Macchi C.205
| C.205 Veltro / C.205N Orione | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Regia Aeronautica C.205V, Serie I from 352a Squadriglia, 51° Stormo, photographed at Capoterra, Sardinia, summer 1943 | |
| Role | Fighter |
| Manufacturer | Aeronautica Macchi |
| Designer | Mario Castoldi |
| First flight | 19 April 1942 |
| Introduction | February 1943 |
| Retired |
1947 (Italy) 1950 (Egypt) |
| Primary users |
Regia Aeronautica Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana Luftwaffe |
| Produced | September 1942 - May 1944 |
| Number built | 262 |
| Developed from | Macchi C.202 |
The Macchi C.205 (also known as MC.205, "MC" standing for "Macchi Castoldi") Veltro (Italian: Greyhound) was an Italian World War II fighter aircraft built by the Aeronautica Macchi. Along with the Reggiane Re.2005 and Fiat G.55, the Macchi C.205 was one of the three "Serie 5" Italian fighters built around the powerful Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine. The C.205 was a development of the earlier C.202 Folgore. With a top speed of some 640 km/h (400 mph) and equipped with a pair of 20 mm cannon as well as 12.7 mm Breda machine guns, the Macchi C.205 Veltro was highly respected by Allied and Axis pilots alike. Widely regarded as the best Italian aircraft of World War II, in action it proved to be extremely effective, destroying a large number of Allied bombers and capable of successfully clashing on equal terms with fighters such as the North American P-51D Mustang, a capability which encouraged the Luftwaffe to use a number of these aircraft to equip one Gruppe.
However, while the C.205 was able to match the best Allied opponents in speed and maneuverability, it was introduced late in the conflict. Moreover, due to the poor Italian industrial capacity of the time, only a small production run was delivered before the end of the war. Like the Spitfire, the Veltro was tricky in its construction and thus slow to build. Italy's highest scoring ace, Adriano Visconti, achieved 11 of his 26 credited victories in the few weeks he was able to fly the Veltro, with the top scoring Sergente Maggiore pilota Luigi Gorrini shooting down 14 enemy aircraft plus six damaged with the C.205.
In 1941, seeking to further improve the performance of the C.202 fighter, the Regia Aeronautica decided to licence-build the German DB 605 1,100 kW (1,475 hp) liquid-cooled supercharged inverted V-12 engine in Italy, which Fiat produced as the RA.1050 R.C.58 Tifone (Typhoon). Fighter manufacturers were invited to enter versions of their designs using this engine as the caccia della serie 5 ("series-5 fighter") and were provided with imported DB 605s for prototype use. All of the designs used the number 5 in the name, with the Macchi becoming the C.205 (instead of C.202bis or C.203).
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