{"id":32095919,"date":"2026-11-10T10:27:56","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T09:27:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/reggiane-re2005-sagittario-italian-fighter-ww2-history\/"},"modified":"2026-11-10T10:28:41","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T09:28:41","slug":"reggiane-re2005-sagittario-italian-fighter-ww2-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/reggiane-re2005-sagittario-italian-fighter-ww2-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Reggiane Re.2005 Sagittario: The Italian Fighter an RAF Ace Admired"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\r\n<!-- mfsh:top -->\r\n\r\n<style>\r\n.mfsh-trigger{display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;height:44px;padding:0 18px;margin:0 0 26px;border:2px solid 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It was small, slim and dark, with a long nose, a curved wing and a big triangular fin. It climbed well, it turned hard, and it attacked again before the slower Italian fighters around it had finished their first pass.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>It was the Reggiane Re.2005 Sagittario, the &ldquo;Archer&rdquo;. It was arguably the most refined fighter Italy built in the Second World War, and almost nobody got to fly it. Fewer than fifty were delivered before Italy&rsquo;s armistice in September 1943, and not one complete example survives today.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Yet the people who met it never forgot it. An RAF Spitfire leader who once dogfought one later called it the best aircraft Italy produced. This is the story of a thoroughbred that arrived too late and in too few numbers to matter, and that still sparks arguments among historians eighty years on.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f4f6f9;border:1px solid #e2e7ee;padding:18px 22px;margin:22px 0 26px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:700;color:#0d1117\">Quick Facts<\/p><ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:18px\"><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Type:<\/strong> Single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber, Reggiane, Italy<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>First flight:<\/strong> May 1942 (prototype MM.494)<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Engine:<\/strong> One Fiat RA.1050 RC.58 Tifone, a licence-built Daimler-Benz DB 605A, about 1,475 hp<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Top speed:<\/strong> 628 km\/h (390 mph) at 6,950 m<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Armament:<\/strong> Three 20 mm MG 151 cannon and two 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Ordered:<\/strong> 750<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Delivered:<\/strong> Fewer than 50 before the September 1943 armistice<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>First unit:<\/strong> 362a Squadriglia, 22&deg; Gruppo, Naples-Capodichino<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Survivors:<\/strong> Rear fuselage only, Caproni Museum, Trento<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Serie 5 contest<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Italy entered the war with radial-engined fighters that were outclassed by the best British designs. The cure was German. Licence-built Daimler-Benz DB 605 engines, produced by Fiat as the RA.1050 RC.58 Tifone, were offered to three manufacturers, and each built a fighter around it. These became the so-called Serie 5: the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/macchi-c-205-veltro\/\">Macchi C.205 Veltro<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/fiat-g-55-centauro\/\">Fiat G.55 Centauro<\/a> and the Reggiane Re.2005.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Reggiane, based in Reggio Emilia, had already built the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/reggiane-re-2000\/\">Re.2000 Falco<\/a> family. Its design team under engineer Roberto Longhi treated the Re.2005 as a near clean-sheet aircraft rather than another development: a new fuselage, new undercarriage, new wing profiles and new armament. The first prototype, MM.494, flew in May 1942.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/11\/reggiane-re2005-sagittario-factory-photo.jpg\" alt=\"Three-quarter front view of a Reggiane Re.2005 Sagittario fighter on a concrete apron, with the Reggiane logo in the corner\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">A Reggiane Re.2005 Sagittario, probably photographed at the company&rsquo;s test field. Note the long nose housing the DB 605-type engine and the semi-elliptical wing. Reggiane photo \/ public domain, via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The result was a compact, light-alloy fighter with a semi-elliptical wing that thinned from 15 per cent of its chord at the root to 8 per cent at the tip. It had a wide-track undercarriage that retracted outwards and a fully retractable tailwheel. It was also the only Italian fighter of the war with hydraulically actuated flaps.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Regia Aeronautica ordered 750, a hugely optimistic figure for wartime Italy. The trouble was that the Re.2005 was also complex and expensive. The G.55, only marginally inferior as a fighter, was judged far easier to build, and that verdict shaped what followed.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Z8HjSL9LCAc\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px\">Plane Encyclopedia&rsquo;s profile of the Re.2005 Sagittario, from the Serie 5 competition to the armistice.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Over Naples with 22&deg; Gruppo<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The first unit to fly the Sagittario was 362a Squadriglia of 22&deg; Gruppo, defending Naples from Capodichino airfield. Its commander, Maggiore Vittorio Minguzzi, took the prototype up for the first time on 7 March 1943 and soon flew it into combat against American heavy bombers. His report was unusually concrete.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><div><em>&ldquo;The aircraft is in ideal flying conditions at an altitude of 7,000\u20137,500 m (23,000\u201324,600 ft) and can make repeated attacks on American heavy bombers in all positions and from all directions.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Maggiore Vittorio Minguzzi<\/strong> &mdash; Commander of 22&deg; Gruppo, reporting on the Re.2005 in spring 1943 (as quoted on Wikipedia)<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The comparison with the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/mc-202-folgore\/\">Macchi C.202<\/a> mattered. On paper the C.202 was not much slower, but the DB 605 and the larger wing gave the Re.2005 a real advantage at high altitude, exactly where the American bombers flew. 22&deg; Gruppo never had more than about eight of them during that spring.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>On 28 April 1943 four Re.2005s scrambled alongside C.202s against a raid of some thirty <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/b-24-liberator\/\">B-24 Liberators<\/a> with escorts. Over the following weeks Reggiane pilots claimed several bombers. As with most wartime claims, the numbers rarely matched the losses recorded by the other side, and historians treat them with care.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/11\/damaged-reggiane-re2005-catania-sicily-1943.jpg\" alt=\"Two Allied servicemen look at a damaged Reggiane Re.2005 fighter beside a wrecked hangar at Catania, Sicily, in 1943\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">Allied servicemen inspect a damaged Re.2005 at Catania, Sicily, in 1943, after the invasion that overwhelmed the handful of Sagittarios sent to the island. Photo: Laurence Le Guay, Australian armed forces \/ public domain, via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Sicily, Spitfires and a shaking tail<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>In early July 1943, 362a Squadriglia moved to Sicily to meet the Allied invasion. There the Re.2005s met <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/supermarine-spitfire\/\">Spitfires<\/a> in numbers. They claimed some, but two Re.2005s were destroyed on 11 July and others were bombed or strafed on the ground. A handful of fighters could not change the outcome of a campaign.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>That same day, Tenente Eugenio Salvi fought a long duel with a Spitfire Mk IX that clung to his tail through every manoeuvre he tried. He survived. After the war he flew the Spitfire Mk IX as an instructor with the Italian Air Force and, according to the account on Wikipedia, rated the Re.2005 the better turner, though he preferred the Merlin engine.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>In August came a scare. Two Re.2005s were damaged or lost in steep dives, and high-speed flying was banned. Test pilot de Prato traced the shaking that began at around 660 km\/h true airspeed to poor dynamic balancing of the tail surfaces. Once the balancing was corrected, he dived the aircraft to 980 km\/h with no flutter.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><div><em>&ldquo;Our pilots were used to small rudder control surfaces, such those of Macchis and Messerschmitts; with such aircraft full excursion rudder movements were not a problem&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>de Prato<\/strong> &mdash; Reggiane test pilot, on the 1943 tail-flutter dives (as quoted on Wikipedia)<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8xKyPElGkqc\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px\">AllthingsWW2 looks at the Re.2005, often described as Italy&rsquo;s most beautiful late-war fighter.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Armistice and a scattered fleet<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The armistice of 8 September 1943 broke up the tiny fleet. Some pilots destroyed their own aircraft rather than let them fall to the Germans. A few served the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana in the north, mainly as trainers, and the Germans seized around thirteen.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>What happened to the German machines is still argued over. Some accounts have them defending Berlin or the Ploie&#537;ti oil fields in Romania. Other research suggests they probably never left Italy, and records show five still on strength with a German target-towing and support unit in mid-1944. Sweden, which already built the DB 605 under licence, was interested in 50 Re.2005s, but that order was never finalised.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/11\/reggiane-re2005-fuselage-caproni-museum-trento.jpg\" alt=\"The surviving rear fuselage and tail of a Reggiane Re.2005 with 22 Gruppo markings on display at the Caproni museum in Trento\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The only surviving substantial piece of a Re.2005: the rear fuselage and tail, in 22&deg; Gruppo markings, at the Gianni Caproni Museum of Aeronautics in Trento. Photo: MLWatts \/ CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Today the only substantial remnant is a rear fuselage section, with its tail and 22&deg; Gruppo markings, on display at the Gianni Caproni Museum of Aeronautics in Trento. One Re.2005 captured in Sicily is believed to have been shipped to the United States, and then vanished.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The verdict of an RAF ace<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The most quoted judgement on the Sagittario came from the other side. Group Captain W. G. G. Duncan Smith, a <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/air-forces\/united-kingdom-royal-air-force\/\">Royal Air Force<\/a> fighter leader in the Mediterranean, wrote about it in his memoir <em>Spitfire into Battle<\/em>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #d32f2f;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><div><em>&ldquo;Fast, and with excellent manoeuvrability, the Re.2005 was altogether a superb aeroplane. Neither the Macchi 205 nor the Bf 109G measured up to the capabilities of the Re.2005 series in manoeuvrability or rate of climb. I think it was easily the best aircraft Italy produced.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Group Captain W. G. G. Duncan Smith<\/strong> &mdash; RAF fighter leader, <em>Spitfire into Battle<\/em> (1981)<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Not everyone agreed it was the best of the three. The G.55 won the production argument, and a German evaluation commission in early 1943 rated the Fiat and the Reggiane both excellent, while judging the Re.2005 too complex to build. Our earlier story on the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/fiat-g55-centauro-italian-fighter-1943\/\">Fiat G.55 Centauro<\/a> tells that side.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DPl5KTF1M-E\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px\">The Grand Archive on the Sagittario and the RAF verdict that it was &ldquo;easily the best&rdquo; aircraft Italy built.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>What nobody disputes is the arithmetic. Seven hundred and fifty ordered, fewer than fifty delivered, and a combat career that lasted roughly six months. The Re.2005 showed what Italian designers could do with a good engine, and it showed it too late to matter.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><em>Sources: Wikipedia (Reggiane Re.2005 Sagittario), aldini.it Re 2005 project history, HistoryOfWar.org, W. G. G. Duncan Smith: Spitfire into Battle<\/em><\/p>\r\n<!-- mfsh:bottom -->\r\n\r\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-trigger mfsh-bottom\" data-mfsh-placement=\"bottom\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share this story<\/button>\r\n\r\n<!-- \/mfsh:bottom -->\r\n\r\n\r\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>What was the Reggiane Re.2005 Sagittario?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The Reggiane Re.2005 Sagittario was an Italian single-seat fighter of the Second World War, powered by a licence-built Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine. With the Macchi C.205 and Fiat G.55 it formed the Serie 5 fighters. It first flew in May 1942 and entered combat in spring 1943.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How many Reggiane Re.2005 fighters were built?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The Regia Aeronautica ordered 750 Reggiane Re.2005s, but fewer than fifty were delivered before the Italian armistice of September 1943. Wikipedia gives 48 series aircraft plus prototypes, and other accounts give lower figures. The Re.2005 was complex and expensive, and the Fiat G.55 was judged easier to mass-produce.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How fast was the Re.2005 Sagittario?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The Re.2005 Sagittario had an official maximum speed of about 628 km\/h (390 mph) at 6,950 metres. Its strength was high-altitude performance and handling, which made it effective against American heavy bombers attacking Naples in 1943. In a test dive after its tail was rebalanced, it reached 980 km\/h.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Where did the Re.2005 fight?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The Re.2005 flew with 362a Squadriglia of 22\u00b0 Gruppo, first defending Naples from Capodichino in spring 1943 against American B-24 raids, and then in Sicily against the Allied invasion in July 1943, where it met RAF Spitfires. After the armistice a few served the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana and the Germans.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Was the Re.2005 better than the Spitfire?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Italian pilots Vittorio Minguzzi and Eugenio Salvi, who flew both, rated the Re.2005 better in tight turns, while RAF leader Duncan Smith called it easily the best aircraft Italy produced. But the Re.2005 was never available in numbers, so there is no fair overall comparison with the mass-produced Spitfire.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Does any Reggiane Re.2005 survive?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">No complete Reggiane Re.2005 survives. The only substantial remnant is a rear fuselage section with its tail and 22\u00b0 Gruppo markings, displayed at the Gianni Caproni Museum of Aeronautics in Trento, Italy. One example captured in Sicily is believed to have gone to the United States and later disappeared.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What was the Reggiane Re.2005 Sagittario?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Reggiane Re.2005 Sagittario was an Italian single-seat fighter of the Second World War, powered by a licence-built Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine. With the Macchi C.205 and Fiat G.55 it formed the Serie 5 fighters. It first flew in May 1942 and entered combat in spring 1943.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How many Reggiane Re.2005 fighters were built?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Regia Aeronautica ordered 750 Reggiane Re.2005s, but fewer than fifty were delivered before the Italian armistice of September 1943. Wikipedia gives 48 series aircraft plus prototypes, and other accounts give lower figures. The Re.2005 was complex and expensive, and the Fiat G.55 was judged easier to mass-produce.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How fast was the Re.2005 Sagittario?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Re.2005 Sagittario had an official maximum speed of about 628 km\/h (390 mph) at 6,950 metres. Its strength was high-altitude performance and handling, which made it effective against American heavy bombers attacking Naples in 1943. In a test dive after its tail was rebalanced, it reached 980 km\/h.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Where did the Re.2005 fight?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Re.2005 flew with 362a Squadriglia of 22\u00b0 Gruppo, first defending Naples from Capodichino in spring 1943 against American B-24 raids, and then in Sicily against the Allied invasion in July 1943, where it met RAF Spitfires. After the armistice a few served the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana and the Germans.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Was the Re.2005 better than the Spitfire?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Italian pilots Vittorio Minguzzi and Eugenio Salvi, who flew both, rated the Re.2005 better in tight turns, while RAF leader Duncan Smith called it easily the best aircraft Italy produced. 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One example captured in Sicily is believed to have gone to the United States and later disappeared.\"}}]}<\/script><div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/fiat-g55-centauro-italian-fighter-1943\/\">Fiat G.55 Centauro: Italy\u2019s Best Fighter, Built Too Late<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/macchi-c-202-folgore-italy-best-fighter\/\">Macchi C.202 Folgore: Italy's Underrated Best Fighter<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/fiat-cr42-falco-italian-biplane-fighter-battle-of-britain-1940\/\">Fiat CR.42 Falco: The Italian Biplane That Raided Britain in 1940<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a 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