Reggiane Re.2005 Sagittario

Background Throughout the 1930s, the Italian military authorities chose to adopt only radial engines to power their aircraft; consequently, during the second half of the 1930s, the Italian aeronautical industry had been sufficiently de-incentivised to the point of completely avoiding the development of more powerful engines based on streamlined liquid-cooled designs, which would become popular abroad. By 1941, Italy, having become an active participant in the Second World War during the previous year, recognised the need to improve its military capabilities, particularly in terms of its combat aircraft. Accordingly, work commenced on the development of what would become the Re.2005; the company's design team was headed by the Italian aeronautical engineer Roberto Longhi, other designers included Alessio, Maraschini, Toniolo and Pozzi. Preliminary work was reportedly completed before the end of the year, despite being a clean-sheet design rather than a more straightforward development of an existing design, such as the Reggiane Re.2002. During February 1942, the airframe of the prototype was completed, by which point the German-sourced Daimler-Benz DB 605 inline engine was ready to be delivered. On 9 May 1942, the first prototype MM.494 performed its maiden flight; one day later, it was seriously damaged after a heavy landing had resulted in an undercarriage failure, forcing the aircraft to be grounded until June (MM.494 was damaged twice more in tests). This prototype was armed with four Breda 12.7 mm machine guns along with a single Mauser cannon; it was primarily used for testing, but later saw active use during the aerial defense of Naples. After a fierce competition, in which the Macchi C.205N Veltro was quickly abandoned and the G.55 was considered better from a production point of view (being only marginally inferior as a fighter but much easier to mass produce), the Regia Aeronautica ordered the production of 750 Re.2005 aircraft, an optimistic figure in wartime Italy. Technical design The Re.2005 was a low-wing, single-engine, single-seat fighter monoplane that was largely composed of light alloys. Propulsion was by a Daimler Benz DB.605A-1 engine, either of original German production or built by Fiat as the RA.1050 RC.58 Tifone (Typhoon). The aircraft was equipped with a right-handed, three-bladed Piaggio P.2001 constant speed, mechanically controlled, variable-pitch metal propeller. The streamlined and compact fuselage was almost totally dominated by the DB 605 engine and left relatively little space to accommodate fuel. The fuselage-mounted MG 151/20 cannon had less ammunition than those mounted in the wings (150 rounds versus 170 rounds in the wing gun bays from the second prototype on). The comparable Fiat G.55 Centauro had 250 rounds for the fuselage gun but also 600 for a 12.7 mm machine gun. The smaller Re.2005 also carried 100 fewer 20 mm but 100 more 12.7 mm rounds, a lighter armament array. The aft fuselage was unusually compact, even by Italian standards, accommodating both the radio apparatus and oxygen bottles while also supporting the aircraft's relatively large fin. The cockpit was covered by a canopy which tilted to the right for access and had an armoured 50 mm glass windscreen. Other protection included a seat with -thick steel shell weighing . The seat provided little protection against 12.7 mm rounds which were capable of piercing even at short distances but the armour was tempered, giving more protection than homogeneous steel. Given the relatively heavy weight of a thick steel plate, every attempt was made to make the steel alloy used stronger and a headrest was attached to bulkhead six. The sophisticated wing design, which has often been described as being elliptical, was actually semi-elliptical; the wing thickness tapered from 15 percent at the root to 8 percent at the tip. The structure of the three spars incorporated a "T" section. The triangular-shaped wing and tail control surfaces were mostly fabric-covered, included all-metal two-part split flaps and statically balanced ailerons. Fuel was carried in four self-sealing wing tanks (two forward and two behind) that provided a total capacity of . The wide-track undercarriage retracted outwards into the wings while the tailwheel was fully retractable as well. The Re.2005 was the only Italian aircraft of the conflict to possess hydraulically-actuated flaps. The Re.2005 was one of the most advanced Italian fighters, however, it was also too advanced to be easily produced by the Italian industry and one of the most expensive, if not the most expensive, fighter to produce. The complexity of the Re.2005, as well as its small dimensions, contributed to the competing Fiat G.55 being evaluated as a superior choice for mass production. ==Operational history==