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Macchi C.202 Folgore

The Macchi C.202 Folgore (Italian "thunderbolt") was an Italian fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by Macchi Aeronautica. It was operated mainly by the Regia Aeronautica (RA; Royal (Italian) Air Force) in and around the Second World War. According to aviation author David Mondey, the Folgore has been considered to be one of the best wartime fighters to serve in large numbers with the Regia Aeronautica.

The C.202 was designed by a team headed by the company's chief of design, Italian aeronautics engineer Mario Castoldi. As per company tradition, Macchi aircraft designed by Mario Castoldi received the "C" letter in their model designation, hence the Folgore is commonly referred to as the C.202 or MC.202. The C.202 was a development of the earlier C.200 Saetta, powered by an Italian-built version of the German Daimler-Benz DB 601Aa engine and featuring a redesigned fuselage for greater streamlining.

During July 1941, the Folgore went into service with the Regia Aeronautica. In combat, it very quickly proved itself to be an effective and deadly dogfighter against its contemporaries. During its service life, the C.202 was deployed on all fronts in which Italy was involved. During late 1941, it commenced offensive operations over Malta and in North Africa, where Italian and German forces were engaged in heavy combat against British and later American operations. The C.202 continued to be used in North Africa as late as mid-1943, by which point the type was withdrawn to support defensive efforts in Sicily and the Italian mainland following their invasion by Allied forces. It also saw limited use on the Eastern Front. Following the 1943 Armistice with Italy, the type was mostly used as a trainer aircraft. It was also operated by Croatia.

The Macchi C.202 was flown by almost all of the most successful Italian aces. During mid-1942, in North Africa, the Folgore achieved a ratio kill/loss better than that of the Messerschmitt Bf 109. The Australian ace Clive Caldwell, who fought a wide variety of German, Italian and Japanese fighters during 1941–45, later stated that the C.202 was "one of the best and most undervalued of fighters". The type also had well-known design flaws: in particular, like the C.200, the C.202 was prone to suddenly entering dangerous spins. Its radios were also unreliable, routinely forcing pilots to communicate by waggling their wings. The C.202 was lightly armed relative to its contemporaries, with just a pair of machine guns that had a tendency for jamming. To improve its performance it was developed into its successor: the Macchi C.205 Veltro.

Origin
During the 1930s, the Italian military authorities chose to adopt only radial engines to power their aircraft; consequently, during the second half of the 1930s, the Italian aeronautical industry had been sufficiently de-incentivised to the point of completely avoiding the development of more powerful engines based on streamlined liquid-cooled designs, which would become popular abroad. As a result of this preference, Italian aircraft manufacturer Macchi Aeronautica was forced to rely on the aging Fiat A.74 radial to power its C.200 fighter. However, by 1941, the C.200, which was armed with a pair of 12.7 mm (.50 in) machine guns and capable of a maximum speed of 504 km/h (315 mph), was considered to be obsolete in comparison to competitors in production overseas.

During July 1939, the Regia Aeronautica requested that Reggiane construct a single prototype Re.2000 that was powered by a German Daimler-Benz DB 601Aa, liquid-cooled supercharged inverted V-12 engine rated at 1,175 PS (1,159 hp, 864 kW); this became the Re.2001. At the time, the most powerful reliable Italian inline engine was the 715 kW (960 hp) Isotta Fraschini Asso XI R.C.40, which was designed in 1936. During November 1939, the Italian automotive company Alfa Romeo acquired a license to produce the DB 601Aa as the Alfa Romeo RA.1000 R.C.41-I Monsone; it was this engine that was to be used in the production of the C.202.

While waiting for domestic production of the engine by Alfa Romeo to ramp up, Aeronautica Macchi decided to import a single DB 601Aa engine; this was initially performed as a private venture without any state support. Macchi chief of design Mario Castoldi commenced work on mating the Macchi C.200 wings, undercarriage, vertical and horizontal tail units to a new fuselage that incorporated the imported DB 601Aa. During January 1940, formal design work on the new fighter commenced and, shortly thereafter, construction began on a single prototype of the design. Castoldi, whose background included working on Schneider Trophy racers design, followed Celestino Rosatelli as the main designer of new fighters for the RA. His new project was robust and small, utilizing a conventional but complex structural arrangement based on his experience with wooden designs, and at the same time paying great attention to its aerodynamics (Castoldi had previously designed the MC.72, the world's fastest aircraft of its time).

Flight testing
On 10 August 1940, less than seven months following the start of design work and two months after Italy's entry into the Second World War, the sole prototype conducted its maiden flight. The prototype differed in some respects from the production aircraft; the headrest fairing incorporated two windows for rear visibility, while production versions replaced this with a narrower, scalloped headrest. The square-sectioned supercharger air intake was replaced by an elongated round sectioned fairing, which was later redesigned to incorporate a dust filter. From the onset of flying trials, it was evident that the C.202 was an advanced design for the era, owing much of its performance to the use of the Daimler Benz DB 601, which represented a departure from the standard practice of using engines of Italian origin.

Following its initial flights, the prototype was flown to the Regia Aeronautica's main test airfield at Guidonia, where it reportedly met with an enthusiastic response from test pilots. A speed of 603 km/h (375 mph) was recorded during testing, while an altitude of 5,486 m (18,000 ft) was attained within the space of six minutes; in addition, little of the favourable manoeuvrability of the earlier C.200 had been lost. Another of its positive attributes was its extremely strong construction, which allowed its pilots to dive the aircraft steeply. The performance figures gathered during these tests indicated that Italy had caught up with both Britain and Germany in the field of fighter airplanes.

Production constraints
As a result of the favourable flight test reports, the C.202 was immediately ordered into production; the first examples (built by Macchi as Serie II) appearing in May 1941. However, the complexity of the structure was not well suited to mass production, and resulted in a relatively limited production rate. According to aviation author Giuseppe Ciampaglia, in comparison to the Bf 109E/F, which was rated at typically requiring 4,500–6,000 man-hours per aircraft to complete, the Macchi routinely needed in excess of 22,000 man-hours. The growth of the C.202 project was slower than that of the rival Re. 2001 effort; but, by employing both mass production techniques and less expensive advanced technologies, the production cost was slightly less than that of the Reggiane Re.2001, (525,000 lire vs 600,000); this latter, the only other DB 601 fighter in mass production, was slower and heavier (2.460/3.240 kg) but had a bigger wing and a more advanced and adaptable structure.

In order to expand production, the Milan-based industrial manufacturer Società Italiana Ernesto Breda was selected to also construct the C.202. Breda would eventually produce the majority of the type. SAI-Ambrosini, based in Passignano sul Trasimeno, also served as another sub-contractor on the C.202, ultimately building around 100 fighters of the type. For some time, supplies of the DB 601 engine continued to be provided directly from Germany in order to supplement Italian production. Throughout the type's production life, manufacturing was near-permanently constrained by the limited availability of the engine.

Design
The Macchi C.202 Folgore was developed from the earlier C.200 Saetta, the principal differences being the use of an Italian-built version of the German Daimler-Benz DB 601Aa engine and the adoption of a revised streamlined fuselage. Both the wing and fuselage structures were metal, with a single vertical tail, and a wing of relatively conventional design with two main spars and 23 ribs. The ailerons, elevators and rudder were metal structures with fabric covering. The trailing edge of the wing inboard of the ailerons was occupied by a pair of all metal split flaps. The undercarriage had two widely set hydraulically-actuated main legs retracting inwards into recesses in the wing; the tail wheel was non-retractable.

The fuselage of the C.202 was a semi-monocoque structure, comprising four light-alloy longerons and ovoidal formers. It was significantly better streamlined than the preceding C.200 to increase performance by reducing parasitic drag. The forward section housed both the main armament and the Alfa Romeo RA.1000 R.C.41-I Monsone engine, which drove a Piaggio P1001 three-blade, variable pitch, constant speed propeller. As with the C.200, to counteract the torque of the engine Castoldi extended the left wing by 21 cm (8.5 inches) so that the left wing developed more lift, offsetting the tendency of the aircraft to roll to the left due to the rotation of the propeller. The wing was a two spar structure, attached to the fuselage center section via steel forgings; it was fitted with flaps that were both statically and dynamically balanced.

The main coolant radiator was housed in a rectangular fairing under the fuselage beneath the cockpit, and the oil cooler was placed under the nose within a streamlined, rectangular housing. From the cockpit aft, the fuselage was formed into a round monocoque structure; the aft fuselage tapered into the tail and contained the radio, oxygen and flight control mechanisms. The canopy was hinged on the starboard base and opened sideways. Behind the canopy, the pilot's headrest was fixed to a triangular turn-over pylon which was covered by a streamlined, tapered fairing. This fairing was shaped into an inverted 'T' which enabled the pilot to have a reasonable field of view to the rear. The unpressurised cockpit had an armor plate fitted behind the armored seat for protection. While early C.202s had a very short "stub" radio mast projecting from the fairing, most used a tall, slim mast.

Situated behind the engine and under the 12.7 mm (.5 in) ammunition boxes there was a single 270 L (71.3 US gal) fuel tank; all tanks were of the self-sealing variety. Another 80 L (21.1 US gal) fuel tank was placed behind the pilot, along with a pair of additional tanks, each with a capacity of 40 L (10.5 US gal), being housed in the wing roots; the total fuel capacity was 430 L (113.6 US gal). Jettisonable tanks, containing either 22 or 33 gallons of fuel, could be installed upon some of the later built aircraft.

