Fastest Italian aircraft of WW2?

[Massimo Tessitori]

I wonder why we need to hypothesize.

Reggiane Re.2005 - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macchi_C.205

 

[Denniss]

both hardly believable, too far above the critical alt for this engine (5.7km). Italian wiki even claims 646 km/h at 8km - yeah!

 

[Admiral Beez]

with a fully rated DB605A both should be faster. Although heavier then the 109 they lacked the humps and bumps of the 109 and had a larger wing area which should help at higher alt.

It begs the question, how fast would a streamlined BF-109 go?

 

[Massimo Tessitori]

The speed of those planes, as of all other ones, is documented in historical documents on which books are based.

 

[Snautzer01]

I wonder why we need to hypothesize.

Reggiane Re.2005 - Wikipedia
Macchi C.205 - Wikipedia

Only 1 book in the reference note.
Data from The Complete Book of Fighters

Hardly convincing.

 

[Snautzer01]

The speed of those planes, as of all other ones, is documented in historical documents on which books are based.

You will be surprised about the absence of sourse material in books.

 

[Vincenzo]

In the "Caratteristiche velivoli italiani" available also on wwiiaircraftperfomance
is reported these
M.C. 205V 650.5 km/h at 7,400 m. prototype July '42
Re. 2005 628.5 km/h at 6,950 m. prototype September '42
Fiat G.55 626.5 km/h at 6,850 m, prototype November '42
M.C. 205N 647 km/h at 8,000, prototype January '43 (this is the best speed at available altitude (2, 4, 6, 8 km)

 

[GregP]

I see the above and, at least in this forum, speed is quite important. WWII vets I have spoken with were much less enamored of speed than the posters in here are. Yet everything I read says that, of all the Italian fighters evaluated by the Allies, the G.55 is generally regarded as the best. The Luftwaffe even liked it best, but declined to produced it. likely due to the man-hours required.

Seems like the evaluators at the time were much more interested in an all-round aircraft than the fastest one.

 

[GrauGeist]

Speeds listed for prototypes don't typically reflect speeds of production types.

 

[Tkdog]

All around performance is not easily compressed into a single number that one can go on about.

 

[Massimo Tessitori]

Those planes are well documented, and the speed in Wikipedia is the same that I remember to have read on books 40 years ago.
If one wants to research, documents are not rare.
Just one link for example: http://www.ilvolo.it/index.php/201211029261/Approfondimenti/Approfondimento.html

 

[Vincenzo]

Speeds listed for prototypes don't typically reflect speeds of production types.

the production type commonly are slower, unlucky i've not manual for the serie 5 fighters, and with the low number of production it is possible that also data from manual are from prototypes

 

[Juha3]

On speeds, one must remember that e.g. the LW accepted +-3% variation in max speed in acceptance.
And some speed info is with compression correction some without. With those speeds and altitudes that alone means some 15 km/h / appr. 10 mph difference.

 

[SuperAereo]

Speed, speed... At what altitude? Was it a prototype or did it have full military equipment? Towards the end of the war many Axis types suffered from poor manufacturing and their real speed was below factory specification (and well before that time in some cases)...

 

[PonyOne]

Not sure of the accuracy here, but this is something....

https://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/ww2-aircraft-ranked-by-speed-fighters.asp

So who put this list together?..............I am not accepting the ranking as I ( or we) don't know where the speed data is coming from. It may be good enough to "ballpark" some speed numbers; but, if the listing is to be taken seriously,I am not falling for it. I am always skeptical with some of these listing without names or credentials. There I said it!.

 

[al49]

According to the report that I enclose here, the faster was the prototype G-56 with DB 603A engine that reached 685 km/h at 7000 meters.
Top speed of G.55 was instead 620 km/h
Alberto

 

[Elmas]

After a prolonged dive you can get results like the following...

But how was actually measured that speed? With the instruments on board?

 

[TheMadPenguin]

Funnely enough its nickname was Diavolo dalla coda biforcuta according to Caiden.

Which translates to "Devil with tail forked", yes? After-war hype/fiction?

 

[Denniss]

According to the report that I enclose here, the faster was the prototype G-56 with DB 603A engine that reached 685 km/h at 7000 meters.
Top speed of G.55 was instead 620 km/hAlberto

Both data points were not made with maximum engine power as seen by the engine rpm listed (2600 instead of 2800, 2500 instead of 2700)

 

[Elmas]

Everything I have ever read about late WWII Italian fighters says they flew very well and handled even better, but were not easy to build and not many were ever made. It seems to me that they had no trouble coming up with competitive designs but had almost no chance of ever enough late-model aircraft to make much a difference. I like the S.M.91 and 92, but they had populations of 1. One-off prototypes are a favorite subject of mine.

Another one is the Finnish VL Pyörremyrsky ... a very good airplane that only existed in a single prototype shown below. Very Bf 109-ish but with the main gear moved to eliminate the narrow track and a much better canopy while including a retractable tail wheel. Note it has rudder trim, too, unlike the Bf 109. Impressive, but all by itself. This aircraft still exists in a Finnish museum. Likewise, the Italians also have some of their rare aircraft in museums so we can see them.

View attachment 587778

More than a 109 this plane seems to have had an Italian ancestor, see general architecture, wing, fin and rudder.
This probably as Finland was a good customer of Italian industry, and in particular Fiat, as 35 G-50 went to Finland in 1940.