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The Macchi C.202 ''Folgore'' (Italian "thunderbolt") was a World War II fighter aircraft built by Macchi Aeronautica and operated mainly by the ''Regia Aeronautica'' (''RA''; Royal (Italian) Air Force). Macchi aircraft designed by Mario Castoldi received the "C" letter in their model designation, hence the ''Folgore'' is referred to as the C.202 or MC.202. The C.202 was a development of the earlier C.200 ''Saetta'', with an Italian built version of the Daimler-Benz DB 601Aa engine and with a redesigned, more streamlined fuselage.〔Angelucci and Matricardi 1978, p. 219.〕 Considered to be one of the best wartime fighters to serve in large numbers with the ''Regia Aeronautica'',〔Mondey 2006, p. 155.〕 the ''Folgore'' operated on all fronts in which Italy was involved.〔Matricardi 2006, pp. 70–71.〕 The ''Folgore'' went into service with the ''Regia Aeronautica'' in July 1941 and immediately proved to be an effective and deadly dogfighter.〔Sgarlato 1998, pp. 8–20.〕〔Winchester 2004, p. 172.〕 The Australian ace Clive Caldwell, who fought a wide variety of German, Italian and Japanese fighters during 1941–45, later stated that the C.202 was "one of the best and most undervalued of fighters".〔Dunning 2000, p. 209.〕 Nonetheless, the C.202 had its defects: like its predecessor, the Macchi C.200, it could enter a dangerous spin.〔Duma 2007, pp. 232–233.〕 It was insufficiently armed, with just two machine guns that easily jammed. The radios were unreliable, forcing the pilots to communicate by waggling wings. The oxygen system was inefficient, causing 50 to 60 per cent of the pilots to break off missions, sometimes even causing fatal accidents.〔 ==Development== The decision of the Italian military authorities to adopt radial engines meant that, during the second half of the 1930s, the Italian aeronautical industry failed to develop more powerful engines based on streamlined liquid-cooled designs.〔Mondey 2006, p. 153.〕 This forced Macchi Aeronautica to rely on the ageing Fiat A.74 radial engine for its C.200 fighter. By 1941, the C.200, armed with two 12.7 mm (.50 in) machine guns and with a maximum speed of 504 km/h (315 mph), was obsolete. In July 1939, the ''RA'' requested that Reggiane build a prototype Re.2000 with a German Daimler-Benz DB 601Aa, liquid-cooled supercharged inverted V-12 engine rated at 1,175 PS (1,159 hp, 864 kW); this became the Re.2001. At the time, the most powerful reliable Italian inline engine was the 715 kW (960 hp) Isotta Fraschini Asso XI R.C.40, which was designed in 1936. Consequently, in November 1939, Alfa Romeo acquired the license to produce the DB 601Aa as the Alfa-Romeo RA.1000 R.C.41-I ''Monsone'', which was to be used in the production of C.202s. Meanwhile, as they waited for Alfa Romeo production to start, Aeronautica Macchi imported a DB 601Aa engine; Macchi chief of design Mario Castoldi began to work on mating the Macchi C.200 wings, undercarriage, vertical and horizontal tail units with a new fuselage incorporating the imported DB 601Aa.〔Gentilli and Gorena 1980, p. 5.〕 Design of the new fighter began in January 1940 and, less than seven months later, on 10 August 1940, the sole prototype, MM.445,〔Note: MM. = ''Matricola Militare'' or Military Serial number.〕 made its first flight, two months after Italy's entry into World War II. From the first trials it was evident that the C.202 was an advanced design, mainly because of the use of the Daimler Benz DB 601, a departure from the standard practice of using engines of Italian origin.〔 Test results showed that Italy had caught up with Britain and Germany in the field of fighter airplanes.〔 The prototype differed in some respects from the production aircraft; the headrest fairing incorporated two windows for rear visibility, while production versions replaced this with a narrower, scalloped headrest. The square-sectioned supercharger air intake was replaced by an elongated round sectioned fairing, which was later redesigned to incorporate a dust filter. The prototype was flown to the ''Regia Aeronautica''s main test airfield at Guidonia, where it met with an enthusiastic response from test pilots. A speed of 603 km/h (375 mph) was recorded, with 5,486 m (18,000 ft) being reached in six minutes and little of the good manoeuvrability of the C.200 was lost.〔 Another of its attributes was its extremely strong construction that allowed its pilots to dive the aircraft steeply.〔Caruana 1996, p. 175.〕 Due to the flight test reports, the C.202 was immediately ordered into production with the first examples (built by Macchi as Serie II) appearing in May 1941. The complexity of the structure was not well suited to mass production, and resulted in a limited production rate compared to the Bf 109E/F (usually rated at 4,500–6,000 man-hours) while the Macchi needed 22,000 or more.〔Ciampaglia 1994, p. 79.〕 The growth of the C.202 project was slower than that of the Re. 2001; but, by employing both mass production techniques and less expensive advanced technologies, the production cost was slightly less than that of the Reggiane Re.2001, (525,000 lire vs 600,000); this latter, the only other DB 601 fighter in mass production, was slower and heavier (2.460/3.240 kg) 〔Sgarlato 2005, p. 28.〕 but had a bigger wing and a more advanced and adaptable structure.〔Sgarlato, Nico. ''Reggiane''. Lu-August 2005, pp. 26–27.〕 Breda, Milan was also chosen to build the C.202 and eventually built the majority of the type. SAI-Ambrosini was another sub-contractor, building some 100 C.202s.〔Gentilli and Gorena 1980, pp. 5, 7.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Macchi C.202」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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