Around 1935, the military aviations of the main European powers started studies

trying to solve a problem that was common to all of them: the replacement of the
fighters in service until then already obsolete because of being of biplane design.
Also the High Staff of the Italian Regia Aeronautica convoked a contest among
several companies for a monoplane and totally metallic fighter, but setting
successively different specifications for armament and operational range. These
discrepancies made that the manufacturers presented prototypes of not always
uniform prestations. The technicians, lacking precise conditions, not always had
chosen wisely between the diverse roles (interception, escort, combat) and often
resorted to compromise formulas that should comply at least partially with the
three possibilities. The partaking companies were Aeronautica Umbra, Caproni
Vizzola, IMAM, Fiat and its subsidiary CMASA, Macchi and Reggiane. After a series
of exams and evaluations were chosen, practically equally, albeit by diverse
reasons, the Fiat G50 designed by engineer Giuseppe Gabrielli and the Macchi 200
designed by engineer Mario Castoldi. This was one of the strange elections in the
plans of modernization of the Italian Armed Forces. So, the aviation, instead of
focusing the attention in a single fighter, dispersed the productive potential of
that aeronautical industry, with all the military and logistic inconveniences that
this would produce later.[p]
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The G50, nicknamed "Freccia", flew for the first time the 26th February 1937. It
was a low-winged, entirely metallic monoplane, with closed cockpit and retractable
landing gear. It was the first fighter of modern conception (metallic construction
and retractable landing gear) serially built for the Regia Aeronautica, which
acquired a total of about 570 exemplars of the regular versions. Its structure was
hibrid, partially made as "shell" and partially made as frame. It is notable that
this one was the first entirely metallic aircraft built by an industry that until
then had been based in the field of wooden construction. The engine was a radial
Fiat A 74 RC 38, of 14 cylinders in double fixed star, that could develop 840
horsepower. In action, the G50 showed itself as a discreet fighter, of no
exceptional effectiveness. Its speed was only about 50 kilometers/hour superior to
the one of the biplanes Fiat CR 42, and its maneuverability, very good for a
monoplane, was inferior to the one of the aforementioned biplanes, true aerobatic
machines. However, a great advantage of the G50 was its foolproof robustness.[p]
It was used for the first time in the last stages of the Spanish Civil War (11
exemplars were sent in January 1939 with the Aviazione Legionaria to support the
cause of the national side), in which it had no occasion to participate in combat.
The surviving aircraft were later transferred to the Spanish Air Force. When Italy
entered the Second World War, the Regia Aeronautica had 118 of these aircraft, some
of which participated in operations in France (escorting the bombers that attacked
Corsica), in the English Channel and in the North Sea (Italian Air Corps that
operated against England between October 1940 and April 1941). The G50 also took
part in all the actions in the Balkans and North Africa, being used mainly as
fighter-bomber, before being relegated to second line missions. Finally it fought
tenaciously in Sicily against the landing Anglo-American forces. After the Italian
Armistice, of the 48 aircraft that remained, ten were used for training in the
aviation of the Italian Social Republic and others of the still useful to serve
with the Italian Co-belligerent Air Force. The G50 of Finland entered service in
1940, taking part in the war against the Soviet Union (1941-42), being later used
for training, until being retired in 1947.[p]
