Thanks folks.
Greg: I love William Pearce stuff! I used the
Zeta on one of my Macchi variants. But the
Delta was definitely the AMI's darling ... maybe they just had a lot of them stockpiled from wartime production? Dunno.
So, will we be seeing a Reggiane equivalent of the Fiat G.59? I quite enjoy your evolution so far.
Reggiane Resurgent? - The Re.2005 NuevoThe Officine Meccaniche Italiane "Reggiane" also tried to resurrect the Re.2005 itself. Initially, the concept - the Reggiane Re.2005N (
Nuevo) differed little from the wartime fighter. The Re.2005N faltered due to inadequate AMI stocks of Fiat RA.1050
Tifone inverted V-12 engines. As with Fiat's G.59, a redesign was undertaken to accomodate a
Merlin engine - then in AMI service with both
Spitfire and P-51
Mustang fighters. This aircraft was re-designated Reggiane Re.2020.
Merlin Reggiane - the Re.2020The prototype Re.2020A/0 was fitted with a Rolls-Royce
Merlin 66 (taken from a
Spitfire F.Mk.IX) driving a 4-bladed Rotol propeller. It was intended that the production fighter would be powered by a Packard
Merlin T.24-2 driving an Aeroproducts propeller. An alternative powerplant was a Rolls-Royce
Merlin 500-20 driving a 4-bladed Rotol propeller. Later, when surplus USAAF Packard V-1650-7s became available in Europe, that
Merlin - driving a Hamilton-Standard prop - became a third engine option.
With the adoption of the
Merlin, all fixed armament had to be wing-mounted. Armament options are listed with the proposed Re.2020 lineage (below):
Re.2020 - Single-seat fighter or advanced fighter-trainer
- Re.2020A/0: Prototype, 1 x Rolls-Royce
Merlin 66 V-12
-- 2 x synchronized 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT mgs, 2 x wing-mounted MG 151/20 cannons
- Re.2020A/1: (Project)
Merlin T.24-2, 4 x 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT mgs
- Re.2020A/2: (Project) Fighter-trainer, 2 x 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT mgs
- Re.2020A/3: (Project) 4 x 20 mm Hispano-Suiza HS.404 cannons
- Re.2020A/4: (Project) Export, 4 x 12.7 mm Browning machine guns
- Re.2020A/5: (Project) Export, 4 x 20 mm Mauser MG 151/20 cannons
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BTW: The original idea for these Reggiane developments was for the Out-of-Africa GB but they got replaced by something more plausible. As with the Re.2010s, these sideviews sprang off from an Angelo Brioschi Re.2005 profile.