Initially, all the armament was fitted within the nose of the Macchi. Ammunition carried was up to 800 rounds (standard: 700 rounds). An additional pair of Breda 7.7 mm (.303 in) machine guns was fitted in the wings in the VII series onward, but these, along with 1,000 rounds of ammunition, added 100 kg (220 lb) to the aircraft's weight and were typically removed by pilots to save weight, since they were relatively ineffective against most enemy aircraft in 1942. A synchronizing unit allowed the nose guns to fire through the propeller disk, but with a 25% loss in rate of fire. A "San Giorgio" reflector gun sight was fitted.

Australian air ace Clive Caldwell felt the Folgore would have been superior to the Messerschmitt Bf 109 had it been better armed. The C.202 was lightly armed by the standards of the time carrying the same armament as the C.R.32, a 1933 design. The C.202 carried as standard two 12.7 mm (.5 in) Breda-SAFAT machine guns. The Breda design was as heavy as the Browning M2, the model from which it was derived. The Breda fired 12.7x81 mm "Vickers" ammunition — while its cartridges were longer than the 13 x 64 mm rounds of its German rough equivalent, the MG 131, the 81 mm Italian rounds were still shorter than the standard 12.7x99 mm rounds of the American "Ma Deuce"; with the result that the energy at the muzzle was 10,000 joules vs. 16,000. The rate of fire was about 18 rounds/second (1,080 rounds per minute) or 0.63 kg (1.39 lb).

On 21 August 1941, Tenente Giulio Reiner, one of the most skillful and experienced pilots of 9° Gruppo, flew the "military control flight" in Lonate Pozzolo, The Ufficio tecnico (Technical Bureau) recorded the maximum speed of 1,078.27 km/h in the Folgore in a vertical dive, with 5.8 G. forces while pulling out of the dive. Ingegner Mario Castoldi, the designer of the 202 questioned whether Reiner had properly flown the test. In fact, during the vertical dive, Reiner had to face very strong vibrations throughout the airframe and in the control stick, while the flying controls were locked and the propeller blades were jammed at maximum pitch. The clean aerodynamics offered by the inline engine permitted dive speeds high enough for pilots to encounter the then-unknown phenomenon of compressibility.

The empty weight of the new C.202 (approximately 2,350 kg/5,180 lb) gradually increased throughout production, and due to the thickness of metal used it was also comparatively heavy, yet this class of aircraft was still considered lightweight compared to other contemporary fighter designs. The Macchi's mass was around 300 kg (660 lb) higher than the comparable Bf 109E German fighter, consequently, the power-to-weight ratio was considerably lower while wing loading was higher. The relatively high diving speed of the type has been attributed to the exceptionally clean design of its fuselage.

Some of the defects present on the new fighter could have been easily resolved, such as a tendency for the landing gear to inadvertently lower when pulling out of a steep dive, a machine gun bonnet that often broke, frequent jamming of the ammunition belts and the rapid crystallizing and eventual shearing of the air cleaner intake caused by vibrations generated by the engine. Other defects, such as the unreliability of the radio sets and of the oxygen systems and the limited armament could not be addressed with such ease. However, different types of radio sets and accompanying antenna were installed in some aircraft.

Service introduction

During 1940, the Folgore was put into production using imported DB 601Aa engines, while Alfa Romeo set up production of the engine under license as the RA.1000 R.C.41-I Monsone (Monsoon). Due to initial delays in engine production, Macchi resorted to completing some C.202 airframes as C.200s, powered by Fiat-built radial engines. Nevertheless, by late 1942, Folgores outnumbered all other fighter aircraft in the Regia Aeronautica.

The first units selected to be equipped with the C.202 Series I were the 17° and 6° Gruppi, from 1° Stormo, based at the airfield of Campoformido, near Udine, and the 9° Gruppo of 4° Stormo, based in Gorizia. Their pilots started to train on the new fighter in May–June 1941, at Lonate Pozzolo (Varese), the airfield of the Macchi. Although first deployed in mid-1941, the C.202 did not see action until later that year; this delay came as a consequence of the many defects that were discovered upon the first fighter deliveries. Some defects appeared similar to those on the early C. 200 version: on 3 August, during a mock dogfight, Sergente Maggiore Antonio Valle – an experienced pilot, credited with two kills in Marmarica and recipient of a Medaglia di Bronzo al Valor Militare (Bronze Medal of Military Valor) – at a height of 4,000 meters entered in a flat spin and could not recover or bail out, losing his life. The oxygen system was also regarded as being inefficient, causing, at least during the first sorties, up to 50/60 per cent of the pilots to abandon their missions and in some cases having been determined to have caused fatal accidents. By November 1941, the C.202 had appeared on the Libyan front. However, according to aviation author Gianni Cattaneo, the type may have been more of a hindrance than help in that theatre, attributing this to the pilots flying it only being semi-trained, which was in turn caused by the type being rushed into service as Axis air superiority had faded in North Africa, and a lack of spares to maintain it with. The C.202 had a better time on the home front, where supplies were more plentiful and units had more time to prepare and familiarise themselves with the type. The type was quickly put to use outside of North Africa, seeing limited service against the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front where, between 1941 and 1943, together with C.200s, the fighter reportedly achieved an 88 to 15 victory/loss ratio. However, according to authors Jeffery Ethell and Pietro Tonizzo, that ratio refers only to the C.200 "Saetta".

Malta

The Folgore first saw service during the Siege of Malta on 29 or 30 September 1941; their first mission was the interception of British Hurricanes over Sicily.

From early October 1941, the Italian units commenced extensive operations over Malta, which provided many opportunities for encounters with RAF fighters. From its initial combat missions, the C.202 displayed marked superiority over the Hawker Hurricane II, which formed the island's main form of aerial defence at the time. However, the Macchi's main weakness, its weak armament, proved to be a problem even at this stage. Over the skies of the besieged island, the new Macchi fighter was not only used to conduct fighter operations, but also for performing ground attack runs and aerial reconnaissance missions. Among the pilots who flew recce C.202s on Malta was Adriano Visconti, later to become a famed ace and credited with at least 10 air victories.

The presence of the Folgores in Maltese skies was to last only until the end of November, when most of the unit was transferred to the deteriorating North Africa front. The 4° Stormo returned to Sicily at the beginning of April 1942, with 10º Gruppo, to Castelvetrano. The airport was already the base of Gruppi 7º and 16º from 54º Stormo equipped with some C.202s besides the Macchi C.200s and Fiat CR.42s. The 4° Stormo C.202s flew the first sortie, on 21 April, claiming a Spitfire V, while escorting three more "recce" Macchis from 54º Stormo. The 4º Stormo flew its last mission on Malta on 19 May before moving back to North Africa. In the meantime, the 16° Gruppo had started to re-equip with the C.202s at the end of 1941. During May 1942, the Macchis of 51° Stormo and 23° Gruppo (3° Stormo) also arrived.

During Operation Harpoon, one of two simultaneous Allied convoys sent to supply Malta in the Axis-dominated central Mediterranean Sea in mid-June 1942, C.202s were involved in clashing with Sea Hurricanes. It was during this time that the Axis had to abandon their plans for the invasion of Malta, Operation Herkules (Operation C 3) due to the aircraft and men being necessary elsewhere. On 7 March 1942, the carrier USS Wasp (CV-7) delivered the first Spitfires to Malta, and the Axis' air-superiority started to shift in favour of the Allies. At the end of June, however, about 60 C.202s could be mustered in Sicily to operate against Malta, which had been receiving the Spitfire Mk. V in ever-increasing quantities. The Macchi could out-turn the Spitfire, but the Folgores suffered from the lack of a more powerful armament and, without radios, the Regia Aeronautica pilots were forced to communicate with one another by waggling their wings and, consequently, had to adopt formations that were too tight and less effective in combat. Their performance had also suffered due to the lack of radar, which the RAF were making extensive use of to successfully vector their fighters against their aerial opposition.

Nevertheless, the C.202's pilots were able to achieve many successes against the British Spitfires. The top scoring Italian pilots in this theatre included Capitano Furio Niclot-Doglio (a 7 kills ace, shot down and killed on 27 July 1942 by RAF ace George "Screwball" Beurling) and Sergente Ennio Tarantola. Both pilots flew with 51° Stormo C.T., the most successful Italian unit over Malta, having reportedly achieved a score of 97 aircraft destroyed for the loss of only 17 Folgores.

North Africa and Pantelleria
On 29 July 1941, the three first operational C.202s of 4° Stormo, 97ª Squadriglia, landed at Merna airport. On 26 November, during Operation Crusader, 19 Macchis of 9° Gruppo, 4° Stormo were sent to Africa, and by the end of the month the whole 1° Stormo was in Libya, both units taking part in the last stages of the British offensive that led to the raising of the siege of Tobruk, and the retreat of Italian and German troops in Cyrenaica in December. During its initial combats over the Western Desert, the Folgore was quite a surprise to British pilots and it remained a respected adversary. Squadron Leader Dennis Harry Clark, D.F.C. and A.F.C., in his book What Were They Like to Fly (1964), stated: "Sleek, supremely fast (..) the 202 was capable of out-turning our P-40s with ease; but the majority would pull away effortlessly into a climbing roll off or a roll off the top when things became at all hectic... Their aircraft was superior to ours on all counts."

In the desert war, incursions by the SAS behind enemy lines were often aimed at destroying aircraft on the ground. Macchi 202s of 1° Stormo based at Uadi Tamet had been transferred from Italy one month before and recently relocated from Bir el Merduma because the airbase was too exposed to SAS attacks. 1° Stormo had 60 fighters, 17°Gruppo around 30. In a month of combat, the latter lost a total of eight fighters to raids. On the night of 28 December 1941 the SAS managed to destroy a further nine aircraft. After this attack the Italians were forced to move their remaining aircraft well away from the front lines to avoid incurring further losses to such raids.

During 1942, Bf 109F/Gs and Macchi C.202s fought against the Allied air forces in North Africa. At the time of Rommel's offensive on Tobruk, 5ª "Squadra Aerea" ("Aviation Corps"), based in North Africa, had three Macchi wings: 1° Stormo had 47 C.202s (40 serviceable), 2° Stormo had 63 C.200s (52) while 4° Stormo had 57(47). This, coupled with the 32 Cant Z.1007s, was one of the most powerful fighter forces that the Italians fielded in the war, and constituted almost a tenth of the overall Folgore production. During April 1942 the 4° Stormo solved the frequent problems to the oxygen masks by adopting the German Dräger "oxygen apparatus" that already equipped the Bf 109s.

During the Battle of Bir Hakeim the C.202s performed successfully against the assorted fighters of the Desert Air Force, typically using "dive and zoom" tactics, similar to those of Luftwaffe fighters. In the morning of 26 May, about 60 Folgore from 1° and 4° Stormo attacked Gambut airfield destroying and damaging many Allied aircraft surprised while taking off. Even if often outnumbered, the C.202s achieved 22 confirmed air victories against Hurricanes and P-40s for the loss of just five of their number, a kill/loss ratio of 4,4/1, bettering the Bf 109s' (3,5/1). On 23 December 1942, the Regia Aeronautica authorized the use of under-wing jettisonable tanks on the C.202s of 6° and 7° Gruppo based in Pantelleria, significantly boosting their endurance. By the end of the year, the growing strength of the Allied forces was overwhelming and after the defeat in the skies over Malta as well as El-Alamein the last operational Axis units lost their air superiority in the Mediterranean. The Germans and the Italians succeeded in establishing a bridgehead in Tunisia, and later in December the Regia Aeronautica transferred four fighter squadrons there; the 5ª Squadra Aerea, which had left Libya and retreated to Tunisia, had previously repatriated all unserviceable aircraft to Italy. By early 1943, Regia Aeronautica had only 54 serviceable C.202 across 12 squadrons.

By 21 February 1943 the 5ª Squadra Aerea still had the 6°Gruppo C.T. with three squadrons of C.202s at Sfax and Gammarth in the northern sector, and in the southern sector, 3°Stormo with six squadrons of C.200s and C.202s at El Hamma. Although these forces were insufficient they nevertheless achieved notable successes. On 6–7 March 1943, C.202 pilots claimed 19 RAF and two USAAF aircraft, for the loss of two Folgore. Pilots of 16° Gruppo Assalto, an attack unit, downed no fewer than 10 aircraft.

The Macchis continued fighting while retreating to Tunisia and then in the defence of Sicily, Sardinia and Italy against an increasingly stronger opponent. The Macchis of two groups at Korba were forced to concentrate 40 C.202s (both 7° and 16°, 54° Stormo), and on 8 May 1943, almost all their C.202s were destroyed on the ground by marauding Spitfires. Only eleven aircraft were repaired by 10 May 1943 and retreated to Italy. Because no transport aircraft were available every surviving fighter had two men inside, a pilot and a mechanic. At least one was destroyed and the two crewmen wounded after crash-landing on a beach near Reggio Calabria. During the Tunisian operation the Regia Aeronautica lost a total of 22 C.202s in the air and 47 on the ground.

Eastern Front operations
During May 1942, the 22° Gruppo Caccia, which had reached its operational limit, was replaced by the newly formed 21° Gruppo Autonomo C.T. composed of 356ª, 382ª, 361ª and 386ª Squadriglia. This unit, commanded by Maggiore (Major) Ettore Foschini, brought new C.202s and 18 new Macchi C.200 fighters. During August 1942, at the beginning of the German offensive, they were deployed at the Stalino, Lughansk, Kantemirovka and Millerovo airfields, typically performing ground attack strikes against the Red Army positions along the east Don river during October–November 1942. In this theatre, the fighters were operated under adverse climate conditions (40° to 45° below zero and heavy snow storms) as well as frequently coming under heavy harassment from Russian fighter-bombers. As a consequence of these operational circumstances, 21° Gruppo – which had 17 C.202s on strength – were rarely able to conduct sorties; as such, only a total of 17 missions were flown with Folgores on the Eastern Front during a four-month period.

When they were able to conduct combat operations, the C.202 were frequently used as escorts alongside their older C.200 siblings for Fiat BR.20M and Caproni Ca.311 bombers in attacks against Soviet columns, during which they would typically be facing aerial opposition from great numbers of Soviet Air Forces (VVS) fighters. The C.202 were also regularly used to escort CANT Z.1007bis during the latter's reconnaissance missions, as well as for German transport aircraft. During one such mission, on 11 December 1942, which involved the escorting of several Junkers Ju 52s en route to Stalingrad, Tenente Pilota Gino Lionello was shot down and forced to bail out from his Folgore.

After the abandonment of advanced airfields between December 1942 – January 1943 at Voroshilovgrad, Stalino and Tscerkow, the Italian air units were operated in a series of defensive actions against a more potent Soviet air offensive, consisting mainly of Ilyushin IL-2s Shturmoviks and Petlyakov Pe-2s. During March 1943, the Corpo Aereo Italiano was detached to Odessa airbase, joining Reggiane Re. 2000 Héja I of the Hungarian MKHL 1 and 2/1 Vadászszázad, as well as IAR 80C and Bf 109E/G of Romanian FARR 4 and 5 detached at the same base and Saky (Crimea) in a holding action against the VVS armada of 2,000 aircraft, at a time when the Axis air forces only countered with 300 operative aircraft, which were further constrained by having very small quantities of fuel, munitions and equipment available. On 17 January 1943, the last effective operation of Corpo Aereo Italiano in Russia occurred, when a single mixed formation of 25 surviving Macchi fighters (out of a remaining total of 30 C.200s and nine C.202s) attacked several Red Army armored and motorized infantry columns in support of German and Italian units that were encircled in Millerovo.

Sicilian and Italian campaigns

The C.202s played a significant role in the defense of Sicily and Southern Italy against bombing attacks launched by the USAAF, however, by the time of Allied invasion of Sicily during July 1943, their effectiveness had been diminished considerably as a result of attrition, which had reduced the number available. Furthermore, it was increasingly recognised that 20 mm cannons were required in order to cause enough damage, thus a mixture of Bf 109F/Gs, Macchi MC.205s and Fiat G.55s were deployed to replace the remaining C.202s as soon as possible. Mixed units (such as the 51° Stormo, Sardinia) were formed with C.202s, yet were often serving with C.205s as well.

By the signing of the 1943 Armistice with Italy, there were only 186 Folgores remaining, of which roughly 100 aircraft were still considered to be in a serviceable condition. Several C.202s served with the Allied-aligned Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force, and some of these were subsequently reconstructed into C.205s or C.202/205 with the Veltro's engine. Others served as trainers in the Axis-aligned Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana (National Republican Air Force) of the Italian Social Republic (RSI) and the Luftwaffe (German Air Force).

Folgore aces
The Macchi C.202 was flown by almost all of the most successful Italian aces, Adriano Visconti, Leonardo Ferrulli, Luigi Gorrini, Franco Lucchini, Franco Bordoni Bisleri, Furio Niclot Doglio and top scorer Sergente Maggiore Teresio Vittorio Martinoli, credited with 22 individual "kills" plus two probables, as well as 14 shared. Seventeen of these victories were obtained in 73ª Squadriglia, 9° Gruppo (from 4° Stormo). On 25 August 1944, Martinoli was killed during a training flight with the P-39 Airacobra. Capitano Franco Lucchini, who was credited with 21/26 individual victories and 52 shared, began to fly the Folgore after having already shot down 10 enemy aircraft. On 5 July 1943, Lucchini was killed in his C.202 while attacking a B-17 over Gerbini, Sicily.

In Croatian service
About 20–22 Macchi C.202s were flown by Croatia, who typically operated them in the interceptor role against Allied bombers. During 1944, the Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia, Zrakoplovstvo Nezavisne Države Hrvatske (ZNDH), received several batches of C.202s. During January, eight brand-new Folgore fighters arrived at Zagreb's Lucko airfield. Two weeks later, another four aircraft arrived; one of these was reportedly lost during a test-flight. The first batch of 16 "Folgores" delivered to the ZNDH was from the XII series, built by Breda following the German occupation of Northern Italy. These fighters equipped ''Kroat. JGr 1'' and retained their Luftwaffe markings whilst in service with the unit. During 1944, the Croatian Air Force Legion (HZL) fighter squadron had returned to Croatia from service on the Eastern Front. Upon its return, the HZL was redesignated ''Kroat. JGr 1, while its operational fighter squadron was redesignated 2./(Kroat.)JGr''; this unit was equipped with Macchis. A second training / operational conversion squadron was also formed, designated 3./(Kroat.)JGr and equipped with Fiat G.50, Macchi C.200 and Fiat CR.42 fighters. During March 1944, they were scrambled for the first time against an American raid west of Zagreb but combat was avoided; Croatian Macchi pilots had been initially instructed to attack only those aircraft which had already been damaged or had become separated from their main formations.

On 24 April 1944, the first confirmed air victory was claimed by Unteroffizier Leopold Hrastovcan against an American B-24 that was shot down near the village of Zapresic (Zagorje). According to some sources, during these first sorties, Croat C.202s claimed between 11 and 16 aerial victories, but only three further were confirmed. During May 1944, the Croatians received four C.202s from the Luftwaffe in Niš, Serbia; during the ferry flight, a single Macchi crash landed near Zemun airfield. Around June 1944, the Croat unit received the last six Folgore and three or four brand new Macchi C.205s. Irrespective of the Croatian Air Force Legion having been disbanded at the end of July, after which it was replaced by the Croatian Air Force Group (HZS), the fighters themselves remained at Borovo. During a period of intensive activity in mid-1944, the squadron had claimed some 20 Allied aircraft shot down. By late 1944, those C.202s that were still in a flight-worthy condition, based in Borovo, were used by Croatian cadets for training purposes. During September 1944, Luftwaffe pilots flew all of the remaining airworthy Folgores to Borongaj, where they were used only for training.

According to aviation authors Dragan Savic and Boris Ciglic, Croatian pilots did not at first have a high opinion of the Macchi fighter, in part due to its armament consisting of just a pair of 12.7 mm and two 7.7mm machine guns, which were regarded as scarcely effective against the heavily armed US four-engined bombers. Eastern front veteran Major Josip Helebrant, an 11-kill flying ace (used to flying Bf 109 Gs) and the CO of 2./(Kroat.)JGr, had reportedly initially regarded the Macchis as "old, weary and unusable", and described the morale of his men as "low", and his unit's results as "nil", primarily because of the NDH's underdeveloped air-raid warning system, which saw the Croatian Macchi fighters often taking off to intercept attacking Allied bombers that were already flying overhead.

Postwar service
As a consequence of the Allied aerial bombing against the Italian Social Republic, during which the manufacturing facilities of the Macchi company had sustained damage during 1944, both the production life and combat career of both the C.202 and the further refined C.205 were cut short. Post-war, some of the aircraft which had survived the conflict were joined by a small number of newly manufactured C.205s. The surviving aircraft were operated by the Aeronautica Militare Italiana, where they were used as trainer aircraft as late as 1948 before being phased out entirely.

The Royal Egyptian Air Force ordered a total of 42 C.205s, but 31 of these were in fact re-engined Folgores (C.202s), armed with only a pair of 12.7 mm Breda machine guns. Some of these aircraft later fought during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War the State of Israel; the Egyptian fighters were reportedly still in service as late as 1951. Switzerland had placed an order for 20 C.202s, however, none of these were ever delivered; this was due to the deteriorating war situation at the time (May 1943) that meant that Italy no longer had the capability to export these types of aircraft. During mid-1944, at least 12 C.202s, and probably another 12 aircraft, were delivered to the Croatian Air Force Legion for operational use against the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces over Croatia, all of which being ex-LW fighters.

Those allied pilots who flew against the Folgore were frequently impressed with its performance and manoeuvrability. The C.202 was often considered to have been superior to both the British Hawker Hurricane and the American Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk that it commonly fought against, at first on the Libyan front, as well as being the equal of the Supermarine Spitfire Mk. V. The C.202 was able to out-turn all three, although the Spitfire possessed a superior rate of climb. The C.202 could effectively fly against the Hurricane, Lockheed P-38 Lightning, Bell P-39 Airacobra, Curtiss P-40 and even the Spitfire at low altitudes, but the aircraft's combat effectiveness was somewhat hampered by its weak armament.

Variants and production
Like its predecessor C.200, the C.202 had relatively few modifications, with only 116 modifications during its career, most of them invisible, externally. The total series production ordered was 1,454: 900 to Breda, 150 to SAI Ambrosini, 403 to Aermacchi. The amount produced was actually 1,106 and not 1,220 as previous stated. Breda built 649 (Series XVI deleted, Series XII and XV partially completed caused the difference); Aermacchi made 390 examples, SAI only 67.

One of the differences between prototype and series production was the lack of radio antenna and the retractable tailwheel (these differences resulting in a slightly higher top speed); the difference in speed was not so great and so, the series version had the fixed tailwheel and the radio antenna. The support for the engine, originally steel, was replaced with a lighter aluminium structure.
 * C.202
 * Starting with the Serie VII, the fighter had a new wing with a provision for two 7.7 mm (.303 in) Breda-SAFAT machine guns and an armored windscreen (previously, only the armored seat and the self-sealing tanks were provided). Serie IX's weight was 2,515/3,069 kg with the 7.7 machine guns seldom installed.

 * C.202AS
 * Dust filters for operations in North Africa (AS – Africa Settentrionale, North Africa); they affected the speed little and so, almost all Folgores had them and thus were in C.202AS standard; finally, starting with Serie XI there was a provision for two 50, 100 or 160 kg bombs, small bombs clusters (10, 15, 20 kg) or 100 L drop tanks. These underwing pylons were rarely utilized, as Folgores were needed in the interceptor roles.

 * C.202CB
 * Underwing hardpoints for bombs or drop tanks (CB – Caccia Bombardiere, Fighter-Bomber)

 * C.202EC
 * Likely standing for Esperimento Cannoni, it was another link between Veltro and Folgore. One aircraft (Serie III, s/n MM 91974) was fitted with a pair of gondola-mounted 20 mm cannon with 200 rounds each (it flew on 12 May 1943); later it was turned into a C.205V. Another four examples were so equipped, but, despite the good results in the trials (aimed to boost the Folgore's firepower), there was no further production, because the cannons penalized the aircraft's performance. There was, in the Folgore, no room to mount them inside the wings or the nose, so the MC.205V/Ns was developed. Nevertheless, the XII series could have introduced a new wing with MG 151 provisions. This is not well documented, as this series was produced by Breda after the Armistice, and was interrupted with the devastating USAAF bombings, together with many other aircraft; among them, also Macchi 205 production and the 206 prototype (30 April 1944; in five days, the USAAF destroyed both Fiat and Macchi facilities, eliminating all of Italy's fighter production).

 * C.202RF
 * Equipped with cameras for photo-reconnaissance missions (R – Ricognizione, Reconnaissance), very few produced, later the recce role was covered by Veltros.

 * C.202D
 * Prototype with a revised radiator, under the nose, similar to the P-40 (s/n. MM 7768)

 * C.202 AR.4
 * At least one such aircraft was modified to server as a "drone director" (coupled with S.79s), and it was planned to use Folgores also as 'Mistel', with an AR.4 "radiobomba" (a form of remote-control kamikaze bomber).

 * C.202 with DB 605 and other engines
 * Macchi MC.202 with DB 605 were initially known as MC.202 bis; later as the C.205 Veltro. Macchi C.200, C.202 and C.205 shared many common components. The MC.200A/2 was a MC.200 with Folgore wings (MM.8238). After the Armistice, Aeronautica Sannita or the Co-Belligerent Italian AF began MC.205 modifying C.202s with DB 605s. These aircraft were known also as Folgeltro. Around two dozen were made. Another Folgore was modified with DB 601E-1 (1,350 PS) in mid-1944, but this hybrid with Bf 109F technology crashed on 21 January 1946. The MC.204 was a version with a L.121 Asso (1,000 hp); proposed early in the war (28 September 1940), but all the effort continued only with DB 601 engines. Early Folgores had original DB 601s, while from the Serie VII, RC.41s were available.

After the war, 31 C.202 airframes were fitted with license-built Daimler-Benz DB 605 engines and sold to Egypt as C.205 Veltros, with another 11 'real' MC.205s (with MG 151 cannon in the wings).

Operators

 * Independent State of Croatia
 * Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia
 * undefined
 * Luftwaffe
 * II/JG 77 operated 12 captured aircraft.
 * Kingdom of Italy
 * Regia Aeronautica
 * Italian Co-belligerent Air Force
 * Italian Social Republic
 * Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana
 * Italian Air Force operated some Macchi C.202 until 1948
 * Italian Air Force operated some Macchi C.202 until 1948

Surviving aircraft

 * Macchi C.202 "73-7/M.M. 9667 (serial no. 366)"
 * Presently on display at the Italian Air Force Museum in Vigna di Valle Airport, near Bracciano, Italy. This C.202 was built by Breda in early 1943 as a Serie XI sample. In March 1943 this Folgore was assigned to 54° Stormo of the Regia Aeronautica and subsequently it served in 5° Stormo, with Aeronautica Cobelligerante (Italian Co-Belligerant Air Force). After the war it was a training aircraft at the Accademia Navale in Livorno. Currently the aircraft has the markings of the ace Giulio Reiner. Not all the parts of the aircraft are original (a panel of the engine cowling comes from a Macchi C.205 Veltro).

 * Macchi C.202 "M.M. 9476(?)"
 * Shown in the markings of the 90ª Squadriglia, 10° Gruppo, 4° Stormo, was dramatically displayed in Gallery 205 above the World War II Aviation diorama at the US National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian, Washington, DC. Still airworthy at Freeman Field, Indiana, US, in 1945, as FE-300, was stored for many years. Restoration was completed in mid-1970. No identity marking was found, though this is the least reconstructed Folgore survivor. It may have originally been a Serie VI to IX, probably the M.M. 9476 sample.

title: Macchi C.202 Folgore


text:
Talk:Divine right of kings

Islamic Republic of Iran
If they are executing people for crimes against god, and the supreme leader/Ayatollah is acting on behalf of god, is the Islamic Republic worthy of a mention in this article? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 180.150.37.101 (talk) 03:45, 17 January 2023 (UTC)

Divine right
The article should be more general, to include the divine right of presidents and other non-hereditary leaders, otherwise it has an binding to hereditary and aristocratic leaders only, which needs clarification if actual or not. Also the topic should distinguish between believer and non-believer leaders who may claim divine right.-Inowen (nlfte) 23:34, 26 January 2019 (UTC)

 * I disagree. The DROK is a specific concept used by Historians for the ideas that were full-fledged in England from Henry VIII until Cromwell and the Puritans. Talking about other things is interesting but not particularly relevant.  The article needs to be much more sharply focussed on its topic.Rick Jelliffe (talk) 04:41, 20 August 2023 (UTC)

Apparent Bias Under Christian Conceptions
There is a serious dearth of citations in this article and some sections border on polemical. Instead of giving a historiography of Divine Right (pre-modern, early modern, and criticisms), most of the article contains opinion that is bizarrely anti-Protestant and apologetic towards Catholicism, when no apology is needed.

Many examples:

1. Under "Christian Conceptions", the Catholic view on monarchy is stated clearly, without comparing or contrasting to the Divine Right doctrine, and then Acquinas' view that a tyrant may be killed is stated almost as an apology for the acceptability of monarchy in the Catholic view. It is as if this was material for a high-school catechism class. No such apology is needed for serious inquirers and if anything, Acquinas and other venerable Catholic thinkers add richly to Catholic and other theistic views on monarchy. Then, in the Protestant views subsection, Divine Right is assumed to be a problem, for which the Pope's erstwhile countervailing power to kings was the pre-modern antidote. If Catholics believe that Divine Right is problematic, or that it is a by-product of the Protestant Reformation, say so clearly, in the Catholic view section. If historians believe this, say so clearly, in the introductory or history section, with citations.

2. The Protestant views section features prominently some citation-less rubbish stating that most Protestants don't realize the monarch of the UK is coronated after the traditional Christian (Catholic) way of the "Holy Roman Emperor". Though this may well be true, the relevance of this to Divine Right appears to be missing. If Divine Right is associated with Protestant views: one, a citation is in order; two, a Catholic Imperial ceremony for the UK's monarch hardly supports this without clear explanation. Currently, the Protestant views section is curiously missing Protestant views on Divine Right.

3. James of Scotland's views on Divine Right were regarded as outlandish by the English Parliament, but no mention at all of contemporaneous criticism is mentioned.

4. Where are the views of Enlightenment thinkers (Rousseau, Montesqieu, Blackstone) and Parliamentarians, or the history of their suppression or toleration by "absolutist" governments in England and France? It would be better to have a Criticisms section for criticisms of divine right from any corner, including Catholic Aquinas, English Parliamentarians, and Enlightenment thinkers.

I am fully cognizant that the medieval (i.e. Roman Catholic) Church in the west is often baselessly believed to be the source of many authoritarian superstitions, with secular school textbooks often falsely stating libels like the Great Chain of Being and Divine Right of Kings being church teachings that enforced absolutism before the Enlightenment. And it is perfectly within the scope of this article to correct this, but it needs to be corrected explicitly and clearly with facts, citations, and evidence. 2001:569:5667:5A00:9153:8BEA:257A:4FC4 (talk) 08:39, 4 January 2022 (UTC)Edward

 * ✅ I have rearranged the article and its headings to put things together that belong together, and to remove digressions from the start of sections to the end of their sections. I think this makes the article more about the specific "Divine Right of Kings" rather than diffuse "divine right of kings", if you get what I mean. I agree that the article, even with my editorial improvements, has some unsatisfactory material, and that it needs a lot better citations.
 * As to the issue of anti-Protestant bias, I read it the opposite, as completely misrepresenting the Catholic position too (though I hope this is now improved from my re-arrangements): the common ground is that the article seems to say that the theory is a religious one coming from churches/confessions rather than a political one coming from royal courts. I put in a reference to Thomas Beckett which at least hints that Kings have long tried to agrandize themselves. I have also tried to use national terms rather than "catholic" or "protestant" where those national terms reflect what is going on. I removed an unnecesary reference to Mary's persecution of Protestants: the text suggested that the persecution came then Wyatt's rebellion happened because of Mary's tyranny: however, the persecution came as a result of Wyatt's rebellion the year before: I think that could be reasonably taken as an example of explicit anti-Catholic bias (if one was interested in doing so: better just to improve the article.)
 * I agree strongly that what is needed is more WP:RS WP:CITE: in particular, seeing the DROK as a reaction to the European Wars of Religion, and mentioning pre-Reformation opponents (such as Erasmus, Colet, Wycliff). Histories of the Reformation, before the last 50 years or so, have been plagued by partisan commentary, and it would be good to have more references from this millenium.Rick Jelliffe (talk) 07:35, 20 August 2023 (UTC)
 * I agree strongly that what is needed is more WP:RS WP:CITE: in particular, seeing the DROK as a reaction to the European Wars of Religion, and mentioning pre-Reformation opponents (such as Erasmus, Colet, Wycliff). Histories of the Reformation, before the last 50 years or so, have been plagued by partisan commentary, and it would be good to have more references from this millenium.Rick Jelliffe (talk) 07:35, 20 August 2023 (UTC)

Content and meaning of introductory paragraphs
The introductory paragraphs of this article, being without citations, give an extremely peculiar account of a name that, it should be noted, is used with incredibly imprecise breadth in many places. The origin of the particular 'definition', if it is not entirely new, would be helpful, even if the 'definition' is corrupted in its current form. Whatever the case, substantial revision is likely needed, although an actual presiding principle of how to define such an ill-used term will be needed in this. (Moreover, it appears that the article expressly contradicts itself in some areas as of now - see, for example, how one part emphatically denounces the suggestion that Thomas Aquinas allowed 'extra-legal tyrannicide', while another supports it.) Zusty001 (talk) 22:46, 5 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Leads don't need citations per MOS:LEADCITE—blindlynx 20:55, 8 June 2022 (UTC)
 * The opening paragraph is a bit of a sesquipedalian run-on, seemingly written by a undergrad phillosphy major who is eager to show off. Like that bar scene in the movie 'Good Will Hunting'. 2601:152:C100:2D56:94A7:BFBE:8E60:4A8E (talk) 19:20, 13 April 2023 (UTC)

 * ✅ I have moved digressive and excessive material from lede to new start section "Concepts". The lede needs to summarize the contents in a small number of focussed paragraphs. I may also add some dating. Rick Jelliffe (talk) 04:43, 20 August 2023 (UTC) information.

Why is article headed with a portrait of Henry VIII?
At present the article lead is accompanied by a portrait of Henry VIII and a reference to his being made Supreme Head of the Church of England. But no reference is made to this in the article text, and rightly so because his becoming Supreme Head of the English Church 25 years after coming to the throne had nothing to do (or only very tangentially so) with his divine right to be king of England. I suggest that it be removed.Sbishop (talk) 15:24, 23 September 2022 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Talk:Divine right of kings


text:
Westmorland County, New Brunswick

Westmorland County (2021 population: 163,576 ) is a county in New Brunswick, a province of Canada. It is in the south-eastern part of the province. It contains the fast-growing commercial centre of Moncton and its northern and eastern suburbs. Also located in the county are the university town of Sackville and the local tourist destination of Shediac.

Westmorland County is centrally located in the Maritimes and is New Brunswick's most populous county. Fishing and tourism are important industries along the Northumberland Strait shore, and there is some mixed farming in the Petitcodiac River Valley and in the Tantramar Marsh region. The city of Moncton accounts for half of the county's population and has developed as a major transportation, distribution, commercial and retail centre. Dorchester is the historic shire town.

Origins
The county, once a part of Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, was one of the original eight counties delineated shortly after the creation of the British colony of New Brunswick in 1784. Initially it included what is now Albert County and part of Saint John County.

Due to sweeping social reforms of the Louis Robichaud premiership, the counties no longer serve their role as regional local government and administrative units.

Communities
There were the eleven municipalities within Westmorland County before the 2023 local governance reforms (listed with 2021 figures):

First Nations
There is one First Nations reserve in Westmorland County (population as of 2021):

Parishes
The county is subdivided into seven parishes (listed by 2016 population):

Demographics
As a census division in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Westmorland County had a population of $163,576$ living in $70,090$ of its $75,506$ total private dwellings, a change of NaN% from its 2016 population of $149,623$. With a land area of 3659.74 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

Access routes
Highways and numbered routes that run through the county, including external routes that start or finish at the county limits:

 * Highways

 * Principal Routes

 * Secondary Routes:

 * External Routes:

title: Westmorland County, New Brunswick


text:
Macchi C.205 Veltro

The Macchi C.205 Veltro (Greyhound) (also known as MC.205, "MC" standing for "Macchi Castoldi") was an Italian World War II fighter aircraft built by the Aeronautica Macchi. Along with the Reggiane Re.2005 and Fiat G.55, the Macchi C.205 was one of the three "Serie 5" Italian fighters built around the powerful Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine. The C.205 was a development of the earlier C.202 Folgore. With a top speed of some 640 km/h and equipped with a pair of 20 mm cannon as well as 12.7 mm Breda machine guns, the Macchi C.205 Veltro was highly respected by Allied and Axis pilots alike. Widely regarded as one of the best Italian aircraft of World War II, it proved to be extremely effective, destroying a large number of Allied bombers. The Macchi C. 205 proved capable of meeting fighters such as the North American P-51D Mustang on equal terms, which encouraged the Luftwaffe to use a number of these aircraft to equip one Gruppe.

While the C.205 was able to match the best Allied opponents in speed and maneuverability, it was introduced late in the conflict. Due to the limitations of the Italian war economy, only a small production run was delivered before the end of the war. Like the Spitfire, the Veltro was tricky in its construction and slow to build. Italy's highest-scoring ace, Adriano Visconti, achieved 11 of his 26 credited victories in the few weeks he was able to fly the Veltro, with the top-scoring Sergente Maggiore pilota Luigi Gorrini shooting down 14 enemy aircraft plus six damaged with the C.205.

Design and development
In 1941, seeking to further improve the performance of the C.202 fighter, the Regia Aeronautica decided to license-build the German DB 605 1,100 kW liquid-cooled supercharged inverted V-12 engine in Italy, which Fiat produced as the RA.1050 R.C.58 Tifone (Typhoon). Fighter manufacturers were invited to enter versions of their designs using this engine as the caccia della serie 5 ("series-5 fighter") and were provided with imported DB 605s for prototype use. All of the designs used the number 5 in the name, with the Macchi becoming the C.205 (instead of C.202bis or C.203).

Macchi had used a licence-built DB 601 engine in the C.202, an engine which was closely comparable in size to the later, more powerful DB 605. This meant that the C.202 airframe could be easily adapted for the DB 605. The C.205V Veltro first flew on 19 April 1942, and was considered a stop-gap measure with the definitive variant being the 205N Orione (N stood for "new"). In testing, the Fiat G.55 Centauro and Re.2005 Sagittario proved to be better performers at high altitude due to their larger wing area. In fact, the Veltro used the same wing as the earlier Folgore but its weight had increased from 2,350 to 2,581 kg and the wing loading from 140 kg/m2 to 153.6 kg/m2. The Veltro's performance was similar to German designs with their higher wing loading, and was at its best at medium altitudes where it could reach 642 km/h. The C.205 Veltro was placed in production until the G.55 and the Re.2005 could become available.

The first 100 Veltro Serie I were only machine-gun-armed, but many were also fitted with the 20 mm MG 151 cannon. There were no Serie II built, but 150 Serie III were ordered, which were fitted with wing cannons as a standard.

The necessity to re-engineer the forward fuselage was time-consuming but, after several months of delays, the "205N" was ready. The C.205N1 first flew on 1 November 1942, with armament consisting of a 20 mm cannon firing through the propeller hub, and four cowling-mounted 12.7 mm (.5 in) Breda-SAFAT machine guns for which it carried 300–400 and 1,400 rounds of ammunition respectively. This configuration allowed a higher ceiling but lower speed [629 km/h]. The better aerodynamics (with a longer and more streamlined rear fuselage) provided an advantage over the Macchi C.205V/MG151 [620 km/h].

The maiden flight of the second prototype, the C.205N2, took place on 19 May 1943, reaching 628 km/h during testing, which was marginally slower than the C.205N1 with a correspondingly longer time to reach its operational altitude. It was equipped with one engine-mounted 20 mm cannon, two wing-mounted 20 mm cannon and two fuselage-mounted 12.7 mm (.5 in) machine guns. The ammunition load comprised 600 or more 12.7 mm (.5 in) rounds and a maximum of around 900 20 mm rounds which was much heavier than that carried by the C.205N1 and more than that of the Reggiane and the Fiat which carried 490–550 and 650 20 mm rounds respectively. Although 1,200 aircraft were ordered, the design was abandoned due to the Italian armistice.

The N-series aircraft should have performed better than the C.205V but Macchi test pilot Guido Carestiato noted that their flying characteristics were inferior to the lighter and more agile C.205 Veltro. The later series also experienced overheating while climbing.

Design
The C.205, known initially as the C.202bis, was generally similar to the previous Folgore, although there were numerous differences in the fuselage: the tail was larger, the cockpit and its hump were redesigned, the antenna mast was bigger and some modifications were made to the wings. Both the C.202 and C.205 had the port wing 8" longer than the starboard to compensate lift for engine torque.

The C.205 was a single-seat, all-metal, monoplane fighter, intended primarily as an interceptor but with ground attack and escort capabilities. The long nose housed the DB605 engine which drove a three-blade, constant-speed metal propeller, with the main fuel tank situated between the engine and the cockpit. The radiator was located under the centre section of the fuselage beneath the cockpit while the short rear section housed the radio equipment, oxygen cylinder and an 80 L (20 US gal) reserve fuel tank. The wings were made of light aluminium alloys and steel, having two spars and three sections, housing two additional fuel tanks, and the fully retractable wide-set main undercarriage gear. Apart from the all-metal flaps in the inner wing, all the other control surfaces were metal-framed and fabric-covered. Veltros had self-sealing fuel tanks, an armoured seat, and armoured windscreen as standard. The cramped cockpit possessed a limited field-of-view, but some examples were fitted with a rear-view mirror.

The 827 kg/1,823 lb (normal) payload consisted of the fully equipped pilot (85 kg/187 lb), fuel (307 kg/677 lb), two Breda machine guns and two Mauser MG 151/20 cannon (60 and 84 kg/130 and 185 lb respectively), 740 rounds of 12.7 mm (.5 in) ammunition (76 kg/168 lb), 500 rounds of 20 mm ammunition (100 kg/220 lb), and other sundry items such as oil (33 kg/73 lb), oxygen cylinder (12 kg/26 lb) and radio equipment. Additionally, 100 L (30 US gal) fuel tanks or 160 kg (350 lb) of bombs could be carried on two underwing hardpoints. Due to a lack of passenger transport aircraft, modifications were made to a C.205 to enable it to carry eight passengers in the belly of the fuselage and, among others, three pilots of 51° Wing (including Adriano Visconti) made the journey from Sardinia to Italy after the Armistice in this manner.

Veltros originally had "tropical" pattern camouflage, with a sand brown base coat and irregular black-green lines all over their surface (referred to as "smoke rings"). Those in service with Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana were painted an overall dark green (nearly black), while others adopted a variation of the "tropical" pattern or carried a camouflage pattern based on the German "Splinter Pattern" consisting of RLM 74 and 75, Gey/Green over RLM 76 Blue.

Relative performance
The following are relative performance and characteristics data for the three versions of the C.205 (or MC.205, as the machines designed by Castoldi were often called):

 * {| border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3 style="border-top:3px double #999; border-collapse:collapse; text-align:left; font-size:smaller;" summary="Comparative performance characteristics of the C.205V, N/1, and N/2.

! style="width:140px;"| ! style="width:10px;"| ! style="text-align:left; width:115px;"| C.205V ! style="text-align:left; width:110px;"| C.205N/1 ! style="text-align:left; width:90px;"| C.205N/2 ! style="text-align:right;" | Minimum weight (kg) ! style="text-align:right;" | Maximum weight (kg) ! style="text-align:right;" | Payload (kg) ! style="text-align:right;" | Ceiling (m) ! style="text-align:right;" | Range (km) ! style="text-align:right;" | Maximum speed (km/h) ! style="text-align:right;" | Time to 5,000 m altitude ! style="text-align:right;" | Time to 6,000 m altitude ! style="text-align:right;" | Time to 7,000 m altitude ! style="text-align:right;" | Time to 8,000 m altitude Notes: 1. Series I/III 2. Under ideal conditions
 * + style="font-size:larger; text-align:left;" |
 * - style="vertical-align:top; border-bottom:1px solid #999;"
 * 2,581
 * 2,695
 * 2,759
 * 2,759
 * 3,408
 * 3,621
 * 3,794
 * 3,794
 * 827
 * 926
 * 935
 * 935
 * 11,200
 * 11,500
 * 11,800
 * 11,800
 * 950
 * 1,020
 * 950
 * 950
 * 642/620 (at 7,500 m) [1]
 * 629 (at 6,500 m)
 * 628 (at 6,500 m)
 * 628 (at 6,500 m)
 * 4 min 47 sec
 * 5 min 46 sec
 * 6 min 14 sec
 * 6 min 14 sec
 * 5 min 53 sec [2]
 * 6 min 07 sec
 * 7 min 38 sec
 * 7 min 38 sec
 * 7 min 06 sec [2]
 * 7 min 45 sec
 * 9 min 07 sec
 * 9 min 07 sec
 * 9 min 09 sec [2]
 * 9 min 25 sec
 * 10 min 47 sec
 * }
 * }

Although these figures provide an indication of the relative performance of each variant, and showed that the Orione, especially the N2, suffered as a result of the weight increase (particularly in climbs), they are not truly representative as they were obtained under different test conditions. As opposed to the two N versions, the Veltro was tested under ideal conditions, i.e. at light weight (3,250 kg and with full emergency power (2,750 rpm). In a climb to6,000 m, a Veltro III series, fully equipped and using combat (not emergency) power at 2,600 rpm needed 7 minutes.

Production
At the end of evaluation tests, the C.205 began series production, with a first order of 250 aircraft. The first C.205 left the factory in September 1942. Speed of production was very slow (about 12 machines per month), because of shortage of engines and strategic materials, and only in June 1943 did Macchi manage to complete the first batch of 100 fighters. It took until September before production reached 177 examples, of which 146 were delivered to Regia Aeronautica units.

Operational history
The C.205 entered production only five months after its maiden flight and began reaching front line units in February 1943. At the end of April, the 1° Stormo, based in Pantelleria, is the first unit to enter action with the C.205, on Mediterranean, escorting maritime and aerial convoys to and from Tunisia. During their first sortie, 22 C.205 clashed with very good results against more numerous formations of Curtiss P-40s and Supermarine Spitfires. During the next few months, C.205s of the Regia Aeronautica were involved in several major engagements with some of the 4,000 Allied aircraft that were stationed in the Mediterranean at that time. At the end of May, because of the vulnerability of Pantelleria, the 1° Stormo was moved to Sigonella airfield in Sicily and the minor airstrip of Finocchiara, 15 km south-east of Ragusa. On 8 June 1943, 15 C.205s of 1° Stormo escorted three torpedo bombers attacking Allied ships which were shelling Pantelleria's defenses. At the end of June, the Stormo had no more serviceable Veltros. On 24 June, 1° Stormo left Sicily for Osoppo, then later Ronchi dei Legionari, and was replaced by 4° Stormo. Few pilots returned to Udine, while the remaining aircraft joined other units.

4° Stormo, which had left Africa in January 1943, was re-equipped with Macchi C.202s and C.205s on the airfields of Campoformido (10° Gruppo) and Bresso (9° Gruppo). It was then moved to Rome-Ciampino airport. On 9 July 1943 (the eve of the Allied invasion of Sicily), 4° Stormo was based on the Catania plain, with a complement of 10 Veltros and 38 Folgores (no Italian unit was equipped with Veltros alone). Later it received a batch of a further 10 C.205s. The Italian pilots flew as many as six sorties per day, but on 14 July, with the first Allied paratroopers landing on the Catania plain, 4° Stormo was forced to retreat to Crotone airfield in Calabria after setting fire to four or five damaged C.205s that could not be repaired in time.

51° Stormo fought with some success over Sardinia (apart from the battle of 2 August), but sustained heavy losses, especially at the end of July and the beginning of August. 3° Stormo C.T., commanded by Tenente Colonnello Tito Falconi, also had the opportunity to fly the Veltro in combat. At the time it was based at Cerveteri airstrip, with the task of defending Rome, 83ª, 85ª and 95ª Squadriglia, 18° Gruppo (of 3° Stormo) all received a number of C.205s. Commander Falconi assigned them to the most eminent pilots: Sergente Maggiore Luigi Gorrini, Tenente Franco Bordoni-Bisleri and Maresciallo Guido Fibbia. 3° Stormo used the new type effectively to intercept American bombers and fighters in the skies over Latium. "The Macchi fighter possessed some excellent qualities, and the Italian pilots made optimum use of the aircraft which had a maximum speed of 644 km/h."

One of the greatest British fighter pilots of World War II, Group Captain Duncan-Smith DSO DFC respected both the Macchi and the Italian airmen: "In general the standard of flying of the Italian pilots was very high indeed, and in encounters with Macchi 205s particularly we were up against aircraft that could turn and dog-fight with our Spitfires extremely well."

Like its predecessors, the first Veltros were insufficiently armed, but the aircraft often performed well in combat. Guido Carestiato said the C.205 was the "best Italian fighter that he knew". The C.205 ace Luigi Gorrini scored 19 or 24 victories (in return, he was downed four or five times). Gorrini claimed 12 victories in July 1943, several of them with the Veltro.

Battle of Pantelleria
1° Stormo received the first Veltros in time to fight over the southern Italian air base. In free-ranging patrols, the wing fielded 24 Veltros (around 1/10 of all those produced) and nine Folgores in an attempt to intercept enemy aircraft in the area. While patrolling between Cap Bon and Cap Mustafà on 20 April 1943, Italian fighters spotted a large enemy formation 35 km west of Pantelleria. The Italians started to close in to the aircraft of Nos. 1, 92, 417, and 601 SAAF Squadrons, which were flying at low level, but were surprised by six Polish pilots of 145 Squadron flying high cover. These were joined by other Spitfires, and the 33 Macchis found themselves in combat with up to 60 Spitfires (mainly Mk VCs, and possibly Mk VIIIs and IXs). The Italian pilots claimed 15 victories (one by Maresciallo Baschirotto, who fired 500 rounds), with 14 Spitfires downed in the sea and another over African soil.

However, another analysis of this combat shows that the Regia Aeronautica pilots claimed a total of 17 aircraft on 20 April and claimed to have downed 15 Spitfires in this engagement; although Italian ground observers claimed to have seen 14 aircraft crash into the sea or onto land, only one Spitfire, flown by Flg Off Drecki of 145 Sqn, was heavily damaged. In return, three C.205Vs were lost. There is also a possibility that Bf 109s of I./JG77 were involved in this engagement.

Allied records report only two C.205Vs downed (Tenenti Andreoli and Fanelli), while another made an emergency landing near Cap Bon, and explains why some sources quote two losses and others three, but there is some doubt as to whether this aircraft, the only one to touch down on African soil, was a Veltro or a Folgore. At least one other Macchi was damaged, and the pilot wounded. Similarly, the Italian claims did not match any losses recorded in Allied squadron reports.

Battle of Capo Pula
On 2 August 1943, two British Beaufighters were downed and the Italians sent a CANT Z.506 Airone aircraft escorted by four C.205Vs on a search-and-rescue mission. A group of P-40s attacked the Z.506, but despite the defence put up by the Veltros, one American fighter crashed into the Z.506 and both fell into the sea.

A USAAF search and rescue PBY Catalina mission was also mounted, escorted by 12 P-38s. C.202 and C.205s of 51° Stormo, led by Ennio Tarantola, intercepted this flight. The Catalina was taken by surprise on the surface near the Sardinian coast, having broken a propeller blade in the heavy sea conditions. The Italians also claimed to have downed all 12 P-38s, whereas the Americans claimed three or four victories over the Axis fighters with no losses. Later records showed that only the Catalina and the C.202 of Maresciallo Bianchi, a close friend of Tarantola, had been shot down.

The two or three victories over P-38s claimed by Tarantola are not supported by any data available; however, no further SAR missions were made by Americans to search for the downed pilots. Except for a crewman killed by strafing, the crew of the Catalina was saved, thanks to a fast vessel of the Royal Navy whose captain was awarded the DSC for battling adverse sea conditions, coastal battery fire and enemy aircraft while rescuing the survivors.

Defence of Rome
In mid 1943, Gorrini obtained one of the three C.205s delivered to the 3° Stormo (the other two were assigned to other aces, Tenente Franco Bordoni Bisleri and Maresciallo Guido Fibbia). In six weeks, during the Difesa di Roma, Gorrini became the top scoring C.205 pilot; by the Armistice, he had claimed three Consolidated B-24 Liberators, three Lockheed P-38 Lightnings (three damaged), two B-17s and two Spitfires.

Given the shortage of modern aircraft, more advanced combat aircraft like the Veltros were usually given to the best flyers and most experienced pilots like Vittorio Minguzzi.

After the Armistice
At the time of the Armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces on 8 September 1943, the Regia Aeronautica had received 177 Veltros, but only 66 were still usable. Six of these flew to Allied airfields to serve with the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force.

Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana
A total of 29 C.205s reached northern airfields and were used by the Italian Social Republic Air Force (ANR – Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana).

Macchi produced the remaining 72 aircraft of the third series for the ANR before production was shut down by Allied bombing in May 1944. Statistics on aircraft production post-Armistice are unclear and incomplete. In general, C.205s fought well in RSI service: they were attached to units that had homogeneous equipment, or at least of comparable quality, and were guided by German radar stations. Though few in number, they achieved success in inflicting losses on Allied bombers and fighters. The first air battle of the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana – still with German insignia – took place on 3 January 1944. The C.205s, guided by Italian ace Capitano Adriano Visconti, intercepted a formation of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses and their escort of Lockheed P-38 Lightnings bombing RIV factories in Villar Perosa. On 24 January, the Macchi 205 were transferred to two bases in Friuli. On 28 January, the C.205s, now with Italian markings, succeeded in shooting down a B-24 Liberator, their first four-engined American bomber. This air victory was credited to Sergente Marconcini, wingman of the ace Visconti.

1° Gruppo, based in Udine, was equipped with a few Veltros. According to one author: "At the start of February 1944, 1° Gruppo was transferred to a base on the outskirts of Reggio Emilia, with the task of attacking Allied four-engined bombers and the P-51s that escorted them. Dogfights with the aircraft that could be considered the best fighter of the time meant that the Italian pilots were hard pressed; however they were able to claim 58 Mustangs, though at a high price. At the end of May 1944, the number of C.205s of the ANR was so low that the unit had to be re-equipped with Fiat G.55."

A few Veltros were also delivered to 3° Gruppo, based in Vicenza, while further Veltros were scattered throughout other small units.

Regia Aeronautica also had a poor opinion about the Macchi C.205N, plagued by overheating in the climb. The 1° Gruppo C.T. of the ANR, based at the Campoformido airfield, was equipped with C.205. Its first operation, on 3 January, began with a surprise blow right away: the Italian fighter pilots shot down four P-38 Lightnings. By 25 February, 1° Gruppo C.T. had reported 26 victories for nine losses. An extremely bitter aerial combat took place on 11 March. The Italians claimed 12 victories for themselves, but lost three of their own pilots, including 1st Lt Boscutti, who was killed by an American P-38 Lightning pilot after he had bailed out from his stricken fighter and was hanging from his parachute. On 18 March, 30 C.205s from 1° Gruppo C.T. and 60 Bf 109 from JG.77 joined combat with about 450 Allied bombers and their escorts, shooting down at least four enemy aircraft, but Corp. Zaccaria was killed while hanging from his parachute again by a P-38 pilot who fired at him from close range. Allied bombing in April 1944 destroyed most of the Macchi and Fiat facilities bringing fighter production to an end. With the interruption of production, the Italians were forced to re-equip their three groups almost fully with Bf 109s, largely because the Germans were quick to offer some of their best models, including Bf 109G-6s and Bf 109K-4s. The Allies were less generous with the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force (ICAF), and Veltros, including some upgraded C.202s, were slowly replaced with worn-out P-39s and Spitfires, but not before summer 1944.

In Luftwaffe service
Luftwaffe II.Gruppe of JG 77 operated with requisitioned C.205Vs for two months, from October until December 1943, when the German unit was re-equipped with new Bf 109s. Thus there are photos of C.205s with black crosses painted over the mid-fuselage Italian white stripe markings. The Germans were less enthusiastic about the C.205Vs, nor were they really impressed by the early evaluations in spring of 1943. There is mention in the KTB (History diary) on 25 November 1943 page: "the group has 23 Macchi, 11 are ready to fight. Macchi is fast and had a good flying characteristics, except for the tendency to lose control in sharp turns. The fighter is disadvantaged because its radio, while powerful, is far from reliable in action. Refueling and rearming process is slow and difficult, it takes much time to make the fighters ready. Today's mission was made with 17 Macchis, radio control problems caused delays, and the mission concluded without intercepting the enemy." In the brief German use, Veltros had at least five losses by accidents, often caused by the inverted throttle used on Italian aircraft (In German and Allied fighters the "open throttle" position was forward, not back, and this was the source of several errors). The first losses occurred on 27 September 1943 near Albenga. Two German pilots were killed and other wounded in these accidents. On the other side, it was recorded only one aerial combat in which Germans claimed at least one P-38 and two probable (1 December 1943).

After II.JG 77 was equipped with new Bf 109s, the C.205s were sent to Italian units. Some Veltros were ferried by JG 53.

In Croatian Service
A small batch of C.205s were in service with the Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia, Zrakoplovstvo Nezavisne Države Hrvatske (ZNDH) in 1944, but the Croatian "Veltros" flew few sorties and were soon overwhelmed by the waves of Allied fighters that swarmed over Yugoslavian skies. On 30 June 1944, three recently arrived Macchi C.205s, flown by Eastern Front veterans (Major Josip Helebrant, Oberleutenant Ljudevit "Lujo" Bencetic and Feldwebel Bozidar "Bosko" Bartulovic ), along with three inexperienced pilots in Macchi C.202s, took off to intercept USAAF Fifteenth Air force bombers heading to bomb Blechhammer, location of Nazi Germany chemical plants, prisoner of war (POW) camps, and forced labor camps. The Macchis attacked the USAAF bombers and their escorting fighters, 5th FS/52nd FG P-51 Mustangs over Bjelovar, but five of the Italian-built aircraft were shot down both by the bomber's defensive fire and by the Mustangs. Only Bencetic – an ace with a final score of 15 kills and his "Veltro" succeeded in returning to base at Zagreb. Helebrant and Bartulovic bailed out and survived the war, with a final score of, respectively, 11 and eight kills.

Postwar
During 1948–1949, Egypt received 62 refurbished C.205Vs, of which 41 were converted from C.202 airframes. In May 1948, eight C.205V and 16 C.202 were upgraded and in February 1949, three brand new and 15 ex-MC.202, and in May another 10 MC.205 and 10 MC.202 were upgraded. This last contract was not finalized and, given the end of the 1948 Arab Israeli War (1948–49), the fighters were delivered to Aeronautica Militare Italiana (AMI). Egypt also ordered 19 G.55s and Syria another 16, all new-built.

The new Veltros were fully equipped, while the Folgore conversions were armed with only two 12.7 mm Breda machine guns. They were the lightest series of the entire production, and consequently had the best performance, but were seriously under-armed. A total of 15 Macchis were delivered to Egypt before the end of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, seeing brief combat against the Israeli Air Force. Some Veltros, equipped with underwing bomb racks were used in ground-attack sorties against Israeli targets. On 7 January 1949, a C.205 claimed an Israeli P-51D Mustang. In return two or three Veltros had been claimed by IAF fighters by the end of the war in July, with another six under repair.

Israeli secret services reacted with a bombing in Italy, which at the time was supplying both Israel and the Arab states. On 15 February 1947, an SM.95 airliner was destroyed, possibly by sabotage, soon after takeoff from Rome. On board were an Egyptian princess, several politicians and an Italian intelligence officer. A subsequent bombing was at Venegono on 18 September 1948; one hangar was damaged by several explosive devices, destroying three MB.308 and one MC.205 in Macchi facilities. The hangar, not totally demolished, contained several Veltros destined for Egypt. All the G.55s ordered by Egypt were armed with four Breda (12.7 mm) machine-guns, and they were brand new; 16 were single-seaters and three were twin-seaters. Syria ordered sixteen G.55A; all single-seaters.

The MM/Snc were: Macchi first batch: 1201–1224; second batch, 1225–1242. Fiat G.55A were 91214–91220, 91225–91229, 91221-91224 (G.55B two-seats).

The last Veltros were delivered in 1951, the fighter serving mainly with No.2 Sqn until the mid-1950s. The last batch, 20 Veltros (10 ex-MC.202, six Veltro sr.III and 4 sr.I) were assigned to AMI with deliveries continuing until 29 May 1951. The phasing out process was however swift, because the new Anglo-American jet fighters were available at a surprisingly low cost at the time of the official phasing out of the Veltro (around 1951), although the last MC.205 was phased out in 1955. The "Folgore" was stricken off register in 1948, with the exception of those C.202 airframes transformed into Veltros.

An Allied test pilot's opinion
Captain Eric Brown, Chief Naval Test Pilot and commanding officer of the Royal Aircraft Establishment's Captured Enemy Aircraft Flight, remembered how impressed the members of the unit were when they tested the Veltro. "One of the finest aircraft I ever flew was the Macchi MC. 205. Oh, beautiful. And here you had the perfect combination of Italian styling and German engineering. I believe it was powered by a Daimler Benz DB 605. It was really a delight to fly, and up to anything on the Allied programme. But again, it came just before the Italians capitulated so it was never used extensively. And we did tests on it and were most impressed. The cockpit was smallish but not as bad as the Bf 109."

Variants
With limited production and service life, the C.205 saw only a few modifications. After the first 100 examples, the wing-mounted 7.7 mm (.303 in) machine guns were replaced with a couple of 20 mm MG 151 cannon.
 * M.C.205
 * One prototype armed with two 12.7 mm (0.5 in) and two 7.7 mm (0.303 in) machine guns.

 * M.C.205V
 * Main production version.

 * M.C.205S
 * Long-range escort fighter with a 200 L (53 US gal) fuel tank replacing the fuselage machine guns; 18 converted from production aircraft.

 * M.C.205N
 * Proposed DB 605-powered fighter with a more significant design revision than the C.202-derived C.205V. The aircraft had a new wing with the wingspan increased to 11.25 m and wing area increased to 19 m2, and a lengthened fuselage that brought the length to 9.65 m. Also, the fuselage was finally adapted for a 20 mm MG 151 cannon. The heavier weight resulted in decreased performance and handling.

 * M.C.205N-1
 * High-altitude interceptor fighter prototype. Armed with four 12.7 mm (0.5 in) machine guns mounted in the fuselage, and one 20 mm cannon mounted in the engine.

 * M.C.205N-2 Orione
 * High-altitude interceptor fighter prototype. Armed with three 20 mm cannon and two 12.7 mm (0.5 in) machine guns. The machine gun bulges were replaced by a streamlined fairing.

 * M.C.206
 * Similar armament to the C.205N/1 with a larger yet lighter wing (21 m2). Reduced weight resulting in performances similar to that of the C.205V again. The larger wing would have enabled it to fight at higher altitudes. Single prototype destroyed by Allied bombing before being completed.

 * M.C.207
 * Powered by a Daimler-Benz DB 603 engine. Other than that, similar to C.206 but with armament of four 20 mm cannon, none built.

Operators

 * Independent State of Croatia
 * Zrakoplovstvo Nezavisne Države Hrvatske received 4 aircraft.
 * 🇪🇬 Egypt
 * Royal Egyptian Air Force
 * No.2 Squadron REAF
 * undefined
 * Luftwaffe
 * II/JG 77 operated 25 aircraft.
 * Kingdom of Italy
 * Regia Aeronautica
 * Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force received 6 aircraft.
 * Italian Social Republic
 * Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana received 101 aircraft.
 * Italian Air Force operated some Macchi C.205 until 1947
 * Royal Australian Air Force One Macchi MC.205V Serie 1 was captured intact by Australians on Pachino Airfield, in Sicily, Summer 1943. It was a MC.205 of First Series without the cannons in the wing, but armed with two 12,7mm machine guns in engine cowling synchronized with the propeller and two 7,7mm machine guns on the wings.
 * Royal Australian Air Force One Macchi MC.205V Serie 1 was captured intact by Australians on Pachino Airfield, in Sicily, Summer 1943. It was a MC.205 of First Series without the cannons in the wing, but armed with two 12,7mm machine guns in engine cowling synchronized with the propeller and two 7,7mm machine guns on the wings.
 * Royal Australian Air Force One Macchi MC.205V Serie 1 was captured intact by Australians on Pachino Airfield, in Sicily, Summer 1943. It was a MC.205 of First Series without the cannons in the wing, but armed with two 12,7mm machine guns in engine cowling synchronized with the propeller and two 7,7mm machine guns on the wings.

Survivors
Three Veltros survive today, one of which was restored to flying condition and participated in numerous aerial displays until the end of 1986.

All C.205s that are preserved are hybrids made up of parts of C.202s mixed with those of C.205s.

One, MM.91818 (bearing the registration MM 9327 ), is on display at the National Museum of Science and Technology in Milan. Restoration was completed in 1981 by the Italian Air Force together with Fiat and Aermacchi.

Another two are on display at the Museo storico dell'Aeronautica Militare in Vigna di Valle. MM.9546 is displayed as a MC.205 and MM.92166 is displayed as a MC.202.

In November 2006 the engine and cockpit of a crashed C.205 were found 8 meters underground, with the pilot still in his seat, in Correzzola.

A C.205 replica can be seen outside Rome's Palazzo dell'Aeronautica, and another in Volandia Park and Museum of Flight at Vizzola Ticino.

title: Macchi C.205 Veltro