Reggiane Re.2007
| Reggiane Re.2007 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| A Re.2007 artwork | |
| Role | Fighter aircraft |
| National origin | Italy |
| Manufacturer | Reggiane |
| Designer | Roberto Longhi |
| Status | Concept only |
The Reggiane Re.2007 was thought to be an Italian fighter aircraft designed in 1943 by Roberto Longhi. Longhi himself spread the word on his design and construction of a jet aircraft prototype during the war.
Roberto Longhi, one of the most prominent Reggiane aircraft designers, in a letter to the Italian aviation magazine JP4, dated May 1976, stated that Regia Aeronautica Major Antonio Ferri asked him to study an engine option for the Reggiane Re.2005. The requirement was to install a supplemental Fiat A.20 engine behind the cockpit, driving a compressor, in order to improve the Daimler-Benz DB 605 main engine output, giving the airplane a speed of 750 kilometres per hour (400 kn) above 8,000 metres (26,000 ft). It was also planned to use a tail exhaust to achieve more thrust.
The proposal was filed as Project R by Regia Aeronautica Stato Maggiore (HQ), but remained only a paper project, as, according to Longhi, the aircraft would have had problems with its center of gravity.
One alternate possibility was to obtain turbojet engines from Germany, but despite requests from Antonio Alessio and Count Giovanni Battista Caproni, the Germans delivered only a wooden mock-up for dimensional tests to Reggiane.
After the war, Longhi tried to conduct experiments with two Junkers Jumo 004 engines that were left in Udine airport after the German defeat. These extremely valuable jet engines were delivered to Italy in 1945 as spare parts for a small Luftwaffe high speed reconnaissance flight, equipped with three Arado Ar 234 Blitz, when the nearly impossible to intercept German twin-jet planes participated to the Italian Campaign. Unfortunately for Reggiane's designers, the engines were purchased by Angelo Ambrosini, another Italian aircraft manufacturer.
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Wikipedia