Airborne2001
Recruit
- 5
- Jun 17, 2024
One lesser known aviation story that fascinates me is how Reggiane and Seversky/Republic both evolved the P-35 into fearsome fighters through different means.
We start with the P-35:
One of the first of the new generation of modern monoplane fighters with retractable landing gear.
Then the divergence happens; Reggiane copies and improves it as the Re.2000 and Seversky tries the XP-41:
XP-41 Re.2000
Both aircraft have improved aerodynamics, and other modifications to the P-35. Both were (mostly) dropped in favor of other designs, but the Re.2000 did get some work with Italy and was exported to Hungary and Sweden.
Then differences become more apparent with the P-43 vs the Re.2001*:
P-43 Re.2001
The XP-41 was dropped in favor of the P-43 with its high altitude capabilities, and the latter was relatively fast for its first flight in 1940. The Re.2001 was more for medium/low altitudes), and the aircraft became different from Seversky/Republic in that the design now had an inline engine in place of a radial.
Finally the two developments couldn't feel more different with the P-47 and the Re.2005:
P-47 Re.2005
The P-47 emphasized high speed at high altitude in the form of a rather heavy aircraft design. The Re.2005, on the other hand, was a significantly lighter design that put an emphasis on mobility. The P-47 was a strong multi-role aircraft. The Re.2005 also could be used as a ground attack aircraft but it truly was a regular fighter at heart.
I've been interested in this for a bit, so I figured I would make this my first thread aside from my intro
. This is a brief run through of how the Seversky P-35 took notably different developments through the lenses of Reggiane and Seversky/Republic. Being in the US resulted in a rugged, fast, and heavy multi-role fighter, whereas being in Italy resulted in an elegant and maneuverable fighter.
Thoughts?
(I take no credit for any pictures in this post.)
*The Re.2002 is yes integral to the Reggiane fighter development, BUT it was made as a dedicated ground attack aircraft. Therefore I left it out of the comparison.
We start with the P-35:
One of the first of the new generation of modern monoplane fighters with retractable landing gear.
Then the divergence happens; Reggiane copies and improves it as the Re.2000 and Seversky tries the XP-41:
XP-41 Re.2000
Both aircraft have improved aerodynamics, and other modifications to the P-35. Both were (mostly) dropped in favor of other designs, but the Re.2000 did get some work with Italy and was exported to Hungary and Sweden.
Then differences become more apparent with the P-43 vs the Re.2001*:
P-43 Re.2001
The XP-41 was dropped in favor of the P-43 with its high altitude capabilities, and the latter was relatively fast for its first flight in 1940. The Re.2001 was more for medium/low altitudes), and the aircraft became different from Seversky/Republic in that the design now had an inline engine in place of a radial.
Finally the two developments couldn't feel more different with the P-47 and the Re.2005:
P-47 Re.2005
The P-47 emphasized high speed at high altitude in the form of a rather heavy aircraft design. The Re.2005, on the other hand, was a significantly lighter design that put an emphasis on mobility. The P-47 was a strong multi-role aircraft. The Re.2005 also could be used as a ground attack aircraft but it truly was a regular fighter at heart.
I've been interested in this for a bit, so I figured I would make this my first thread aside from my intro
. This is a brief run through of how the Seversky P-35 took notably different developments through the lenses of Reggiane and Seversky/Republic. Being in the US resulted in a rugged, fast, and heavy multi-role fighter, whereas being in Italy resulted in an elegant and maneuverable fighter.Thoughts?
(I take no credit for any pictures in this post.)
*The Re.2002 is yes integral to the Reggiane fighter development, BUT it was made as a dedicated ground attack aircraft. Therefore I left it out of the comparison.
