Evan: Wow ... you come up with
the coolest anecdotes
What a career you've had!
I read somewhere that, after the Armistice, Castoldi tried a re-direction smear campaign, attempting to paint Bazzochi as the
Fascisti colloborator. Alas, Mario couldn't
anyone who was
that gullible!
Brian: "Always extra points for the inverted 'V'!" A man after my own heart
Does an X-24 qualify as as half an inverted 'V'? ... I'm sucking up for extra points with this post
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Another Stab at the 'Addestramento Caccia' - The Macchi C.209The Macchi C.209 project has been described as a Isotta-Fraschini
Delta-powered C.202 or as a C.203D redesigned for metal construction. It was neither really. But there
was a relationship between the C.209 and the earlier C.203D...
When the Ministero dell'Aeronautica transfered the C.203G/C.203D project to SAI Ambrosini, Aeronautica Macchi could not argue with the logic. After all, Macchi was overstretched while SAI was under-employed. However, many at the Varese design office saw a conspiracy brewing. Ambrosini was quick to acknowledge any downsides to its C.203D demonstrator but equally quick to talk-up its own SAI.7 design as a potential replacement. Those in the Varese design office resolved to take back their original concept. The result was the Macchi C.209 '
addestramento caccia' (fighter-trainer) proposal.
Best described as a re-design of the C.203D, the C.209 retained a modified version of SAI's wooden wing structure. To save weight, Varese eliminated a rib on either side of the centre line and introduced new, shortened main undercarriage legs. The metal fuselage was based on that of the C.202 but shortened through a forward bay being removed. The cockpit being relocated, retaining the same position relative to the engine bay but moved aft relative to the rear fuselage. The tailplane were standard
Folgore components.
Top Macchi's detailed mockup for the proposed C.209 fighter-trainer
Projected performance for the C.209 made it ideal for the needs of the
Scuola di Addestramento Bombardamento e Caccia but did not realistically address Italy's crippling shortage of aircraft-quality aluminium. As a result, the MsA could not approve of the C.209 and, in the end, the fighter-trainer contract did go to SAI Ambrosini for a re-engined, 2-seat SAI.7. The Macchi C.209 proposal was quietly abandoned ... for now.
Doppia forma a 'V' - Isotta-Fraschini's X-24 and the Macchi 'Zeltros'Another, unrelated Macchi project powered by an Isotta-Fraschini engine was the C.208. Dubbed '
Zeltro', this project was to mount Isotta-Fraschini's radical
Zeta X-24 engine [1] - in its R.C.25/60 form - in the Macchi C.205V airframe. The difficulties involved in fitting this rather bulky engine to the svelte C.205V fuselage convinced the MdA that the C.208 project was unrealistic. Macchi answered this criticism with a quick redesign employing the 'chunkier' C.210 airframe.
The Ministero dell'Aeronautica responded more positively to this 'C.210Z' proposal and commissioned a prototype conversion. Fortunately, a Breda-built C.210 fuselage had been delivered to Varese for stress testing. Combined with a pair of C.205V wings, the re-designated C.213Z airframe was all but complete. In the meantime, the MdA recommended a change in basic role from straight fighter to fighter-bomber (reasoning that the multi-cylindered
Zeta would be more resilient when battle-damaged. Accordingly, the powerplant was changed to the lower-rated R.C.21/60 model. However, I-F's
Zeta programme was not going well. An 'empty' engine block was delivered to Varese for installation trials but, in the end, Aer.Macchi never did receive an operational R.C.21/60
Zeta engine.
Bottom Prototype C.213Z '
Zeltro' fighter-bomber conversion with a 'dummy' engine fitted
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[1] The
Zeta X-24 engine effectively consisted of conjoined
Gamma V-12 on a common crankcase. This arrangement was also tried by foreign engine-makers but none with any real success. Isotta-Fraschini also delivered a 'twin
Delta in the form of the 52.5 L
Sigma X-24 but, by then, Aer.Macchi had lost faith in such complex engines.