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[fs]Fiat (CMASA) G50bis Series IV, of the 20th Group (Gruppo), 56th Ground Strike
Wing (Stormo Caccia Terrestre), in Maldeghem, Belgium, October 1940; this aircraft
formed part of the Italian Air Corps sent to Belgium to take part in the aerial
offensive against Great Britain, from October 1940 to April 1941; note the tactical
distinctives in yellow, the emblem of the unit ("Gato Negro") in the tail and the
distinctive of the Group Commander (Commandante di Gruppo) under the canopy.[/span]
[p]
[b]Development record[/span][p]
The prototype was a monoplane fighter with closed cockpit, engine Fiat A74 RC 38
and two Breda-SAFAT 12.7-millimeter machine guns. It became the series model G50;
many of them were converted to a semi-closed canopy, including the 35 exemplars
ordered by Finland; 246 units were built by CMASA. The model G50bis was an improved
G50 with semi-closed cockpit, increased fuel capacity, improved radio equipment and
modified wings (included nine exemplars ordered by Croatia); 421 units were built
by Fiat and CMASA. The model G50bis/A was a two-seater fighter-bomber based in
carriers, provided with arresting hook; it had larger wingspan and two additional
Breda-SAFAT machine guns installed in gondolas under the wings; only one prototype
was built by CMASA. The model G50B was an unarmed trainer with dual control; 108
units were built by CMASA. The model G50ter was a modification of the G50B, fitted
with engine Fiat A76 RC 40 of 1000 horsepower; not completed. The model G50V was a
G50 fitted with engine Daimler-Benz DB 601A of 1050 horsepower; only one prototype
was built by CMASA. The models G51 and G52 were modifications of the G50, fitted
with engines Fiat A75 RC 53 and Daimler-Benz DB 601N, respectively; developed only
as projects. Total production for all the versions reached 777 exemplars.[p]
[b]Specifications for prototype G50[/span][p]
[box]
First flight: 26th February 1937[p]
Type: Polyvalent fighter[p]
Wingspan: 10.73 meters[p]
Wing area: 18 square meters[p]
Length: 7.80 meters[p]
Height: 3.28 meters[p]
Weight (empty): 1900 kilograms[p]
Weight (full load): 2330 kilograms[p]
Engine: Fiat A 74 RC 38 of 840 horsepower[p]
Time to reach 6000 meters of altitude: 6 minutes 40 seconds[p]
Service ceiling: 10800 meters[p]
Maximum speed: 490 kilometers/hour[p]
Operational range: N/A[p]
Armament: Two Breda-SAFAT 12.7-millimeter machine guns installed in the upper fore
fuselage[p]
Bombs load: N/A[p]
[/div][p]
[b]Specifications for G50[/span][p]
[box]
First flight: 1938[p]
Type: Fighter/fighter-bomber[p]
Wingspan: 10.98 meters[p]
Wing area: 18.25 square meters[p]
Length: 7.80 meters[p]
Height: 3.28 meters[p]
Weight (empty): 1963 kilograms[p]
Weight (full load): 2402 kilograms[p]
Engine: Fiat A 74 RC 38 of 840 horsepower[p]
Time to reach 6000 meters of altitude: 7 minutes 30 seconds[p]
Service ceiling: 10700 meters[p]
Maximum speed: 472 kilometers/hour[p]
Operational range: 670 kilometers[p]
Armament: Two Breda-SAFAT 12.7-millimeter machine guns installed in the upper fore
fuselage[p]
Bombs load: Occasionally, two bombs installed under the wings (300 kilograms)[p]
[/div][p]
[b]Specifications for G50bis[/span][p]
[box]
First flight: 1938[p]
Type: Fighter/fighter-bomber[p]
Wingspan: 10.98 meters[p]
Wing area: 18.25 square meters[p]
Length: 7.80 meters[p]
Height: 2.96 meters[p]
Weight (empty): 2015 kilograms[p]
Weight (full load): 2522 kilograms[p]
Engine: Fiat A 74 RC 38 of 840 horsepower[p]
Time to reach 6000 meters of altitude: 7 minutes 45 seconds[p]
Service ceiling: 10700 meters[p]
Maximum speed at 4500 meters of altitude: 472 kilometers/hour[p]
Operational range: 675-1000 kilometers[p]
Armament: Two Breda-SAFAT 12.7-millimeter machine guns installed in the upper fore
fuselage[p]
Bombs load: Occasionally, two bombs installed under the wings (300 kilograms)[p]
[/div][p]