Macchi C.202

[PhantomII]

I've been doing some reading up on the 202, and the more photos and stuff I find about it, the more I've really begun to appreciate it...especially for its looks. To me it's just a gorgeous airplane.

I was wondering.....has anyone ever been able to locate photos of this aircraft with external stores? I know they could carry a pair of bombs or external fuel tanks, but photos seem awfully hard to come by. I suppose this makes sense given that only around 1,200 or so were built, and they were primarily used in the air-to-air role, but I thought it might be fun to see what the folks here might have come across. I can't seem to come up with much, but I'll keep searching.

Hope to start a nice discussion on this bird.

 

[fubar57]

Hey Phantom. I quickly went through four books on the 202 and could not find one picture of ordnance or fuel tanks carried. That's not to say there aren't any photos, just not in my books.

Geo

 

[msxyz]

In Milan, where I live, there's a Macchi 205 at the local science museum. It's essentially the same airframe of the c.202 with a DB605 in place of the DB601. This specimen is good as new, having been restored by Macchi in the 80's, and it's painted with the typical green and kaki camoufage adopted by many Italian planes.

Under one of the wings, it has a small streamlined tank located halfway between the landing gear strut and the tip of the wing. It's very small for a tank, I don't think it can contain more than a hundred liters of fuel. I'm sure you can find some pictures of it if you search for "Macchi Veltro" + "Museo della scienza Milano" (Milan science museum, that is).

 

[Elmas]

http://www.finn.it/regia/html/seconda_guerra_mondiale01.htm

 

[Juha]

Here is one:

 

[PhantomII]

Thanks for sharing gents! The tanks that the 202 205 carried are, from what I've read, 26.5 U.S. gallons (about 100 litres actually) in size. Smaller than most other external tanks from the era. The airplane in the museum was most likely carrying tanks of that size as is the one in the last photo. (It is a 205 correct?)

Thanks for the comments and photos all! Keep them coming!

 

[msxyz]

Yes it's a 205 but the two aircrafts are very similar to the point that the surviving frames are restored using parts from both types since most of them are interchangeable.

This gent put a photo of the aircraft in the Milan science museum on Flickr. The tank is clearly visible under the left wing.
Macchi MC.205 Veltro | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

[Crunch]

I know what you mean about about it growing on you. I'm almost finshed buikding a 1/72 of it and it just looks better and better!

I'm also yet to see one with externals.... Never thought about it until now.

 

[Vincenzo]

afaik the max bomblaod for a C.200 was 2x160kg bombs so not enough for large drop tanks

 

[krieghund]

Here's a photo showing an experimental wing mounting of two MG151/20 and an exploded view showing thb bomb racks....the version we are looking for is the M.C.202CB with can take bombs or external wing tanks..

 

[PhantomII]

Great finds! Where'd you come up with those? In particular I'm curious about the bomb rack diagram. Is that diagram saying two bomb racks on each wing or two total?

 

[Elmas]

Home > Aviazione > Italia > Caccia > Macchi M.C.202 "Folgore" - Foto di Guerra

 

[PhantomII]

Was that installation just a trial for the upcoming 205 or was it seriously considered for the 202? The pods seem a bit draggy. (They remind me of the 23-mm pods on the P-36 that were trialled.)

 

[PhantomII]

I received the Orange book on the 202 in the mail the other day, and I'll post more once I've read through it somewhat. I flipped through it, and it seems interesting so I look forward to reading it.