The
Aeronautica Macchi C.202 was WWII Italy's best interceptor fighter produced in quantity - at least 1,070 produced - though better Italian interceptors appeared later in the war albeit in far smaller quantities.
In July 1939 the
Regia Aeronautica Italiana (RAI) requested
Officine Meccaniche Reggiane SpA to redesign their
Re.2000 to accommodate the German
Daimler-Benz DB 601Aa engine as the
Re.2001; in November 1939
Alfa Romeo acquired a license to produce the DB 601Aa as the
RA.1000 R.C.41-I Monsone for the Re.2001 well as for other Italian aircraft, Aeronautica Macchi meantime independently acquired its own DB 601Aa for what would become the C.202 as a private venture. Based on the
Fiat A.74 R.C.38 14-cylinder air-cooled radial engine powered
Macchi C.200 designed by
Mario Castoldi (1888 - 1968), the prototype
MM.336 first flying on December 24, 1937, in January 1940 Castoldi began design work on the C.202 mating the C.200 wings, landing gear, vertical & horizontal tail units to a new fuselage incorporating the DB 601Aa, construction of the sole prototype
MM.495 commencing shortly thereafter first flying on August 10, 1940.
From the time of the C.200's first flight in 1937 Castoldi later in competition with Re.2000 designers
Roberto Longhi &
Antonio Alessio had wanted to power their aircraft with in-line engines. Few indigenous Italian in-line aero engines in the late 1930s produced over 1,000 horsepower so because of inadequate Italian aero engine production capacity never mind intransigence by RAI leadership, Chief of Staff
Giuseppe Valle (1886-1975) in particular, years of development opportunity was lost. For
"What If" purposes here its assumed the RAI soon after the C.200's first flight would lend priority in getting Italy's first fully modern in-line engine powered monoplane interceptor flying by early 1939 to favorably compete against British
Hawker Hurricanes &
Supermarine Spitfires operating in the Mediterranean & North Africa by 1940 instead of relying on obsolescent
FIAT CR.42s,
G.50s & Macchi C.200s.
Below are selected photos of my
"What If" builds of 1/72 scale, 1963-vintage
FROG Macchi C.202 kits incorporating four
Breda-SAFAT 12.7 mm fuselage-mounted machine guns arranged ala the 1943
Macchi C.205N-1 as base armament, some fitted with extra machine guns, 150 kg bombs, German
Waffenfabrik Mauser MG-151 15 mm guns in underwing pods:
