{"id":21010,"date":"2026-08-14T11:25:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T09:25:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/?page_id=21010"},"modified":"2026-08-14T11:25:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T09:25:20","slug":"fiat-g-55-centauro","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/ru\/aircraft\/fiat-g-55-centauro\/","title":{"rendered":"Fiat G.55 Centauro"},"content":{"rendered":"<style> html{overflow-x:hidden} body.page-id-21010{overflow-x:hidden} body.page-id-21010 h1.entry-title.main_title{display:none} body.page-id-21010 #sidebar{display:none} body.page-id-21010 #left-area{width:100%!important;float:none;padding:0} body.page-id-21010 #main-content .container::before{display:none!important;background:none!important} body.page-id-21010 #main-content .container{padding-top:0} #mfam{width:100vw;margin-left:calc(50% - 50vw);overflow:hidden;font-family:'Gilroy regular',Helvetica,Arial,Lucida,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;font-size:17px;line-height:1.7;background:#fff} #mfam 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#mfam .relcard .rd{font-size:15px;color:#31384a;display:block;margin-bottom:12px} #mfam .relcard .rl{font-family:'Gilroy semiBold',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;color:#3568e0;display:block} \/* Sources *\/ #mfam .srcgrid{columns:2;column-gap:40px;margin-top:24px} #mfam .srcitem{break-inside:avoid;margin-bottom:18px} #mfam .srcitem .sh{font-family:'Gilroy semiBold',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;color:#0d1117;display:block;margin-bottom:3px} #mfam .srcitem .sd{font-size:14px;color:#5a6474;display:block} @media(max-width:900px){ #mfam .twocol,#mfam .specwrap{grid-template-columns:1fr} #mfam .cards,#mfam .cstats{grid-template-columns:1fr 1fr} #mfam .relgrid{grid-template-columns:1fr} #mfam .srcgrid{columns:1} #mfam .hero h1{font-size:38px} } @media(max-width:560px){ #mfam .cards,#mfam .cstats{grid-template-columns:1fr} #mfam .hero h1{font-size:31px} #mfam .claim{font-size:18px} #mfam .stat .n{font-size:22px} #mfam .scard{flex-basis:280px} #mfam .gallery-track figure{flex-basis:300px} } <\/style>\n<div id=\"mfam\">\n<div class=\"hero\"> <img data-opt-id=1946098330  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fiat-g-55-centauro-vigna-di-valle-italian-air-force-museum.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" class=\"hero-img\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20100%%20100%%22%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"Fiat G.55 Centauro preserved at the Italian Air Force Museum, Vigna di Valle\"> <\/p>\n<div class=\"hero-shade\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"hero-inner\">\n<div class=\"crumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/\">Aircraft Museum<\/a> &nbsp;\/&nbsp; Fiat G.55 Centauro<\/div>\n<h1>Fiat G.55 Centauro<\/h1>\n<p class=\"claim\">Fast, tough and heavily armed, the Fiat G.55 Centauro is widely regarded as the finest fighter Italy fielded in the Second World War \u2014 a machine German test pilots reportedly rated the best in the Axis \u2014 yet it arrived too late and in far too few numbers to change anything.<\/p>\n<div class=\"stat-strip\">\n<div class=\"stat\"><span class=\"n\">~620\u2013630 km\/h<\/span><span class=\"lb\">Top speed (figures vary)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"stat\"><span class=\"n\">1,475 hp<\/span><span class=\"lb\">Fiat Tifone (licence DB 605)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"stat\"><span class=\"n\">3\u00d720 + 2\u00d712.7 mm<\/span><span class=\"lb\">Definitive armament<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"stat\"><span class=\"n\">~274 wartime<\/span><span class=\"lb\">Built (figures vary)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<div class=\"chips\"> <span class=\"chip\"><b>Role<\/b> &nbsp;Single-seat fighter \/ interceptor<\/span> <span class=\"chip\"><b>Era<\/b> &nbsp;World War II (1943)<\/span> <span class=\"chip\"><b>Engine<\/b> &nbsp;Licence-built Daimler-Benz DB 605 V12<\/span> <span class=\"chip\"><b>Origin<\/b> &nbsp;Italy<\/span> <span class=\"chip\"><b>Status<\/b> &nbsp;Retired \u2014 museum survivors only<\/span> <span class=\"chip fly\"><a href=\"#faq\">Want to fly a real fighter yourself?<\/a><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<div class=\"kicker\">The Story<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"st\">The Fiat G.55 Centauro: Italy\u2019s best fighter, built too late to matter<\/h2>\n<p class=\"lead\">Give a talented Italian designer the same German engine the Luftwaffe used, wrap it in a big, strong airframe and hang three cannon on it, and you get the Fiat G.55 Centauro \u2014 the fighter many historians, and reportedly the German pilots who tested it, judged the best Italy produced in the whole of the Second World War.<\/p>\n<p>By 1942 the Regia Aeronautica had spent three years learning a painful lesson: Italian designers could build beautiful, fine-handling fighters, but Italian industry could not give them the engines or the firepower to win. The nimble radial-engined Fiat CR.42 biplane and Fiat G.50 and Macchi C.200 monoplanes were all outclassed by the latest Spitfires and P-40s; even the excellent Macchi C.202 Folgore, powered by a licence-built Daimler-Benz DB 601, was chronically under-gunned. The obvious answer was more power, and Daimler-Benz had already provided it in the shape of the larger DB 605. Fiat took out a licence to build it in Italy as the Fiat R.A.1050 R.C.58 \u201cTifone\u201d (Typhoon). Three Italian manufacturers each set out to build a world-class fighter around that engine \u2014 and the result was the trio of aircraft known as the \u201cSerie 5.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fiat\u2019s entry came from the drawing board of Giuseppe Gabrielli, the engineer whose earlier G.50 Freccia had been Italy\u2019s first modern all-metal monoplane fighter. Gabrielli did not simply re-engine an old design as Macchi had done with the Folgore; he drew an essentially new, larger airframe optimised around the powerful Tifone. The prototype first flew on 30 April 1942, and it was clear at once that the Centauro \u2014 \u201cCentaur\u201d \u2014 was something special: fast, immensely strong, docile to fly and, unusually for an Italian fighter, stable and effective right up to very high altitude, where the massed Allied bomber streams flew.<\/p>\n<p>The numbers backed up the impression. The production G.55 reached somewhere around 620 to 630 km\/h (figures vary between sources and sub-variants), putting it firmly in the class of the Spitfire Mk IX and the P-51 Mustang it would meet in combat. Just as important, Gabrielli\u2019s roomy airframe finally solved the firepower problem that had plagued every earlier Italian fighter. The definitive G.55\/I carried three 20 mm MG 151\/20 cannon \u2014 one firing through the propeller hub and one in each wing \u2014 backed by two 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns in the cowling. For the first time an Italian fighter could hit as hard as it flew, and hit hard enough to knock down armoured four-engined bombers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"pull\">A world-class airframe, a licence-built German engine and three cannon \u2014 the Centauro was everything Italy\u2019s earlier fighters should have been, and it came a year too late.<\/p>\n<p>The aircraft\u2019s reputation was sealed early in 1943 at a now-famous comparative trial. At the Guidonia test centre the three Serie 5 fighters were flown against captured or supplied examples of the German Messerschmitt Bf 109G and Focke-Wulf Fw 190. The G.55 came out extremely well: contemporary accounts describe it as the best all-round performer of the Italian trio, prized above all for its stability and controllability at every altitude, and German evaluators are widely reported to have rated it the best fighter in the Axis \u2014 praise all the more striking coming from the makers of the Bf 109 and Fw 190. The Germans thought highly enough of the Centauro that they later operated a number themselves and even studied building it under licence.<\/p>\n<p>And yet the Centauro changed nothing, because there were almost none of them. The same complex Tifone engine that made the aircraft so good was desperately hard to mass-produce, Fiat\u2019s factories were bombed and short of materials, and the design was more time-consuming to build than the re-engined Macchi. By the time Italy signed an armistice with the Allies on 8 September 1943, only around thirty G.55s had reached front-line units. Total wartime production is usually put at roughly 274 aircraft, though estimates range from barely a hundred to that figure \u2014 a rounding error beside the tens of thousands of Bf 109s, Spitfires and Mustangs. However good the Centauro was, it arrived far too late and in far too few numbers to matter strategically.<\/p>\n<p>The armistice then split the aircraft, like the country, in two. In the German-occupied north, Mussolini\u2019s rump fascist state raised a new air arm, the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana (ANR), and its fighter groups flew the G.55 and the closely related Macchi C.205 against the overwhelming USAAF daylight raids of 1944, almost always heavily outnumbered. It was a bitter, losing defensive battle, and it burned through the small stock of Centauros quickly.<\/p>\n<p>What makes the G.55\u2019s story unusual is that it did not end in 1945. After the war Fiat simply restarted the line. Single-seat G.55A fighters and, cleverly, two-seat G.55B trainers rolled out of Turin; Argentina became the largest customer, and aircraft eventually reached Egypt and Syria. When surplus DB 605 engines ran out, Fiat re-engined the design with the Rolls-Royce Merlin as the G.59, which flew on into the 1950s. It was a strange, quiet afterlife for a fighter that had barely fought \u2014 the best aircraft of a lost cause, still earning its keep years after the war it was built for was over.<\/p>\n<p>It is worth pausing on how good, and how frustrating, that story is. Italy had produced, in Gabrielli and his rivals at Macchi and Reggiane, engineers whose designs could genuinely stand comparison with anything in the world. The Guidonia trials proved it against the yardstick that mattered most \u2014 the Luftwaffe\u2019s own front-line fighters. And yet the country could not translate that talent into aircraft on the flight line. The Centauro is the sharpest possible illustration of the gap between design brilliance and industrial reality: a fighter that was, by expert judgement, among the best in the world, and that made almost no difference to the war because Italy could build so few of them, so slowly, so late.<\/p>\n<p>That is why the Centauro matters far more to history than its combat record alone would suggest. It is remembered not for what it did \u2014 it did very little \u2014 but for what it was, and for what it represented: proof that Italian aeronautical engineering was never the problem, and a poignant symbol of a nation whose reach in the air always exceeded its industrial grasp. The pages that follow trace how the aircraft was designed, how it was armed, the brief and bitter war it fought on both sides of Italy\u2019s own divide, and the strange, long peacetime afterlife that kept the Centauro flying for another decade.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"inl\"><img data-opt-id=1136773583  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fiat-g-55-centauro-anr-rsi-wartime.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20100%%20100%%22%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"Fiat G.55 in wartime ANR \/ RSI markings\"><figcaption>A Fiat G.55 in wartime Repubblica Sociale Italiana \/ ANR markings. After the September 1943 armistice the fascist Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana flew the Centauro against USAAF raids over northern Italy. Public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"exn\">01<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The Fiat G.55 Centauro and the \u201cSerie 5\u201d: Italy\u2019s three best fighters<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>The Centauro is impossible to understand in isolation, because it was one of three fighters conceived around the same engine. When Fiat obtained the licence to build the Daimler-Benz DB 605 as the R.A.1050 R.C.58 Tifone, three manufacturers each designed a new fighter around it: Fiat\u2019s G.55 Centauro, the Macchi C.205 Veltro and the Reggiane Re.2005 Sagittario. Collectively these are Italy\u2019s \u201cSerie 5\u201d \u2014 the fifth-series fighters, and by common consent the finest the country produced.<\/p>\n<p>Each took a different approach. Macchi re-engined its existing C.202 Folgore, which meant the Veltro could reach the front fastest but inherited a smaller airframe. Reggiane drew the most aerodynamically radical machine, with a beautiful elliptical wing, but built almost none. Fiat\u2019s Gabrielli split the difference: an all-new, larger, structurally very strong airframe that gave up a little in low-level agility but excelled at altitude and could carry a heavier standard armament. In the 1943 Guidonia fly-off the three were tested against the Bf 109G and Fw 190, and the G.55 emerged as arguably the best-balanced of the Italian trio \u2014 good enough that its reputation as \u201cthe best Italian fighter of the war\u201d has largely stuck ever since.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"exn\">02<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The Fiat G.55 Centauro\u2019s engine: a licence-built Daimler-Benz DB 605<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>The heart of the Centauro was the Fiat R.A.1050 R.C.58 Tifone \u2014 not an Italian design but a licence-built copy of the German Daimler-Benz DB 605A, an inverted V12 of roughly 35.7 litres producing about 1,475 hp (1,475 PS) for take-off. It was the same engine, from the same family, that powered the Bf 109G and the sister Macchi C.205 Veltro, which is exactly why those three fighters are so often compared.<\/p>\n<p>Licence production is also the key to the whole tragedy of the type. The DB 605 was a sophisticated, tightly toleranced engine, and Fiat could never build the Tifone in anything like the numbers Italy needed. Engine supply \u2014 not airframe design \u2014 was the real ceiling on Centauro production. When Germany later evaluated building the G.55 under licence itself, one attraction was precisely that it would use an engine the Germans already mass-produced. After the war, when surplus DB 605s finally ran out, Fiat kept the airframe alive by fitting the Rolls-Royce Merlin instead, creating the G.59.<\/p>\n<p>The Tifone drove the Centauro through a three-bladed constant-speed propeller and was cooled by radiators mounted beneath the wings and fuselage, a layout that kept the fighter\u2019s frontal area small and its nose slim \u2014 the classic silhouette of the inline-engined fighter, and the quickest way to tell the Serie 5 machines from the radial-engined fighters that preceded them. The inverted-V configuration of the DB 605, with its cylinder banks pointing downward, also gave the pilot a better view over the nose than an upright engine would have allowed, a small but real advantage in the deflection shooting that decided most dogfights.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"exn\">03<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The Fiat G.55 Centauro\u2019s armament: three cannon that finally bit<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>The single most important thing Gabrielli\u2019s big airframe bought was room for guns. Where the Macchi C.202 and the earliest cannon-less fighters had made do with a pair of 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns, the definitive G.55\/I carried three 20 mm MG 151\/20 cannon \u2014 one firing through the propeller-hub spinner and one in each wing \u2014 plus two 12.7 mm guns in the upper cowling. That is a genuinely heavy battery for a 1943 single-seat fighter, and the MG 151 was the same excellent weapon carried by the Bf 109 and Fw 190.<\/p>\n<p>Some very early airframes were completed to a lighter standard while the wing-cannon installation was perfected, so as with the Veltro it is worth distinguishing the definitive three-cannon aircraft from the handful of early ones. An experimental G.55\/II went further still, deleting the cowling machine guns in favour of five 20 mm cannon, but it did not enter series production. The heavy, hub-and-wing cannon armament of the standard Centauro is one of the features that set it apart from \u2014 and in firepower slightly ahead of \u2014 its Serie 5 stablemate the Macchi C.205.<\/p>\n<p>The hub-mounted cannon deserves special mention, because it is both a signature feature and a genuine advantage. Firing straight down the aircraft\u2019s centreline through the hollow propeller-shaft spinner, a hub cannon needs no synchronisation gear and suffers none of the convergence problems of wing guns, whose fire crosses at only one set distance. Combined with the two wing cannon and two cowling machine guns, it gave the Centauro a concentrated, hard-hitting punch that was ideally suited to its most important 1944 task: bringing down the heavily built, well-defended American four-engined bombers that the ANR was thrown against.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"exn\">04<\/span><span class=\"gt\">Who designed the Fiat G.55 Centauro? Giuseppe Gabrielli and the Fiat fighter line<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>The Centauro was the masterpiece of Giuseppe Gabrielli, Fiat\u2019s long-serving chief designer, whose fighters were all designated with his initial \u201cG.\u201d His G.50 Freccia of the late 1930s had been Italy\u2019s first modern stressed-skin monoplane fighter, but it was hamstrung by a low-powered radial engine and open (later enclosed) cockpit, and it fought a losing battle against faster Allied types.<\/p>\n<p>Gabrielli\u2019s route to the Centauro ran through experiments with fitting inline engines to G.50 developments, but the G.55 was in the end an essentially new aircraft designed from the outset around the powerful Tifone. It is important not to confuse it with Fiat\u2019s earlier fighters: the Centauro is a big, sleek, inline-engined monoplane, worlds apart from the radial-engined CR.42 Falco biplane or the stubby G.50. After the war Gabrielli went on to design jets, including the G.91 that won a NATO light-fighter competition \u2014 but the G.55 remained the finest piston fighter to carry his name.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec alt\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<div class=\"kicker\">Design &amp; Engineering<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"st\">What made the Fiat G.55 Centauro so good<\/h2>\n<p class=\"lead\">Three things set the Centauro apart: a big, immensely strong airframe that stayed effective at high altitude, a powerful licence-built German engine, and a heavy three-cannon armament that let it destroy what it caught.<\/p>\n<div class=\"cards\">\n<div class=\"card\"><span class=\"num\">01<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>A strong, high-altitude airframe<\/h3>\n<p>Gabrielli\u2019s all-metal airframe was larger and heavier than its Serie 5 rivals, but exceptionally strong and \u2014 crucially \u2014 stable and controllable right up to very high altitude, exactly where the massed Allied bombers flew. Pilots praised its steadiness as a gun platform.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"card\"><span class=\"num\">02<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>The Tifone engine<\/h3>\n<p>The licence-built Daimler-Benz DB 605, made in Italy as the Fiat R.A.1050 R.C.58 Tifone, gave roughly 1,475 hp and a top speed around 620\u2013630 km\/h \u2014 closing the gap with the Spitfire Mk IX and P-51, and matching the engine in the Bf 109G.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"card\"><span class=\"num\">03<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Three cannon<\/h3>\n<p>The definitive G.55 carried three 20 mm MG 151\/20 cannon (hub and wings) plus two 12.7 mm machine guns \u2014 a heavier standard battery than the Macchi C.205, and enough to knock down armoured four-engined bombers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inl\" style=\"max-width:640px;margin-top:34px\"><img data-opt-id=711026855  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fiat-g-55-centauro-mg-151-20mm-cannon-scaled.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20100%%20100%%22%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"20 mm MG 151 cannon of the Fiat G.55 Centauro\"><figcaption>The 20 mm MG 151\/20 cannon installation of the Fiat G.55 at the Italian Air Force Museum, Vigna di Valle. The definitive Centauro carried three such cannon plus two 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns. Photo: Zerosei, CC BY 3.0.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"exn\">05<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The Fiat G.55 Centauro at Guidonia: judged the best fighter in the Axis<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>The Centauro\u2019s towering reputation rests largely on a single event: the comparative fighter trials held at the Regia Aeronautica\u2019s Guidonia test centre in early 1943. There the three Serie 5 fighters \u2014 the G.55, the Macchi C.205 and the Reggiane Re.2005 \u2014 were flown alongside the German Messerschmitt Bf 109G and Focke-Wulf Fw 190. The purpose was partly to help decide which types Italy (and potentially Germany) should build in quantity.<\/p>\n<p>Accounts of the results are consistent on the essentials. The Macchi C.205 shone at low and medium altitude but fell away higher up; the Reggiane was very fast at height but plagued by production troubles; and the Fiat G.55 impressed above all with its stability, controllability and effectiveness across the whole altitude band. German evaluators are widely reported to have come away rating the G.55 the best fighter available on the Axis side. It is worth hedging the exact wording \u2014 reports of the trial have been retold many times and some superlatives have hardened in the retelling \u2014 but the substance is not in doubt: serious German testers, with the Bf 109 and Fw 190 to compare it against, thought the Centauro genuinely excellent.<\/p>\n<p>The verdict had practical consequences. Impressed by what they saw, the Germans not only used a number of Centauros themselves after the armistice but seriously examined building the type in Germany, precisely because it used an engine they already produced in quantity. For a nation as confident in its own aircraft as wartime Germany to weigh adopting a foreign fighter is, in itself, one of the strongest testimonials the G.55 ever received \u2014 and it is the root of the type\u2019s enduring \u201cbest Italian fighter of the war\u201d reputation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"exn\">06<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The Fiat G.55 Centauro versus the Bf 109, the Spitfire and the Mustang<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>On paper and in the air the Centauro could live with the best fighters of 1943. Its top speed of around 620\u2013630 km\/h was competitive with the Spitfire Mk IX and the P-51, and its high-altitude stability and heavy cannon armament made it a dangerous bomber-destroyer. Against the Bf 109G it shared the same engine but offered a roomier, stronger airframe and, in standard form, heavier firepower, at the cost of a little agility and climb.<\/p>\n<p>The honest caveats are the same ones that shadow the whole Serie 5 story. The Centauro was heavier than its rivals, so its rate of climb and low-speed turn were good rather than dominant; its radios and some systems lagged Allied standards; and, above all, it was available in tiny numbers against air forces that fielded hundreds of aircraft on a single mission. A superb fighter flown by a handful of veterans can win individual dogfights but cannot win command of the sky. That, in one sentence, is the Centauro: as good as almost anything it met, and almost never there.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"exn\">07<\/span><span class=\"gt\">Why so few Fiat G.55 Centauros were built<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>For all its quality, only around 274 Centauros are commonly cited as completed during the war, and even that figure is disputed \u2014 some sources put wartime output as low as roughly a hundred, and only about thirty-one aircraft had reached units by the armistice of 8 September 1943. Compare that with roughly 34,000 Bf 109s and the scale of Italy\u2019s problem is obvious.<\/p>\n<p>The bottleneck was never Gabrielli\u2019s design. It was the engine and the state of Italian industry in 1943: the complex licence-built Tifone was slow and difficult to manufacture; raw materials were scarce; Fiat\u2019s Turin plants were bombed; and the September 1943 armistice threw the whole industrial base into chaos, splitting it between the German-occupied north and the Allied south. The G.55 is the classic example of a war-winning design that a losing industrial situation could never deliver in war-winning quantities. It is also why the type\u2019s most interesting production story is actually the post-war one, when Fiat could finally build it in peace.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"exn\">08<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The Fiat G.55 Centauro versus its Serie 5 rival, the Reggiane Re.2005 Sagittario<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>The third member of the Serie 5 trio was the Reggiane Re.2005 Sagittario (\u201carcher\u201d), and comparing it with the Centauro sharpens what made Gabrielli\u2019s design the more practical machine. On paper the Re.2005 was arguably the most beautiful and aerodynamically advanced of the three, with an elegant elliptical wing reminiscent of the Spitfire and superb performance at altitude. At the Guidonia trials it was noted as very fast high up.<\/p>\n<p>But beauty came at a price. The Re.2005 was structurally complex and slow to build, and Reggiane \u2014 a smaller firm than Fiat or Macchi \u2014 completed only a tiny handful, on the order of forty-odd aircraft. The G.55, by contrast, offered nearly comparable high-altitude ability in a much stronger, more producible airframe, with a heavier standard armament of three cannon. In the brutal arithmetic of 1943 that made the Centauro the more useful weapon: not quite as exquisite as the Sagittario, but tougher, better armed and \u2014 relatively speaking \u2014 buildable. That the G.55 still reached the front in only small numbers says everything about how desperate Italy\u2019s industrial situation had become.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<div class=\"kicker\">The War<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"st\">The Fiat G.55 Centauro\u2019s war: 1943, the armistice, and a post-war afterlife<\/h2>\n<p class=\"lead\">The Centauro\u2019s front-line career was brief and came at the worst possible moment \u2014 but the aircraft\u2019s story runs on for years afterwards, through an Italian civil war, an export drive, and a Rolls-Royce-engined second life.<\/p>\n<p>When the first G.55s reached the Regia Aeronautica in the spring of 1943, Italy was already losing. The Axis position in North Africa had collapsed, Sicily was about to be invaded, and Allied bombers were ranging ever deeper into Italian skies. Into that desperate situation came a fighter Italian pilots had been waiting years for: fast, strong, effective at altitude and, at last, heavily armed. But there were only a handful of them. The Centauro flew defensive sorties over Rome, Naples, Sardinia and the industrial north, and where it met the enemy it acquitted itself well \u2014 yet a trickle of aircraft could do nothing to blunt an Allied air offensive measured in the thousands.<\/p>\n<p>Then, on 8 September 1943, Italy signed an armistice with the Allies, and the aircraft\u2019s story fractured along with the country. In the German-occupied north, Mussolini\u2019s new fascist republic raised the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana (ANR). Its fighter groups \u2014 men who had chosen to keep fighting alongside Germany \u2014 took the G.55 and the Macchi C.205 into a grinding defensive battle against the USAAF\u2019s massed daylight raids of 1944, almost always outnumbered many times over. The ANR\u2019s Centauro pilots earned respect even from the Luftwaffe alongside which they flew, but their war was one of steady attrition against impossible odds, and it consumed the small stock of aircraft quickly.<\/p>\n<p>The Germans themselves took a serious interest. Having rated the G.55 so highly at Guidonia, the Luftwaffe operated a number of Centauros through German-controlled units in Italy, and there were even proposals \u2014 never realised at scale \u2014 to build the type in Germany, since it used an engine German factories already produced. It is a striking curiosity: a German air arm flying an Italian fighter powered by a licence-built German engine and armed with German cannon, the DB 605 and MG 151 having come full circle.<\/p>\n<p>For the ANR\u2019s pilots the reality of that 1944 fight was grim and repetitive. Wave after wave of American heavy bombers, hundreds strong and shielded by long-range escorts, crossed the Alps and the Apennines to hit northern Italian industry, railways and cities. Against them the ANR could put up only a handful of Centauros and Veltros at a time. The Italian fighters, fast and well-armed, could reach the bombers and hurt them \u2014 the three-cannon G.55 was a genuine bomber-killer \u2014 but each interception cost aircraft and irreplaceable veteran pilots, and the trickle of new Centauros from the disrupted factories could not keep pace. By late 1944 many ANR units were converting to German Bf 109s simply because they could be supplied; the home-grown Centauro, for all its quality, was being starved out of its own war.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"inl\" style=\"max-width:640px\"><img data-opt-id=1791426487  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fiat-g-55-centauro-syrian-air-force.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20100%%20100%%22%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"Fiat G.55 in Syrian Air Force service\"><figcaption>A Fiat G.55 in Syrian Air Force markings. After the war the Centauro was exported \u2014 Argentina was the biggest customer, and aircraft reached Egypt and Syria. Public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>What happened next is what makes the Centauro unusual among wartime fighters: production did not really stop, it paused. With the war over, Fiat restarted the line at Turin, building single-seat G.55A fighters and \u2014 making shrewd use of the type\u2019s roomy fuselage \u2014 two-seat G.55B advanced trainers. Argentina became the largest export customer, ordering around thirty G.55A fighters and fifteen G.55B trainers in the late 1940s. When relations shifted, a batch of ex-Argentine Centauros found their way back to Europe and on to Syria, while Egypt too acquired Fiat fighters around the time of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The exact numbers and routes are tangled and the sources disagree, but the broad shape is clear: an Italian fighter that had barely fought its own war ended up serving air forces from South America to the Middle East.<\/p>\n<p>The final twist was mechanical. As stocks of the wartime DB 605 \/ Tifone engine ran dry, Fiat re-engined the design with the readily available Rolls-Royce Merlin, producing the G.59 in both single- and two-seat forms. G.59s served the Italian Air Force as trainers into the 1950s and were themselves exported \u2014 Syria received a batch of Merlin-engined machines. It is why, confusingly, several of the aircraft displayed today as \u201cG.55s\u201d are strictly speaking the Merlin-powered G.59 development: the same Gabrielli airframe, a different engine, and a service life that stretched a full decade beyond the war the Centauro was designed to fight.<\/p>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"exn\">09<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The Fiat G.55 Centauro in ANR service: the units and pilots who flew it<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>After the armistice, the men who chose to keep fighting alongside Germany formed the fighter arm of the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana. Its groups \u2014 among them the Gruppi that would become famous in the ANR\u2019s short history \u2014 re-equipped with a mix of the Fiat G.55 and the Macchi C.205, the best fighters Italy could still produce, and threw them against the American bomber offensive rolling up through Italy in 1944.<\/p>\n<p>Their war was almost unwinnable. A typical interception might pit a dozen or two Centauros and Veltros against hundreds of B-17s and B-24s and their swarming P-51 and P-38 escorts. The ANR pilots \u2014 many of them veterans of North Africa and the Mediterranean \u2014 fought with skill and considerable courage, and their combat claims were respectable, but attrition was relentless and replacements few. As the Centauros were used up and new engines failed to arrive, ANR units increasingly re-equipped with German Bf 109s. The G.55\u2019s front-line career with the ANR was therefore intense but brief: a last, defiant flourish of Italian fighter design flown in a cause already lost.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"exn\">10<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The Fiat G.55 and the Luftwaffe: the fighter Germany nearly built<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>Germany\u2019s interest in the Centauro was serious and practical. Having watched the G.55 perform at Guidonia, the Luftwaffe not only operated a number of the aircraft through German-controlled units in Italy but also studied the possibility of building the type in Germany. The logic was compelling: the G.55 already used a licence-built DB 605, an engine German factories produced in huge quantity, so a German-built Centauro would not compete for the scarce engines that constrained Italian production.<\/p>\n<p>In the event nothing came of large-scale German production \u2014 the war situation, the demands of standardising on the Bf 109 and Fw 190, and the sheer disruption of 1944\u201345 saw to that. But the very fact that Germany considered adopting an Italian fighter is a measure of how highly the G.55 was rated. It remains one of the great \u201cwhat ifs\u201d of the air war: a Centauro built in German numbers, with a reliable engine supply, might have been a genuinely significant fighter rather than a magnificent footnote.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"exn\">11<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The Fiat G.55 Centauro\u2019s legacy: why a fighter that barely fought is so admired<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>By any measure of impact the G.55 was a minor aircraft: too few, too late, on the losing side. And yet it is remembered and admired out of all proportion to the numbers built. The reason is that it stands for a genuine possibility \u2014 proof that Italian designers, given the right engine, could build a fighter the enemy itself judged the best in the Axis. Historians reach for the Centauro whenever they want to show that Italy\u2019s aeronautical talent was never in question; capacity, materials, strategy and timing were.<\/p>\n<p>For enthusiasts the appeal is also aesthetic and human. The Centauro is a handsome, purposeful aircraft with a dramatic, tragic story: a thoroughbred that reached the starting line just as the race was lost, that was then torn between the two halves of a broken nation, and that finally found a quiet second career flying for foreign air forces long after the cause it was built for had vanished. That combination of excellence and might-have-been is exactly why the Fiat G.55 Centauro earns a place in a museum devoted to the greatest aircraft ever flown \u2014 even though only a handful survive, and none has flown for decades.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec alt\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<div class=\"kicker\">Specifications<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"st\">Fiat G.55 Centauro full specifications<\/h2>\n<p class=\"lead\">Figures are for the definitive wartime G.55\/I and are drawn from established reference sources; several are approximate and vary between references and sub-variants, so contested values are flagged.<\/p>\n<div class=\"specwrap\">\n<table class=\"spec\">\n<caption>Powerplant &amp; performance<\/caption>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Crew<\/th>\n<td>1 (pilot)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Engine<\/th>\n<td>Fiat R.A.1050 R.C.58 Tifone \u2014 licence-built Daimler-Benz DB 605A, inverted V12<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Power<\/th>\n<td>~1,475 hp (1,475 PS) for take-off<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Maximum speed<\/th>\n<td>~620\u2013630 km\/h (~385\u2013391 mph) at altitude (varies by source)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Service ceiling<\/th>\n<td>~12,700\u201312,750 m (~41,800 ft)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Range<\/th>\n<td>~1,200 km (~745 mi) \u2014 figures vary<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Rate of climb<\/th>\n<td>~6,000 m in ~7 minutes (approx.)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Armament (definitive G.55\/I)<\/th>\n<td>3 \u00d7 20 mm MG 151\/20 cannon (1 hub, 2 wings) + 2 \u00d7 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT (cowl)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Armament (experimental G.55\/II)<\/th>\n<td>5 \u00d7 20 mm cannon (cowl guns deleted) \u2014 did not enter series production<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Bomb load<\/th>\n<td>Up to 2 \u00d7 160 kg bombs or drop tanks (optional)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<table class=\"spec\">\n<caption>Airframe, programme &amp; cost<\/caption>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Length<\/th>\n<td>9.73 m (31 ft 11 in)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Wingspan<\/th>\n<td>11.85 m (38 ft 10 in)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Height<\/th>\n<td>3.13 m (10 ft 3 in)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Wing area<\/th>\n<td>~21.1 m\u00b2 (227 sq ft)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Empty weight<\/th>\n<td>~2,630 kg (estimate)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Loaded \/ max take-off weight<\/th>\n<td>~3,718 kg (estimate)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>First flight<\/th>\n<td>30 April 1942 (prototype)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Service entry<\/th>\n<td>March 1943 (Regia Aeronautica)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Number built<\/th>\n<td>~274 wartime + ~75 post-war (figures vary widely; ~349 total)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Designer<\/th>\n<td>Giuseppe Gabrielli<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Manufacturer<\/th>\n<td>Fiat, Turin (Italy)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Unit cost<\/th>\n<td>Not reliably recorded (WWII)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Cost per flight hour<\/th>\n<td>Not applicable \u2014 no airworthy example<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"fnote\">Values marked \u201cestimate\u201d or \u201cvaries\u201d should be treated as approximate. Speed, weight, range and production figures in particular differ between references and between the many G.55 and post-war G.55A \/ G.55B \/ G.59 sub-variants.<\/p>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"exn\">12<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The Fiat G.55 Centauro\u2019s variants: G.55\/I, G.55\/II, G.55S, G.55A, G.55B and the Merlin G.59<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>Few piston fighters spawned as many variants relative to numbers built. The wartime production aircraft was the G.55\/I with three 20 mm cannon; the experimental G.55\/II raised this to five cannon. A dedicated torpedo-carrying version, the G.55S (<i>silurante<\/i>), was developed to carry an aerial torpedo, though it saw little use. There were also reconnaissance and lightened sub-types proposed as the war situation demanded.<\/p>\n<p>The richer story is post-war. Fiat resumed production with the single-seat G.55A fighter and the two-seat G.55B advanced trainer \u2014 the latter making excellent use of the Centauro\u2019s large fuselage. When wartime DB 605 engines ran out, Fiat fitted the Rolls-Royce Merlin to create the G.59, again in single-seat (G.59-1A, G.59-4A) and two-seat (G.59-2A, G.59-4B) forms. These Merlin-engined machines served the Italian Air Force into the 1950s and were exported. It is why several airframes displayed today as \u201cG.55s\u201d are in fact G.59s: the same Gabrielli design, a different engine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"exn\">13<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The Fiat G.55 Centauro\u2019s post-war export career: Argentina, Egypt and Syria<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>With the Italian market saturated and the type out of front-line fashion, Fiat looked abroad. Argentina was the biggest customer, ordering around thirty G.55A single-seat fighters and about fifteen G.55B two-seat trainers in the late 1940s, which served the Fuerza A\u00e9rea Argentina before being retired as jets arrived.<\/p>\n<p>The Middle East proved the other market. Around the time of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Egypt acquired Fiat fighters, and a batch of roughly seventeen ex-Argentine Centauros was transferred to Syria in 1948. Syria later also bought Merlin-engined G.59s \u2014 commonly cited as about twenty-six single-seat and four two-seat aircraft. The precise numbers, dates and aircraft identities are genuinely tangled and sources disagree, so these totals should be read as approximate; what is not in doubt is that the Centauro and its G.59 derivative flew in several air forces well after 1945.<\/p>\n<p>This export career is one of the reasons so few original wartime G.55s survive: many of the airframes that outlived the war were flown hard as trainers and second-line fighters overseas, then scrapped when jets replaced them, rather than being preserved. It also explains a common source of confusion \u2014 a photograph captioned \u201cFiat G.55\u201d taken in Argentine, Egyptian or Syrian markings may show a late-production or post-war airframe, or even a Merlin-engined G.59, rather than a wartime Regia Aeronautica or ANR machine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"exn\">14<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The Fiat G.55 Centauro\u2019s operating costs: why there is no cost-per-hour figure<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>Unlike the modern jets in the MiGFlug fleet, the Centauro has no meaningful operating-cost figure. Wartime unit costs for Italian fighters were not reliably or consistently recorded, and the currency and economic chaos of 1943\u201345 Italy makes any single number misleading.<\/p>\n<p>More to the point, there is no airworthy Fiat G.55 anywhere in the world. Every surviving original is a static museum exhibit, so there is no fuel bill, no maintenance cost and no cost-per-flight-hour to quote \u2014 the honest entry in the specifications table is simply \u201cnot applicable.\u201d If you want to know what flying a genuine fighter actually costs today, the aircraft MiGFlug operates are a far better guide than a fighter that has not flown for over half a century.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"gd\">\n<summary><span class=\"exn\">15<\/span><span class=\"gt\">How to tell a Fiat G.55 Centauro from the Macchi C.205, the CR.42 and the G.50<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gd-body\">\n<p>The Centauro is easy to confuse with its relatives if you do not know the tells. Against the earlier Fiat fighters the distinction is stark: the CR.42 Falco is a fabric-and-strut biplane with a radial engine, and the G.50 Freccia is a small, stubby radial-engined monoplane. The G.55 is a large, sleek, inline-engined monoplane \u2014 a completely different generation of aircraft, even though all three carry Gabrielli\u2019s \u201cG.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The harder call is against the Macchi C.205 Veltro, because the two share the same DB 605 \/ Tifone engine and a similar slim inline nose. Here the tells are size and detail: the G.55 is noticeably larger and heavier, with a broader wing; it carries a cannon firing through the propeller hub and a cannon in each wing (three in all), where the standard Veltro has two wing cannon; and the two wear different national and unit markings in most museum settings. Manufacturer is the ultimate answer \u2014 a Fiat is a G.55, a Macchi is a C.205 \u2014 but the hub cannon and the larger airframe are the quickest visual cues.<\/p>\n<p>One more trap catches the unwary at museums: the post-war G.59. Because Fiat re-engined the Centauro with the Rolls-Royce Merlin, and because several preserved airframes are in fact G.59s, an aircraft labelled or remembered as a \u201cG.55\u201d may actually have the longer, differently shaped nose of the Merlin installation, or be a two-seater. If the cockpit has room for two, it is a G.55B or G.59 trainer, not a single-seat wartime fighter. When you want to be sure you are looking at a genuine wartime Centauro, the surest example is the single-seat aircraft in ANR markings at Vigna di Valle.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<div class=\"kicker\">Timeline<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"st\">The Fiat G.55 Centauro: a short war and a long afterlife<\/h2>\n<div class=\"tl\">\n<div class=\"ev\"><span class=\"yr\">Late 1930s<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Gabrielli\u2019s first fighters.<\/b> Fiat\u2019s G.50 Freccia gives Italy its first modern monoplane fighter, but a weak radial engine leaves it outclassed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ev\"><span class=\"yr\">1942<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>The Tifone licence.<\/b> Fiat begins licence production of the Daimler-Benz DB 605 as the R.A.1050 R.C.58 Tifone, the engine shared by all three \u201cSerie 5\u201d fighters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ev\"><span class=\"yr\">30 April 1942<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>First flight.<\/b> The G.55 prototype takes to the air \u2014 an all-new, large, strong airframe built around the powerful Tifone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ev\"><span class=\"yr\">Early 1943<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>The Guidonia trials.<\/b> The G.55 is flown against the Macchi C.205, Reggiane Re.2005, Bf 109G and Fw 190; German evaluators reportedly rate it the best fighter in the Axis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ev\"><span class=\"yr\">March 1943<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Into service.<\/b> The first G.55s reach the Regia Aeronautica, armed with three 20 mm cannon and two machine guns.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ev\"><span class=\"yr\">Summer 1943<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Combat.<\/b> Centauros fly defensive sorties over Rome, Naples, Sardinia and northern Italy against Allied raids \u2014 but only a few are available.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ev\"><span class=\"yr\">8 September 1943<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>The armistice.<\/b> Italy changes sides. Only around thirty-one G.55s have reached units. The fleet and the country split in two.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ev\"><span class=\"yr\">1944<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>The ANR\u2019s fight.<\/b> The fascist Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana flies the G.55 and C.205 against massed USAAF daylight raids over northern Italy, heavily outnumbered.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ev\"><span class=\"yr\">1944\u20131945<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>German use.<\/b> The Luftwaffe operates a number of Centauros in Italy and studies building the type, which uses an engine Germany already produces.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ev\"><span class=\"yr\">Late 1940s<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Post-war revival.<\/b> Fiat restarts production: G.55A fighters and G.55B trainers. Argentina buys ~30 fighters and ~15 trainers; aircraft reach Egypt and Syria.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ev\"><span class=\"yr\">Late 1940s\u20131950s<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>The Merlin G.59.<\/b> With DB 605 engines exhausted, Fiat re-engines the design with the Rolls-Royce Merlin as the G.59, which serves and is exported into the 1950s.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ev\"><span class=\"yr\">Today<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Survivors.<\/b> Only a small number of originals survive, notably at the Italian Air Force Museum at Vigna di Valle; none is airworthy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec alt\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<div class=\"kicker\">Stories &amp; Context<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"st\">Twelve things worth knowing about the Fiat G.55 Centauro<\/h2>\n<p class=\"lead\">Scroll through the episodes and details that make the Centauro one of the most admired \u2014 and most poignant \u2014 fighters of the war.<\/p>\n<div class=\"carou\">\n<div class=\"track\" id=\"hxtrack\">\n<div class=\"scard\"><span class=\"sn\">01 \u00b7 The idea<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>One engine, three fighters<\/h3>\n<p>The Centauro was born from a national bet: build a world-class fighter around the licence-produced Daimler-Benz DB 605. Three firms tried at once \u2014 Fiat, Macchi and Reggiane \u2014 creating the \u201cSerie 5\u201d trio. Fiat\u2019s Giuseppe Gabrielli drew an all-new, larger airframe rather than re-engining an old one, and it paid off in strength and high-altitude performance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\"><span class=\"sn\">02 \u00b7 The name<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Centauro \u2014 the Centaur<\/h3>\n<p>Fiat\u2019s fighter carried a mythological name to match Italy\u2019s tradition of evocative titles \u2014 alongside the Macchi Veltro (greyhound) and Reggiane Sagittario (archer). The centaur, half-man and half-horse, suited a big, powerful machine that combined brute strength with agility, and it looked the part: long, muscular and purposeful. All three were designed around the same licence-built German engine, which is why they are grouped together as the Serie 5.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\"><span class=\"sn\">03 \u00b7 First flight<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>30 April 1942<\/h3>\n<p>The prototype flew in the spring of 1942 and impressed immediately. But turning a fine prototype into front-line aircraft meant building the complex Tifone engine in quantity, and that took most of a year \u2014 a delay that proved fatal to the type\u2019s wartime impact, because by the time it was ready Italy\u2019s strategic position had already collapsed. Service entry came only in March 1943, with the Allies already closing on Sicily.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\"><span class=\"sn\">04 \u00b7 Guidonia<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Best in the Axis<\/h3>\n<p>At the 1943 Guidonia trials the G.55 was flown against the Bf 109G and Fw 190. It impressed the German evaluators so much that they reportedly judged it the best fighter in the Axis \u2014 an extraordinary verdict on an Italian design from the men who built the Luftwaffe\u2019s own front-line fighters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\"><span class=\"sn\">05 \u00b7 The engine<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>A German heart, built in Italy<\/h3>\n<p>The Fiat R.A.1050 R.C.58 Tifone was a licence-built Daimler-Benz DB 605, the very engine that powered the Bf 109G. It gave the Centauro about 1,475 hp \u2014 and it was also its curse, because Fiat could never build the sophisticated engine fast enough to matter. When even licence-built DB 605s ran short after the war, Fiat kept the airframe alive by fitting the Rolls-Royce Merlin instead, creating the G.59.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\"><span class=\"sn\">06 \u00b7 The guns<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Three cannon and two machine guns<\/h3>\n<p>Gabrielli\u2019s roomy airframe finally solved Italy\u2019s chronic firepower problem. The definitive G.55 carried three 20 mm MG 151\/20 cannon \u2014 one through the propeller hub, one in each wing \u2014 plus two 12.7 mm machine guns: enough to tear apart the armoured four-engined bombers pounding Italy. The hub cannon fired straight down the centreline, with no synchronisation gear and no convergence problems \u2014 the ideal bomber-killing weapon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\"><span class=\"sn\">07 \u00b7 Too late<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Thirty-one by the armistice<\/h3>\n<p>For all its quality, only about thirty-one G.55s had reached units when Italy signed the armistice on 8 September 1943. Total wartime production is usually put around 274, though estimates run lower. However good the aircraft was, there were simply never enough to change the course of the air war. The Centauro is the ultimate example of quality defeated by quantity \u2014 a fighter that could out-fly the enemy one aircraft at a time, in a war decided by thousands.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\"><span class=\"sn\">08 \u00b7 The split<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>A fighter of the civil war<\/h3>\n<p>The armistice tore Italy \u2014 and its air force \u2014 in two. In the German-aligned north the fascist ANR flew the Centauro; in the Allied south other Italian units flew what survivors they had. The G.55 became a fighter of Italy\u2019s own civil war, in the skies over its own cities \u2014 Italians fighting Italians in the same type of aircraft, a tragedy few other nations\u2019 fighters ever shared.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\"><span class=\"sn\">09 \u00b7 The north<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>The ANR\u2019s outnumbered defenders<\/h3>\n<p>In 1944 the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana threw its G.55 and C.205 fighters against the USAAF\u2019s vast daylight bomber streams over northern Italy. Almost always heavily outnumbered, the ANR pilots fought a bitter, losing battle that earned respect even from the Luftwaffe alongside which they flew. As Centauros were used up and new engines failed to arrive, many ANR units re-equipped with German Bf 109s.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\"><span class=\"sn\">10 \u00b7 The Germans<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Flown, and nearly built, by the Luftwaffe<\/h3>\n<p>Having rated the Centauro so highly, the Germans operated a number themselves in Italy and even weighed building it in Germany \u2014 attractive because it used the DB 605 they already mass-produced. It is a curious full circle: a German engine, in an Italian fighter, back in German hands. That a confident air power would consider adopting a foreign design is among the strongest testimonials the G.55 ever received.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\"><span class=\"sn\">11 \u00b7 The afterlife<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Argentina, Egypt and Syria<\/h3>\n<p>Peace, not war, is when the Centauro was finally built in numbers. Fiat restarted the line for G.55A fighters and G.55B trainers; Argentina bought around thirty fighters and fifteen trainers, and aircraft reached Egypt and Syria, including a batch of ex-Argentine machines transferred to Syria in 1948. An Italian fighter that had barely fought its own war ended up serving from South America to the Middle East.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"scard\"><span class=\"sn\">12 \u00b7 The Merlin<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>A second life as the G.59<\/h3>\n<p>When wartime DB 605 engines ran out, Fiat fitted the Rolls-Royce Merlin and created the G.59, in single- and two-seat forms. G.59s trained Italian pilots into the 1950s and were exported to Syria \u2014 which is why several aircraft displayed today as \u201cG.55s\u201d are really the Merlin-powered development. The same Gabrielli airframe thus flew on for a full decade after the war it was designed for had ended.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"cbtns\"> <button class=\"cbtn\" aria-label=\"Scroll left\" onclick=\"this.closest('.carou').querySelector('.track').scrollBy({left:-360,behavior:'smooth'})\">&#8249;<\/button> <button class=\"cbtn\" aria-label=\"Scroll right\" onclick=\"this.closest('.carou').querySelector('.track').scrollBy({left:360,behavior:'smooth'})\">&#8250;<\/button> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<div class=\"kicker\">Gallery<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"st\">Fiat G.55 Centauro in photographs<\/h2>\n<p class=\"lead\">Wartime images and the surviving museum aircraft. Click any photograph to enlarge. All images are public domain or Creative Commons, credited in the captions.<\/p>\n<div class=\"gallery-track\" id=\"g55-gallery\">\n<figure><img data-opt-id=741411506  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fiat-g-55-centauro-vigna-di-valle-side-view-scaled.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20100%%20100%%22%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-full=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fiat-g-55-centauro-vigna-di-valle-side-view-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"The Fiat G.55 Centauro preserved at the Italian Air Force Museum, Vigna di Valle. Photo: Zerosei, CC BY 3.0.\"><figcaption>The Fiat G.55 Centauro preserved at the Italian Air Force Museum, Vigna di Valle. Photo: Zerosei, CC BY 3.0.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure><img data-opt-id=1732556862  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fiat-g-55-centauro-vigna-di-valle-museum-scaled.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20100%%20100%%22%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-full=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fiat-g-55-centauro-vigna-di-valle-museum-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"One of very few surviving Fiat G.55 Centauros, at the Italian Air Force Museum, Vigna di Valle. Photo: Nickname (Wikimedia Commons), CC BY 3.0.\"><figcaption>One of very few surviving Fiat G.55 Centauros, at the Italian Air Force Museum, Vigna di Valle. Photo: Nickname (Wikimedia Commons), CC BY 3.0.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure><img data-opt-id=711026855  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fiat-g-55-centauro-mg-151-20mm-cannon-scaled.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20100%%20100%%22%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-full=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fiat-g-55-centauro-mg-151-20mm-cannon-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"The 20 mm MG 151\/20 cannon of the Fiat G.55; the definitive Centauro carried three such cannon plus two 12.7 mm guns. Photo: Zerosei, CC BY 3.0.\"><figcaption>The 20 mm MG 151\/20 cannon of the Fiat G.55; the definitive Centauro carried three such cannon plus two 12.7 mm guns. Photo: Zerosei, CC BY 3.0.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure><img data-opt-id=1772365681  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fiat-g-55-centauro-db-605-tifone-engine-detail-scaled.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20100%%20100%%22%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-full=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fiat-g-55-centauro-db-605-tifone-engine-detail-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Engine detail of the preserved G.55, powered by the Fiat R.A.1050 R.C.58 Tifone \u2014 a licence-built Daimler-Benz DB 605. Photo: Zerosei, CC BY 3.0.\"><figcaption>Engine detail of the preserved G.55, powered by the Fiat R.A.1050 R.C.58 Tifone \u2014 a licence-built Daimler-Benz DB 605. Photo: Zerosei, CC BY 3.0.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure><img data-opt-id=1136773583  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fiat-g-55-centauro-anr-rsi-wartime.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20100%%20100%%22%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-full=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fiat-g-55-centauro-anr-rsi-wartime.jpg\" alt=\"A Fiat G.55 in wartime Repubblica Sociale Italiana \/ ANR markings \u2014 the fascist air arm that flew the Centauro in northern Italy after the armistice. Public domain.\"><figcaption>A Fiat G.55 in wartime Repubblica Sociale Italiana \/ ANR markings \u2014 the fascist air arm that flew the Centauro in northern Italy after the armistice. Public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure><img data-opt-id=368080804  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fiat-g-55-centauro-armament-wartime.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20100%%20100%%22%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-full=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fiat-g-55-centauro-armament-wartime.jpg\" alt=\"The heavy armament of the Fiat G.55 Centauro: three 20 mm cannon and two 12.7 mm machine guns in the definitive version. Public domain (CC0).\"><figcaption>The heavy armament of the Fiat G.55 Centauro: three 20 mm cannon and two 12.7 mm machine guns in the definitive version. Public domain (CC0).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure><img data-opt-id=1791426487  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fiat-g-55-centauro-syrian-air-force.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20100%%20100%%22%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-full=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fiat-g-55-centauro-syrian-air-force.jpg\" alt=\"A Fiat G.55 in Syrian Air Force service \u2014 part of the Centauro\u2019s post-war export career alongside Argentina and Egypt. Public domain.\"><figcaption>A Fiat G.55 in Syrian Air Force service \u2014 part of the Centauro\u2019s post-war export career alongside Argentina and Egypt. Public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec alt\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<div class=\"kicker\">On Film<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"st\">The Fiat G.55 Centauro on video<\/h2>\n<p class=\"lead\">A detailed, well-researched history of the Centauro from the aviation channel IHYLS, covering the type\u2019s development, its heavy armament and the industrial failure that kept it from mattering.<\/p>\n<div class=\"vidwrap\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tuI7ApKU-rQ\" title=\"How Fiat Sabotaged A (Slightly) Better Fighter: Fiat G.55 Centauro\" loading=\"lazy\" allow=\"accelerometer;autoplay;clipboard-write;encrypted-media;gyroscope;picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p class=\"vcap\">\u201cHow Fiat Sabotaged A (Slightly) Better Fighter: Fiat G.55 Centauro\u201d \u2014 IHYLS (an established aviation-history channel), published May 2025, roughly 44,000 views at the time of writing. The G.55 is an obscure type, so no single documentary reaches the millions of views a Spitfire video might; this is among the most thorough dedicated treatments available.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<div class=\"kicker\">Operations Map<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"st\">Where the Fiat G.55 Centauro flew<\/h2>\n<p class=\"lead\">Origin and manufacture in Italy, wartime service with the Regia Aeronautica and the fascist ANR (plus German evaluation), the post-war exports to Argentina, Egypt and Syria, and where surviving airframes are preserved. Hover (or tap on mobile) a country for details; use the buttons to toggle categories.<\/p>\n<div class=\"mapwrap\">\n<div id=\"g55-map-widget\" style=\"font-family:'Gilroy semiBold','Gilroy regular',Helvetica,Arial,Lucida,sans-serif;max-width:1080px;width:100%\">\n<div id=\"g55-map-container\" style=\"width:100%;position:relative\"><svg id=\"g55-map-svg\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;display:block\"><\/svg><\/p>\n<div id=\"g55-tooltip\" style=\"position:fixed;background:#1a1a2e;color:#fff;padding:10px 16px;font-size:13px;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:.3px;pointer-events:auto;opacity:0;transition:opacity .15s;z-index:1000;max-width:360px;line-height:1.5\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"g55-controls\" style=\"display:flex;gap:8px;flex-wrap:wrap;justify-content:flex-start;margin-top:12px\"> <button class=\"g55-toggle active\" data-cat=\"origin\" data-full=\"Origin &amp; Manufacturer\" data-short=\"Origin\" style=\"display:flex;align-items:center;gap:6px;padding:8px 12px;border:2px solid #5C91FF;border-radius:0;background:#fff;cursor:pointer;font-family:inherit;font-size:13px;font-weight:600;color:#1a1a2e;white-space:nowrap\"><\/p>\n<div style=\"width:14px;height:14px;flex-shrink:0;background:#5C91FF\"><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"g55-label\">Origin &amp; Manufacturer<\/span><span class=\"g55-check\" style=\"font-size:10px\">&#10003;<\/span><\/button> <button class=\"g55-toggle active\" data-cat=\"wwii\" data-full=\"WWII Operators &amp; Theatres\" data-short=\"WWII\" style=\"display:flex;align-items:center;gap:6px;padding:8px 12px;border:2px solid #6B8E23;border-radius:0;background:#fff;cursor:pointer;font-family:inherit;font-size:13px;font-weight:600;color:#1a1a2e;white-space:nowrap\"><\/p>\n<div style=\"width:14px;height:14px;flex-shrink:0;background:linear-gradient(135deg,#4A6741 25%,#6B8E23 25%,#6B8E23 50%,#556B2F 50%,#556B2F 75%,#8B9D77 75%);background-size:8px 8px\"><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"g55-label\">WWII Operators &amp; Theatres<\/span><span class=\"g55-check\" style=\"font-size:10px\">&#10003;<\/span><\/button> <button class=\"g55-toggle active\" data-cat=\"postwar\" data-full=\"Post-war &amp; Export Operators\" data-short=\"Post-war\" style=\"display:flex;align-items:center;gap:6px;padding:8px 12px;border:2px solid #555;border-radius:0;background:#fff;cursor:pointer;font-family:inherit;font-size:13px;font-weight:600;color:#1a1a2e;white-space:nowrap\"><\/p>\n<div style=\"width:14px;height:14px;flex-shrink:0;background:#555\"><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"g55-label\">Post-war &amp; Export Operators<\/span><span class=\"g55-check\" style=\"font-size:10px\">&#10003;<\/span><\/button> <button class=\"g55-toggle active\" data-cat=\"survivor\" data-full=\"Surviving Airframes\" data-short=\"Survivors\" style=\"display:flex;align-items:center;gap:6px;padding:8px 12px;border:2px solid #bbb;border-radius:0;background:#fff;cursor:pointer;font-family:inherit;font-size:13px;font-weight:600;color:#1a1a2e;white-space:nowrap\"><\/p>\n<div style=\"width:14px;height:14px;flex-shrink:0;background:#C0C0C0\"><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"g55-label\">Surviving Airframes<\/span><span class=\"g55-check\" style=\"font-size:10px\">&#10003;<\/span><\/button> <\/div>\n<div id=\"g55-count\" style=\"text-align:left;font-size:14px;color:#666;margin-top:12px;line-height:1.7;width:100%\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec alt\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<div class=\"kicker\">Combat Record<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"st\">The Fiat G.55 Centauro by the numbers<\/h2>\n<div class=\"cstats\">\n<div class=\"cstat\"><span class=\"n\">~274<\/span><span class=\"lb\">Built during the war (figures vary)<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"cstat\"><span class=\"n\">~31<\/span><span class=\"lb\">Delivered by the Sept 1943 armistice<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"cstat\"><span class=\"n\">3\u00d720 mm<\/span><span class=\"lb\">Cannon in the definitive version<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"cstat\"><span class=\"n\">0<\/span><span class=\"lb\">Airworthy survivors today<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"fnote\">The Centauro\u2019s story is one of quality against scarcity: a first-rate fighter available in tiny numbers, flown in 1943\u201345 by the Regia Aeronautica, the fascist ANR and the Luftwaffe, then built in greater numbers post-war for Argentina, Egypt and Syria and re-engined with the Merlin as the G.59.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\" id=\"faq\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<div class=\"kicker\">Questions &amp; Answers<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"st\">Fiat G.55 Centauro: your questions answered<\/h2>\n<div class=\"qa\">\n<details open>\n<summary>Can I fly in a Fiat G.55 Centauro?<\/summary>\n<div class=\"qa-body\">\n<p>No. There is no airworthy Fiat G.55 Centauro anywhere in the world \u2014 every surviving original is a static museum exhibit, and MiGFlug does not offer flights in this aircraft. However, you <b>can<\/b> fly in several genuine military jets and fighters today. MiGFlug flies aircraft such as the Hawker Hunter, MiG-29 Fulcrum, MiG-15, L-39 Albatros, F-104 Starfighter and T-33 Shooting Star. See the full list and prices at <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/flights-prices\/\">migflug.com\/flights-prices<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary>Was the Fiat G.55 Centauro the best Italian fighter of WWII?<\/summary>\n<div class=\"qa-body\">\n<p>It has a very strong claim. The G.55 is widely regarded as the finest fighter Italy fielded in the Second World War, and at the 1943 Guidonia trials German evaluators reportedly rated it the best fighter in the Axis, tested against the Bf 109G and Fw 190. Its stablemates the Macchi C.205 Veltro and Reggiane Re.2005 were also excellent, so \u201cbest\u201d is partly a matter of taste \u2014 but the Centauro is almost always in the conversation, prized for its strength, high-altitude performance and heavy armament.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary>What engine did the Fiat G.55 Centauro use?<\/summary>\n<div class=\"qa-body\">\n<p>The Fiat R.A.1050 R.C.58 Tifone, which was a licence-built copy of the German Daimler-Benz DB 605 inverted V12. It produced roughly 1,475 hp and gave the Centauro a top speed of around 620\u2013630 km\/h. The same engine family powered the Bf 109G and the sister Macchi C.205 Veltro.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary>How fast was the Fiat G.55 Centauro?<\/summary>\n<div class=\"qa-body\">\n<p>Its top speed is usually given as around 620\u2013630 km\/h (about 385\u2013391 mph) at altitude, though figures vary between sources and sub-variants. That put it in the same performance class as the best Allied fighters it faced in 1943, such as the Spitfire Mk IX and the P-51 Mustang.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary>What was the Fiat G.55 Centauro\u2019s armament?<\/summary>\n<div class=\"qa-body\">\n<p>The definitive wartime G.55\/I carried three 20 mm MG 151\/20 cannon \u2014 one firing through the propeller hub and one in each wing \u2014 plus two 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns in the cowling. That is a heavier standard armament than the Macchi C.205, and enough to destroy armoured four-engined bombers. An experimental G.55\/II raised this to five 20 mm cannon but did not enter series production.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary>How many Fiat G.55 Centauros were built?<\/summary>\n<div class=\"qa-body\">\n<p>Estimates vary widely. Wartime production is commonly cited at around 274 aircraft, though some sources put it much lower, and only about thirty-one had reached front-line units by the September 1943 armistice. Fiat then built more after the war \u2014 roughly 75 further aircraft are often quoted \u2014 for a total of about 349, before the Merlin-engined G.59 development continued the line.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary>Did German pilots really praise the Fiat G.55?<\/summary>\n<div class=\"qa-body\">\n<p>Yes. At the Guidonia comparative trials in early 1943 the G.55 was flown against the Messerschmitt Bf 109G and Focke-Wulf Fw 190, and German evaluators are widely reported to have judged it the best fighter available on the Axis side, singling out its stability and effectiveness at all altitudes. The Germans thought highly enough of it to operate a number themselves and to study building it under licence. The exact wording of the praise has been retold many times, so it is worth treating the superlatives with a little caution \u2014 but the substance is well attested.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary>Did the Fiat G.55 fight on both sides after the armistice?<\/summary>\n<div class=\"qa-body\">\n<p>In effect, yes. After Italy\u2019s armistice with the Allies on 8 September 1943, the Centauro served with the fascist Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana (ANR) in German-aligned northern Italy, fighting the USAAF\u2019s daylight raids in 1944. The Luftwaffe also evaluated and operated a number of them. As with the Macchi C.205, the type became caught up in Italy\u2019s civil war, flying over its own country against former allies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary>Who used the Fiat G.55 after the war?<\/summary>\n<div class=\"qa-body\">\n<p>Fiat restarted production after 1945, building single-seat G.55A fighters and two-seat G.55B trainers. Argentina was the biggest customer, taking around thirty fighters and fifteen trainers; aircraft also reached Egypt and Syria (including roughly seventeen ex-Argentine machines transferred to Syria in 1948). Fiat then re-engined the design with the Rolls-Royce Merlin as the G.59, which also served Italy and Syria. The precise export numbers are disputed between sources.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary>How did the Fiat G.55 compare to the Messerschmitt Bf 109?<\/summary>\n<div class=\"qa-body\">\n<p>They were closely matched, which is part of why the G.55 is so admired. Both used the same Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine \u2014 licence-built in Italy as the Tifone \u2014 so their raw performance was similar. Against the Bf 109G the Centauro offered a larger, stronger airframe, better stability and gun-platform steadiness at high altitude, and a heavier standard armament of three cannon, at the cost of a little agility and climb. German evaluators who flew both at the 1943 Guidonia trials reportedly rated the G.55 the best fighter in the Axis \u2014 high praise given that the Bf 109 was their own front-line fighter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary>Did the Fiat G.55 Centauro see much combat?<\/summary>\n<div class=\"qa-body\">\n<p>Very little, which is central to its story. Only around thirty-one aircraft had reached front-line units by the September 1943 armistice, so the Regia Aeronautica flew the type operationally for just a few months in 1943. Its main combat use came afterwards, with the fascist ANR in northern Italy through 1944, where small numbers of Centauros fought the massed USAAF daylight raids against overwhelming odds. Post-war, exported G.55s served with Argentina, Egypt and Syria, but again saw only limited action. The G.55 is a fighter remembered for its quality, not for a large combat record.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary>What is the difference between the Fiat G.55 and the Macchi C.205?<\/summary>\n<div class=\"qa-body\">\n<p>They are two of Italy\u2019s three \u201cSerie 5\u201d fighters and share the same licence-built DB 605 (Tifone) engine, which is why they are so often compared. The key differences are the manufacturer and airframe: the C.205 is a Macchi design, a re-engined C.202 Folgore with a smaller airframe and two wing cannon; the G.55 is an all-new, larger, stronger Fiat design by Giuseppe Gabrielli, with better high-altitude performance and a heavier armament of three cannon (including one firing through the propeller hub).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary>What was the Fiat G.59?<\/summary>\n<div class=\"qa-body\">\n<p>The G.59 was the post-war, Rolls-Royce Merlin-engined development of the G.55. When surplus wartime DB 605 \/ Tifone engines ran out, Fiat fitted the readily available Merlin instead, keeping Gabrielli\u2019s airframe in production. G.59s were built in single- and two-seat forms, served the Italian Air Force as trainers into the 1950s, and were exported (notably to Syria). Several aircraft displayed today as \u201cG.55s\u201d are in fact G.59s.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary>Who designed the Fiat G.55 Centauro?<\/summary>\n<div class=\"qa-body\">\n<p>It was designed by Giuseppe Gabrielli, Fiat\u2019s chief designer, whose fighters all carried his initial \u201cG.\u201d His earlier G.50 Freccia was Italy\u2019s first modern monoplane fighter; the G.55 was an essentially new design built around the powerful licence-built DB 605 engine. After the war Gabrielli went on to design jets, including the successful G.91.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary>Are there any surviving Fiat G.55 Centauros?<\/summary>\n<div class=\"qa-body\">\n<p>Only a small number of originals survive, all as static museum exhibits \u2014 most notably at the Italian Air Force Museum (Museo storico dell\u2019Aeronautica Militare) at Vigna di Valle, near Rome. Some other survivors are in fact the post-war Merlin-engined G.59 variant. None is airworthy, so the Centauro can only be seen on the ground.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary>Where can I see a Fiat G.55 Centauro today?<\/summary>\n<div class=\"qa-body\">\n<p>The best-known original is at the Italian Air Force Museum (Museo storico dell\u2019Aeronautica Militare) at Vigna di Valle on Lake Bracciano, near Rome, where a Centauro is preserved in Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana markings. Other examples of the G.55 family, including Merlin-engined G.59s, survive elsewhere. All are static exhibits \u2014 there is no flying example anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec cta\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<div class=\"kicker\">You can\u2019t fly the Centauro \u2014 these, you can<\/div>\n<h2>Fly a real fighter with MiGFlug<\/h2>\n<p class=\"lead\">The Fiat G.55 lives only in museums now. But the thrill of a fast military aircraft is very much bookable today \u2014 from Cold War jets to warbird-era classics, flown with professional pilots.<\/p>\n<div class=\"carou ctacar\">\n<div class=\"track\"> <a class=\"ctacard\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/flights-prices\/hawker-hunter-switzerland\/\"><span class=\"cn\">Hawker Hunter<\/span><span class=\"cl\">Switzerland \u2014 classic British jet fighter<\/span><span class=\"cbook\">View this flight<\/span><\/a> <a class=\"ctacard\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/flights-prices\/fly-mig-29-in-russia\/\"><span class=\"cn\">MiG-29 Fulcrum<\/span><span class=\"cl\">Russia \u2014 to the edge of space<\/span><span class=\"cbook\">View this flight<\/span><\/a> <a class=\"ctacard\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/flights-prices\/mig-15-fagot-czech-republic\/\"><span class=\"cn\">MiG-15 Fagot<\/span><span class=\"cl\">Czechia \u2014 the jet that shocked the West<\/span><span class=\"cbook\">View this flight<\/span><\/a> <a class=\"ctacard\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/flights-prices\/l-39-albatros-italian-alps\/\"><span class=\"cn\">L-39 Albatros<\/span><span class=\"cl\">Italian Alps \u2014 jet aerobatics over the mountains<\/span><span class=\"cbook\">View this flight<\/span><\/a> <a class=\"ctacard\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/flights-prices\/f104-starfighter-flight\/\"><span class=\"cn\">F-104 Starfighter<\/span><span class=\"cl\">Florida \u2014 the \u201cmissile with a man in it\u201d<\/span><span class=\"cbook\">View this flight<\/span><\/a> <a class=\"ctacard\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/flights-prices\/t-33-in-canada\/\"><span class=\"cn\">T-33 Shooting Star<\/span><span class=\"cl\">Canada \u2014 first-generation jet trainer<\/span><span class=\"cbook\">View this flight<\/span><\/a> <a class=\"ctacard\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/flights-prices\/vampire-flight-near-london\/\"><span class=\"cn\">de Havilland Vampire<\/span><span class=\"cl\">United Kingdom \u2014 early jet-age classic<\/span><span class=\"cbook\">View this flight<\/span><\/a> <\/div>\n<div class=\"cbtns\"> <button class=\"cbtn\" aria-label=\"Scroll left\" onclick=\"this.closest('.carou').querySelector('.track').scrollBy({left:-320,behavior:'smooth'})\">&#8249;<\/button> <button class=\"cbtn\" aria-label=\"Scroll right\" onclick=\"this.closest('.carou').querySelector('.track').scrollBy({left:320,behavior:'smooth'})\">&#8250;<\/button> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"ctamain\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/flights-prices\/\">See all fighter jet flights and prices<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec alt\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<div class=\"kicker\">Related Aircraft<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"st\">Explore more fighters in the museum<\/h2>\n<div class=\"relgrid\"> <a class=\"relcard\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/macchi-c-205-veltro\/\"><span class=\"rt\">Macchi C.205 Veltro<\/span><span class=\"rd\">The Centauro\u2019s \u201cSerie 5\u201d stablemate \u2014 the same licence-built DB 605 engine on a smaller re-engined Folgore airframe.<\/span><span class=\"rl\">View the C.205 Veltro<\/span><\/a> <a class=\"relcard\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/messerschmitt-bf-109\/\"><span class=\"rt\">Messerschmitt Bf 109<\/span><span class=\"rd\">The Luftwaffe\u2019s mainstay \u2014 and the fighter the G.55 shared its DB 605 engine and MG 151 cannon with, and was tested against.<\/span><span class=\"rl\">View the Bf 109<\/span><\/a> <a class=\"relcard\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/fiat-cr-42-falco\/\"><span class=\"rt\">Fiat CR.42 Falco<\/span><span class=\"rd\">Fiat\u2019s earlier radial-engined biplane fighter \u2014 the old world the sleek, cannon-armed Centauro left far behind.<\/span><span class=\"rl\">View the CR.42 Falco<\/span><\/a> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<div class=\"kicker\">Sources &amp; Further Reading<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"st\">Where the facts on this page come from<\/h2>\n<div class=\"srcgrid\">\n<div class=\"srcitem\"><span class=\"sh\">Museo storico dell\u2019Aeronautica Militare, Vigna di Valle<\/span><span class=\"sd\">The official Italian Air Force museum, which preserves an original Fiat G.55 Centauro and documents the type\u2019s service and the wider Serie 5 story.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"srcitem\"><span class=\"sh\">Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum<\/span><span class=\"sd\">Reference material on Italian WWII fighters and the Daimler-Benz DB 605 family of engines the Centauro used in licence-built form.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"srcitem\"><span class=\"sh\">Fiat \/ Leonardo company history<\/span><span class=\"sd\">Background on Giuseppe Gabrielli\u2019s \u201cG.\u201d fighter line at Turin, from the G.50 Freccia through the G.55 Centauro to the post-war G.59 and jets.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"srcitem\"><span class=\"sh\">The Aviation History Online Museum &#038; Military Factory data sheets<\/span><span class=\"sd\">Consolidated specification and production figures cross-checked for this page (engine ~1,475 hp; three 20 mm cannon; wartime output commonly cited ~274).<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"srcitem\"><span class=\"sh\">Guidonia comparative trials, 1943<\/span><span class=\"sd\">Contemporary accounts of the fly-off between the Serie 5 fighters and the Bf 109G and Fw 190, the source of the G.55\u2019s \u201cbest in the Axis\u201d reputation.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"srcitem\"><span class=\"sh\">Gregory Alegi &#038; Italian aviation historians<\/span><span class=\"sd\">Established Italian aviation historians whose monographs detail the G.55, its ANR service and its post-war export and G.59 career.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"srcitem\"><span class=\"sh\">Fuerza A\u00e9rea Argentina &#038; regional air-arm histories<\/span><span class=\"sd\">Records of the post-war export of G.55A fighters and G.55B trainers to Argentina and their onward transfer toward Syria.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"srcitem\"><span class=\"sh\">MiGFlug Afterburner magazine<\/span><span class=\"sd\">MiGFlug\u2019s own features on warbird-era and jet fighters and what flying a real fighter is like today.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/cdnjs.cloudflare.com\/ajax\/libs\/d3\/7.8.5\/d3.min.js\"><\/script> <script src=\"https:\/\/cdnjs.cloudflare.com\/ajax\/libs\/topojson\/3.0.2\/topojson.min.js\"><\/script> <script src=\"https:\/\/cdn.jsdelivr.net\/npm\/d3-geo-projection@4\/dist\/d3-geo-projection.min.js\"><\/script><div id=\"g55-data\" 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\"><\/div>\n<p><script>(function(){var el=document.getElementById(\"g55-data\");var js=decodeURIComponent(escape(atob(el.getAttribute(\"data-js\"))));var sc=document.createElement(\"script\");sc.text=js;document.body.appendChild(sc);})();<\/script><script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Can I fly in a Fiat G.55 Centauro?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"No. There is no airworthy Fiat G.55 Centauro anywhere in the world; every surviving original is a static museum exhibit, and MiGFlug does not offer flights in this aircraft. However, you can fly in several genuine military jets and fighters today, such as the Hawker Hunter, MiG-29, MiG-15, L-39 Albatros, F-104 Starfighter and T-33. See migflug.com\/flights-prices.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Was the Fiat G.55 Centauro the best Italian fighter of WWII?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"It has a very strong claim. The G.55 is widely regarded as the finest fighter Italy fielded in WWII, and at the 1943 Guidonia trials German evaluators reportedly rated it the best fighter in the Axis, tested against the Bf 109G and Fw 190. Its stablemates the Macchi C.205 and Reggiane Re.2005 were also excellent, so best is partly a matter of taste, but the Centauro is almost always in the conversation for its strength, high-altitude performance and heavy armament.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What engine did the Fiat G.55 Centauro use?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Fiat R.A.1050 R.C.58 Tifone, a licence-built copy of the German Daimler-Benz DB 605 inverted V12. It produced roughly 1,475 hp and gave the Centauro a top speed of around 620-630 km\/h. The same engine family powered the Bf 109G and the sister Macchi C.205 Veltro.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How fast was the Fiat G.55 Centauro?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Its top speed is usually given as around 620-630 km\/h (about 385-391 mph) at altitude, though figures vary between sources and sub-variants. That put it in the same class as the best Allied fighters it faced in 1943, such as the Spitfire Mk IX and P-51 Mustang.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What was the Fiat G.55 Centauro\u2019s armament?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The definitive wartime G.55\/I carried three 20 mm MG 151\/20 cannon (one through the propeller hub, one in each wing) plus two 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns in the cowling. That is a heavier standard armament than the Macchi C.205. An experimental G.55\/II raised this to five 20 mm cannon but did not enter series production.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How many Fiat G.55 Centauros were built?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Estimates vary widely. Wartime production is commonly cited at around 274 aircraft, though some sources put it much lower, and only about 31 had reached units by the September 1943 armistice. Fiat built more after the war (roughly 75 further aircraft are often quoted), for a total of about 349, before the Merlin-engined G.59 continued the line.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Did German pilots really praise the Fiat G.55?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Yes. At the Guidonia trials in early 1943 the G.55 was flown against the Bf 109G and Fw 190, and German evaluators are widely reported to have judged it the best fighter available on the Axis side, praising its stability and effectiveness at all altitudes. The Germans operated a number themselves and studied building it under licence. The exact wording has been retold many times, so treat the superlatives with some caution, but the substance is well attested.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Did the Fiat G.55 fight on both sides after the armistice?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"In effect, yes. After Italy armistice with the Allies on 8 September 1943, the Centauro served with the fascist Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana (ANR) in northern Italy, fighting USAAF raids in 1944. The Luftwaffe also evaluated and operated a number of them. The type became caught up in Italy civil war, flying over its own country against former allies.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Who used the Fiat G.55 after the war?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Fiat restarted production after 1945, building single-seat G.55A fighters and two-seat G.55B trainers. Argentina was the biggest customer, taking around 30 fighters and 15 trainers; aircraft also reached Egypt and Syria (including roughly 17 ex-Argentine machines transferred to Syria in 1948). Fiat then re-engined the design with the Rolls-Royce Merlin as the G.59, which also served Italy and Syria. The precise export numbers are disputed.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How did the Fiat G.55 compare to the Messerschmitt Bf 109?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"They were closely matched. Both used the same DB 605 engine (licence-built in Italy as the Tifone), so raw performance was similar. Against the Bf 109G the Centauro offered a larger, stronger airframe, better high-altitude stability and a heavier standard armament of three cannon, at the cost of a little agility and climb. German evaluators who flew both at the 1943 Guidonia trials reportedly rated the G.55 the best fighter in the Axis, high praise given the Bf 109 was their own front-line fighter.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Did the Fiat G.55 Centauro see much combat?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Very little, which is central to its story. Only around 31 aircraft had reached units by the September 1943 armistice, so the Regia Aeronautica flew it operationally for just a few months in 1943. Its main combat use came afterwards, with the fascist ANR in northern Italy through 1944, where small numbers fought the massed USAAF daylight raids against overwhelming odds. Post-war exports to Argentina, Egypt and Syria saw only limited action. The G.55 is remembered for its quality, not a large combat record.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What is the difference between the Fiat G.55 and the Macchi C.205?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"They are two of Italy three Serie 5 fighters and share the same licence-built DB 605 (Tifone) engine, which is why they are so often compared. The key differences are manufacturer and airframe: the C.205 is a Macchi design, a re-engined C.202 Folgore with a smaller airframe and two wing cannon; the G.55 is an all-new, larger, stronger Fiat design by Giuseppe Gabrielli, with better high-altitude performance and a heavier armament of three cannon (including one through the propeller hub).\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What was the Fiat G.59?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The G.59 was the post-war, Rolls-Royce Merlin-engined development of the G.55. When surplus wartime DB 605 \/ Tifone engines ran out, Fiat fitted the Merlin instead, keeping Gabrielli airframe in production. G.59s were built in single- and two-seat forms, served the Italian Air Force as trainers into the 1950s, and were exported (notably to Syria). Several aircraft displayed today as G.55s are in fact G.59s.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Who designed the Fiat G.55 Centauro?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"It was designed by Giuseppe Gabrielli, Fiat chief designer, whose fighters all carried his initial G. His earlier G.50 Freccia was Italy first modern monoplane fighter; the G.55 was an essentially new design built around the powerful licence-built DB 605 engine. After the war Gabrielli went on to design jets, including the successful G.91.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Are there any surviving Fiat G.55 Centauros?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Only a small number of originals survive, all as static museum exhibits, most notably at the Italian Air Force Museum at Vigna di Valle, near Rome. Some other survivors are in fact the post-war Merlin-engined G.59 variant. None is airworthy, so the Centauro can only be seen on the ground.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Where can I see a Fiat G.55 Centauro today?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The best-known original is at the Italian Air Force Museum at Vigna di Valle, near Rome, where a Centauro is preserved in ANR markings. Other examples of the G.55 family, including Merlin-engined G.59s, survive elsewhere. All are static exhibits; there is no flying example anywhere in the world.\"}}]}<\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Aircraft Museum &nbsp;\/&nbsp; Fiat G.55 Centauro Fiat G.55 Centauro Fast, tough and heavily armed, the Fiat G.55 Centauro is widely regarded as the finest fighter Italy fielded in the Second World War \u2014 a machine German test pilots reportedly rated the best in the Axis \u2014 yet it arrived too late and in far too [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21011,"parent":15960,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-21010","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Fiat G.55 Centauro: Italy&#039;s Best WWII Fighter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Fiat G.55 Centauro: widely rated Italy&#039;s best WWII fighter and praised by German testers, yet built too late and in too few numbers to matter.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/ru\/\u0441\u0430\u043c\u043e\u043b\u0435\u0442\/fiat-g-55-centauro\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"ru_RU\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fiat G.55 Centauro: Italy&#039;s Best WWII Fighter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Fiat G.55 Centauro: widely rated Italy&#039;s best WWII fighter and praised by German testers, yet built too late and in too few numbers to matter.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/ru\/\u0441\u0430\u043c\u043e\u043b\u0435\u0442\/fiat-g-55-centauro\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MiGFlug\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fiat-g-55-centauro-vigna-di-valle-italian-air-force-museum.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@migflug\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"\u041f\u0440\u0438\u043c\u0435\u0440\u043d\u043e\u0435 \u0432\u0440\u0435\u043c\u044f \u0434\u043b\u044f \u0447\u0442\u0435\u043d\u0438\u044f\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"44 \u043c\u0438\u043d\u0443\u0442\u044b\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/aircraft\\\/fiat-g-55-centauro\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/aircraft\\\/fiat-g-55-centauro\\\/\",\"name\":\"Fiat G.55 Centauro: Italy's Best WWII Fighter\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/aircraft\\\/fiat-g-55-centauro\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/aircraft\\\/fiat-g-55-centauro\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/2026\\/08\\/fiat-g-55-centauro-vigna-di-valle-italian-air-force-museum.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-14T09:25:20+00:00\",\"description\":\"The Fiat G.55 Centauro: widely rated Italy's best WWII fighter and praised by German testers, yet built too late and in too few numbers to matter.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/aircraft\\\/fiat-g-55-centauro\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"ru-RU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/aircraft\\\/fiat-g-55-centauro\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"ru-RU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/aircraft\\\/fiat-g-55-centauro\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/2026\\/08\\/fiat-g-55-centauro-vigna-di-valle-italian-air-force-museum.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/2026\\/08\\/fiat-g-55-centauro-vigna-di-valle-italian-air-force-museum.jpg\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":1200,\"caption\":\"A preserved Fiat G.55 Centauro in Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana (ANR) markings at the Italian Air Force Museum, Vigna di Valle. 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