Macchi MC.202

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MC.202 Folgore
Image:Macchi Mc.202.JPEG
Type	Fighter
Manufacturer	Macchi Aeronautica
Designed by	Mario Castoldi
Maiden flight	1940-08-10
Introduced	1941
Status	Retired
Primary user	Italian Air Force
Number built	About 1,500
Variants	MC.205 Veltro

The Macchi MC.202 Folgore (Lightning) was a World War II Italian fighter aircraft built by Macchi Aeronautica, a development of its earlier MC.200 Saetta, with a more powerful German Daimler-Benz DB 601 engine.

Although the Macchi MC.200 had proved itself an excellent all-around aircraft, the preference of the Italian military authorities for radial engines had led to the failure of the Italian aeronautical industry to develop new, more powerful engines during the second half of the 1930s. This forced Macchi Aeronautica to rely on the ageing Fiat A.74 radial engine for the MC.200. When the aircraft entered service in 1939 it wasn't any better than Hawker Hurricane; by 1941, armed with two 12.7mm machine guns and with a maximum speed of 506 km/h (315 mph), the MC.200 was obsolescent.

Macchi searched for a replacement for the Fiat A.74. Attention turned to inlines due to their better streamlining but the most powerful reliable Italian inline engine at the time was the 960hp Isotta-Fraschini Asso XI RC.40 which was inferior to the best foreign counterparts. Early in 1940, Aereonautica Macchi imported a 1,175 hp Daimler-Benz DB 601Aa inverted V liquid-cooled engine. Mario Castoldi, Macchi's chief of design, began work on a prototype combining the MC.200's airframe with the DB 601Aa engine, which made its first flight on August 10, 1940, two months after Italy's entry into World War II. As the added power imposed an excessive strain on the aircraft's controls, Castoldi extended the left wing by 8 inches to provide more lift on that side and counteract the torque.

The sleek low-winged monoplane, with retractable undercarriage, had a maximum speed of 600 km/h (372 mph) at 5,584 m (18,370 ft), and was armed with two 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns in the cowling and two 7.7 mm machine guns in the wings.

The new MC.202 Folgore (Lightning) was put into production using imported DB601Aas, while Alfa Romeo set up production of the engine under license as the R.A.1000 RC.41 Monsone (Monsoon). Engine production was slow at first, forcing Macchi to build some with the older Fiat engines as MC.200's (although with the new wings and guns). As production of the new engines improved, by late 1942 Folgores outnumbered all other fighter aircraft in the Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force).

Deliveries of the first production aircraft, Macchi MC.202 series I, to a specially formed conversion unit, 1º Stormo C.T., in Udine began in the summer of 1941 and by November the MC.202s made their appearances on the Libyan front. It proved superior to the Curtiss P-40 and the Hawker Hurricane and was considered to be a match for the Supermarine Spitfire Mk. V and the North American P-51 Mustang. Italian pilots loved the plane, not only for its performance, but also for its superbly harmonized controls and excellent maneuverability and control.

The Italian aircraft industry produced around 1,500 MC.202s, in eleven series, between 1941 and 1943; Macchi produced 392, the rest being supplied by production lines at Breda and S.A.I. Ambrosini. During its life, the MC.202 did not undergo much change. Two modified versions were built, the MC.202AS with dust filters and other equipment for operations in the desert (AS - Africa Settentrionale, North Africa) and the MC.202CB (Caccia Bombardiere- Fighter-Bomber) with underwing hardpoints for two 50-, 100-, or 160-kg bombs, or two 100-litre drop tanks. The MC.202D was a prototype with a revised radiator.

To improve performance the C.202 was later modified with a Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine as the MC.205.