Reggiane Re.2002

[Sagittario64]

Wiki says that the 2002 entered service in march 1942. when did or would it see first combat? because the only records i found of the 2002 combat service starts with the invasion of Sicily. Was the Reggiane Re.2002 used in North Africa at all?

 

[Alexfly]

The 2002 went into production September 1941 and the first lot of aircrafts was delivered to 102°Gruppo of 5°Stormo on the 27th of January 1943. You are right mentioning that the operations started when the US "invaded" Sicily with Operation Husky. This aircraft was never used in North Africa. If you need further details let me know.
Alex

 

[Vincenzo]

afaik was ordered in 10/9/41, the first was delivered in 3/42, i think for test purpose

 

[Alexfly]

Ciao Vincenzo
Re 2002 "Ariete II" was ordered to Reggiane in Sept.1941. First aircraft MM7311 delivered 27.01.1943 to 102° Gruppo "Tuffatori" 5° Stormo. Test time has been extremely short and between May 18 and June 2nd, all aircrafts delivered were forbidden to fly due to one loss and minor problems that where repaired by Reggiane.
Alessandro

 

[Vincenzo]

afaik Re 2002 start with MM7309

 

[Alexfly]

Could you tell me to which Gruppo this plane was delivered?

 

[Vincenzo]

idk, probably a none Gruppo

 

[Alexfly]

Vioi dire a nessun Gruppo? Aereo per Reggiane?

 

[Vincenzo]

io ho letto che venne consegnato all'aeronautica, non era specificato a che reparto, penso però che essendo il primo sia facile che la consegna sia stata effetuata al reparto sperimentale o altro ente del genere.
te posto i link
http://www.oocities.org/capecanaveral/launchpad/2569/history1.html
RE 2002 - Ariete

a questo punto so curioso che fine ha fatto il mm7310?

 

[al49]

Hi,
I only have one book that talk about the Re 2002, that's the one printed by Delta Editrice.
According to the above book, the aircraft entered service on December 18, 1942 with 239 Squadriglia, 102nd Gruppo, 5th Stormo as dive bombers.
First action took place on July 10, 1943 when aircraft of 101st and 102nd took-off from Crotone airport to bomb allied shipping.
The above seems to be the only action under the Regia Aeronautica flag because ne next action took place on September 18, 1943 this time with Co-belligerent roundels.
Alberto

 

[Alexfly]

Ciao Alberto,
you are right if you consider "entered service" as "started war operations". There where two Squadriglie with this aircraft 209th and 239th, 102nd Gruppo and some other 2002 of 101st Gruppo both part of 5°Stormo. They arrived in Crotone at 1200 hrs on the 10th of July and attacked at 1915 hrs the allied convoy.
This details are in Stato Maggiore Aeronautica -Ufficio Storico papers and I have a copy of the book mentioning all the 5°Stormo story. My father was a pilot of this Stormo.
Regarding Vincenzo's question I need to find which plane was related to the MM7310 registration. I have a list for Re2002 but all MM are different. 102°Gruppo was the first to receive the "first" aircraft produced and delivery took place in January 1943 as mentioned above.
Alessandro

 

[al49]

Ciao Alessandro,
nothing to add, I just reported what mentioned in the only book I have on Re 2002 and it's very good that you have more and better information.
Alberto

 

[Alexfly]

Ecco cosa aveva il 5°Stormo 101° Gruppo nel 1936
Saluti
Alessandro

 

[al49]

Scusa la mia ignoranza, ma che aereo é?
(Apologize for my ignorance, but which aircraft is her?)
Alberto

 

[Vincenzo]

direi un Breda Ba 64 o tipo similare

 

[Alexfly]

Caproni AP1

 

[al49]

Many thanks Alessandro.
For those interested, this was one more disappointing Regia Aeronautica aircraft, produced in less then 100 units.
See here for more info:
Caproni A.P.1 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alberto

 

[Alexfly]

There where many disappointing aircrafts in the Regia Aeronautica, produced in small batches, maybe also for the wrong purpose and by manufacturers that after one model disappeared. The Re2002 could have been a wonderful plane only if used for the purpose it was designed and not to replace the Stukas.
I don't say that the same happened in France, Germany and Spain but the number of models built where much less.