Macchi C.205
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The Macchi C.205 Veltro (Greyhound) was was an Italian World War II fighter aircraft built by the Aeronautica Macchi. The 205 was a development of their earlier C.202 Folgore mounting a more powerful Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine, and is considered one of the best fighters to be used by the Italian airforce.
Looking to improve the performance of all their front line fighters, in 1942 the Regia Aeronautica decided to upgrade all current designs to use the new 1,475hp DB 605 engine, license produced in Italy as the Fiat RA.1050 Tifone. Fighter manufacturers were invited to enter versions of their designs with this engine as the so-called "5 series" planes, and were provided with imported 605's for prototype use. All of the designs skipped over holes in their existing numbering to use a 5 in the name, with the Macchi becoming the C.205 (instead of C.203).
Macchi had a natural advantage over the competition, as their then-current C.202's used the DB 601 engine, which was "plug compatible" with the 605. The C.205 could thus be in the air almost immediately. The Fiat G.55 Centauro and the Reggiane Re.2005 Sagittario were modified versions of much earlier designs, and would take some time to get into service.
In testing the Centauro and Sagittario proved to be better performers at higher altitudes due to their larger wings. The Veltro used the same wing as the earlier Folgore, but weights had increased from 2,350 to 3,408kg, and the wing loading from 142 to 203kg/m². The Veltro had performance more in line with German designs with their higher wing-loadings, and was at its best at medium altitudes where it could reach 400mph. Plans were made to produce both the G.55 and Re.2005, but they also put the Veltro into production immediately.
Veltros reached the front-line groups in June 1943, and first flew in combat escorting bombers attacking Allied naval forces off Sicily. The planes fought continually over the next two months, and proved to be as good as any of the allied planes they met. In one instance on the 2nd of August, six Veltros attacked twenty Lockheed P-38's and Curtiss P-40's, shooting down six of them for the loss of only one of their planes.
In August the Italian government made peace with the Allies, by which time the Regia Aeronautica had a total of 66 Veltros. Six of these flew to allied airfields to serve with the Italian Co-Beligerant Air Force, while another 29 reached northern airfields to be used by the Republican Socialist Italian Air Force.
Production continued after the armistice, eventually a total of 265 had been built before Allied bombing destroyed the production lines in Varese. Prototypes of several high-altitude upgrades had been completed as well, the C.205N-1 Orione had a larger wing and was armed with a 20mm cannon in the engine and four 50-caliber guns in the wings, while the similar N-2 version had three 20mm cannons and only two of the 50cal guns. Design work on production versions of these planes with even more wing area were on the boards as the C.206 (similar to the N-1) and C.207 (four 20mm cannons), but were neither were ever built.
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