RE 2005

[ralphwiggum]

Would the RE 2005 been a good bomber killer if the Luftwaffe used it against the 8th Airforce bombers?
I really dig that plane it is SO sleak and COOL looking!

 

[GregP]

Yes it would have been. Great plane.

 

[Dcazz7606]

I was re-reading warren Bodies Thunderbolt and it has an interesting section on the Reggianne 2000 and successors. It seems the designers at Reggiane took the airframe of a P-43 and the landing gear from a P-36 combined with a Piaggio engine and sreamlined the canopy and cowell to design this plane. All without a liscense. The 2005 has the same frame adapted to the DB605A engine. I guess Republic (Seversky) was on the right track!

 

[Dcazz7606]

Here's a better shot of the tail!

 

[davebender]

It appears to me Republic get derailed because we ended up with the P-47 flying brick rather the the sleek Re.2005.

 

[Elmas]

Ing. Roberto Longhi was "Direttore Officina Costruzione Velivoli - Sezione Sperimentale" of the Officine Reggiane ( Director of aircraft manufactoring - Experimental branch) had an experience of several years in the U.S. aircraft industry in the early '30s.
He came back to Italy in 1935 and, after the War, he did return to U.S.

http://www.webalice.it/paolo.riatti/home.html

http://www.webalice.it/paolo.riatti/persone.html

 

[rank amateur]

It appears to me Republic get derailed because we ended up with the P-47 flying brick rather the the sleek Re.2005.

I wonder what the Reggiane's would have looked like if they could have disposed of an ample supplies of R2800's.

 

[Dcazz7606]

They certaintly improve it !

 

[rank amateur]

Don't know about the looks, but I'm sure that the performances wouldn't suffer

 

[rank amateur]

By the way, you mentionned the reggianne 2000 came about by taking the airframe of a P-43 and the landing gear from a P-36 combined with a Piaggio engine and a streamlined canopy and cowell. I just looked at the p35 and it strikes me that the tailsections are remarkebly simular.

 

[TheMustangRider]

It appears to me Republic get derailed because we ended up with the P-47 flying brick rather the the sleek Re.2005.

Looking at it on another way, both aircraft took different evolving paths. the Re 2005 in the realm of in-lines and the P-35/P-43/P-47 along the radial engine.
esthetically, one may argue against the jug; performance wise, the final evolved product on the form of the P-47N was certainly not a disappointment.

 

[davebender]

Perhaps not if you are thinking ahead to the Korean War. But the Re.2005 will be fighting the P-47C during the Spring of 1943.

 

[Juha]

Hello
IIRC very few Re. 2005 got into war in July 43 and P-47N saw action in summer 45 in PTO

Juha

 

[davebender]

Italy produce very little of anything after they became a war zone. How could it be otherwise?

The Re.2005 had the potential for mass production during the spring of 1943. There was no chance for the P-47N to enter service that early.

If the Re.2005 had entered mass production and remained in mass production long enough to fight the P-47N it would have been further improved. Probably powered by a 2,000 hp DB605D engine.

 

[TheMustangRider]

Davebender, was the Re 2005 so vastly superior to its contemporary Bf-109 counterpart?
Taking into account varying strengths and weakness, Early P-47s did make a good account for themselves early in the USAAF/Luftwaffe air war; by far not the greatest fighters but decent machines inside their operational radius.
If this discussion is drifting into the envelope of engines, I would dare to guess that the Daimler Benz engine had a head start over its American Pratt Whitney counterpart.

 

[TheMustangRider]

Davebender, was the Re 2005 so vastly superior to its contemporary Bf-109 counterpart?
Taking into account varying strengths and weakness, Early P-47s did make a good account for themselves early in the USAAF/Luftwaffe air war; by far not the greatest fighters but decent machines inside their operational radius.
If this discussion is drifting into the envelope of engines, I would dare to guess that the Daimler Benz engine had a head start over its American Pratt Whitney counterpart.

 

[Juha]

Now before Italy changed sides in early Sept 43, only prototypes and pre-production series of Re. 2005s were built, so all were hand-built, no series production 2005s got ready, so I would say that 2005 was ready for series production in summer 43 earliest.

Juha

 

[davebender]

Reggiane Re.2005 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

G.55 was considered better from a production point of view (being only marginally worse as a fighter but much easier to mass produce)

I think that's the answer as to why the Re.2005 didn't enter mass production in Italy or Germany. The aircraft would need redesign to lower production cost.

 

[GregP]

The P-47 was a flying brick? Maybe not.

The P-47N was the fastest fighter in mass production anywhere and could not be caught except maybe by prototypes and the P-47M. Everything else was slower and probably rolled a bit slower, too. The armament was devastating and the range was long, expecially in the N model. It could take punishment like no other aircraft except maybe teh Soviet IL-2 / 10.

It finished the war in Europe as one of the top fighters in service and is a very strong candidate for top fighter, everything else notwithstanding. I personally would not vote it as top, but MANY people would, especially pilots who flew it. At the Planes of Fame Museum, we have several former Thunderbolt pilots and they are emphatic that they would rather fly a Thunderbolt than anything else avialable in all of WWII. Of course, tey MAY be remembering with rose-coloered glasses, but the fact remians they LOVED the Jug and would not trade it for anything else available in the timeframe during which they served.

That says a LOT for the P-47, regardless of which camp you may be in.

Though I really like the Re.2005 (my favorite Italian fighter), it had nowhere NEAR the impact of the P-47 to the war, even over Italy. Maybe the fact they only made about 48 of them makes a difference versus 15,680 P-47's.

Ya' think?

Wish we had one flying at the Museum!

 

[krieghund]

Go here for the German tactical trials comparing the Luftwaffe`s Bf 109G-4 and FW 190A-5 to contemporary Italian types Macchi 205 V, Macchi205 N, Reggiane 2005 and Fiat G 55.

http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/fl...an-guidonia-test-centre-33001.html#post907715