Force () is one of the three branches of the Military of Bulgaria, the other two being the Bulgarian Navy and Bulgarian land forces. Its mission is to guard and protect the sovereignty of Bulgarian airspace, and jointly with ...

- one aircraft ; *

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the Fr ...

- 41 aircraft ; *

Royal Hungarian Air Force The Hungarian Air Force (, ), is the air force branch of the Military of Hungary, Hungarian Defence Forces. The primary focus of the present Hungarian Air Force lies in defensive operations. The flying units operate are organised into a single ...

- 50 aircraft ; *''

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

'' - 285 aircraft * Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force ; *

Aeronautica Militare Italiana The Italian Air Force (; AM, ) is the air force of the Italian Republic. The Italian Air Force was founded as an independent service arm on 28 March 1923 by King Victor Emmanuel III as the ("Royal Air Force"). After World War II, when Italy be ...

operated 10 aircraft until 1948 ; *

Royal Romanian Air Force The Air Force branch of the Royal Romanian forces in World War II was officially named the (ARR, ), though it is more commonly referred to in English histories as the (Royal Romanian Air Force, FARR), or simply (Romanian Air Force). It provided ...

- 31 aircraft ; *

Chilean Air Force The Chilean Air Force () is the air force of Chile and branch of the Chilean military. History The first step towards the current FACh is taken by Lieutenant Colonel, Teniente Coronel training as a pilot in France. Although a local academy was c ...

- 9 aircraft

Specifications (FN.305A)

References

Bibliography