G.55 serie 1

G.55 serie 1

G.55 sottoserie 0

Re.2005 serie 0

G.55 serie 1

G.55 sottoserie 0

Re.2005 serie 0

Italy

IV Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
5.3	5.0	4.7

Class:

Fighter

Research:46 000

Purchase:155 000

Show in game

This page is about the Italian fighter G.55 serie 1. For other uses, see G.55 (Family).

Description

The G.55 Centauro serie 1 is a rank IV Italian fighter with a battle rating of 5.3 (AB), 5.0 (RB), and 4.7 (SB). It was introduced in Update 1.69 "Regia Aeronautica".

General info

Flight Performance

Characteristics
Stock
Max Speed (km/h at 6,500 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
622	605	10,000	20.9	21.6	13.6	13.6	300
Upgraded
Max Speed (km/h at 6,500 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
?	?	10,000	??.?	??.?	?.?	?.?	300

Details

Features
Combat flap	Take-off flap	Landing flap	Air brakes	Arrestor gear
✓	✓	✓	X	X

Limits
Wing-break speed (km/h)	Gear limit (km/h)	Combat flap (km/h)	Max Static G
			+	-
???	???	???	~??	~?

Optimal velocities
Ailerons (km/h)	Rudder (km/h)	Elevators (km/h)	Radiator (km/h)
< ???	< ???	< ???	> ???

Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
?,??? m	??? hp	?,??? hp

Survivability and armour

• 50 mm bulletproof glass in the windshield
• 8 mm steel seat plating
• Critical components located at front of aircraft (fuel, pilot, engine, controls)

Armaments

Offensive armament

The G.55 serie 1 is armed with:

• 1 x 20 mm MG 151 cannon (250 rpg = 250 total)
• 2 x 20 mm MG 151 cannon (200 rpg = 400 total)
• 2 x 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine gun (300 rpg = 600 total)

The two of the cannons are each mounted in the wing. A single 20 mm cannon is mounted in the nose of the aircraft, firing through the propeller hub. The two machine guns are nose mounted, positioned between the pilot and the engine of the aircraft. If fired continuously, the wing mounted cannons will run out of ammunition before the nose-mounted cannon.

Suspended armament

Describe the aircraft's suspended armament: additional cannons under the wings, bombs, rockets, and torpedoes. This section is especially important for bombers and attackers. If there is no suspended weaponry remove this subsection.

The G.55 serie 1 can carry an external payload consisting of:

• Without load
• 2 x 50   kg GP 50   bombs (100 kg total)
• 2 x 100 kg GP 100 bombs (200 kg total)

Usage in the battles

The G.55's main strong points come down to its engine power, its light construction and its wing profile, which grant it a high sustained rate of climb, a tight turning circle and the power output to endure sustained horizontal manoeuvring. It performs best up to medium altitudes around 5000m (16404 Feet), after which it is generally outperformed by its competition. Its light construction and its wing profile, however, mean that when the Centauro goes in the vertical, it bleeds speed very easily. Its top speed in a dive is unimpressive and it can barely catch up in a zoom climb with its competitors. The armament is very effective as well, however, the MG 151 is not very accurate at range, which should be taken into account when engaging in head-on passes.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Not controllable	Controllable Automatic pitch	Controllable	Not controllable	Combined	Controllable	Not controllable

Modules

Tier	Flight performance	Survivability	Weaponry
I
II
III
IV

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Good climb rate
• Exceptional low and mid-altitude performance
• Relatively robust airframe
• Good turn and roll rate

Cons:

• Lack of armour means the pilot is more prone to being knocked out in a head-on pass
• Roll and yaw are limited at high speeds
• Metal beams on canopy window obstruct first person view

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to an article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ historical reference" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/Name-vehicles/historical reference) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to include links to sources at the end of the article.

Design and Production

By 1939, all Italian aircraft factories started designing a new series of fighter aircraft replacing the radial engines of the first generation Italian monoplanes with inline engines, with most of the designs just re-equipping the powerful German Daimler-Benz DB 601 engines in place of the common Fiat A.74 or Piaggio P.XI on the three major designs (Re.2000, G.50, and C.200.), which were named the Serie 1/2. These planes were given alphanumeric designations ending in the number "2". By 1941, aircraft firms shifter their attention to the larger and more powerful Fiat RA.1050, which was a licensed copy of the legendary Daimler-Benz DB 605. Aircraft powered by the DB 605 were given alphanumeric designations ending in the number "5", starting the well known Serie 5 planes. The famous Italian designer Giuseppe Gabrielli was experimenting a new version of his G.50 fighter, equipped with the DB 601 created a new design powered by the DB 605.

The first G.55 prototype flew on 30 April 1942, immediately showing its good performance and flight characteristics. It was armed with one 20 mm MG 151/20 installed in the forward fuselage, firing between the cylinder banks and exiting through the propeller hub. In the prototype airframes, there were also four 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns; two in the upper cowling and two in the lower cowling, firing through the propeller arc. This layout proved troublesome, so the two lower machine guns were replaced with a 20 mm MG 151 in each wing. The prototype flew to Guidonia where it was put to trials against the other Serie 5 aircraft: The Macchi C.205V Veltro and the formidable Reggiane Re.2005 Saggitario, all of which were built around the DB 605 engine. The Centauro was the second best performer overall and won the tender set by Regia Aeronautica. The C.205V was good at low and medium altitudes, and the Re.2005 was the best overall but was troubled by vibration issues and was extremely intricate and advanced, making it unattractive at the later stages of the war. Therefore, the G.55 was chosen for mass production along with its Macchi competitor.

The production version named serie I, had a standard armament consisting of 3 MG 151/20's cannons and two 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns plus two underwing hardpoints allowing it to carry two bombs or two drop tanks. At the point of the Armistice, 35 G.55's of all Series had been delivered. Of these, only one was flown to south Italy to join the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force. From that date on, it served with the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana, the airforce of the new fascist created by Mussolini with the assistance of the Germans. Some variants were sent to Germany to serve along side the legendary Bf 109 and Fw 190, marked with the Nazi German signs.

German Interest

In December 1942, a technical commission of the Regia Aeronautica was invited by the Luftwaffe to test German aircraft in Rechlin. The visit was one part of a joint plan for the standardization of Axis aircraft production. At roughly the same time, some Luftwaffe officers visited Guidonia due to the exceptional performance promised by the Serie 5 fighters. Later on, these impressions were discussed in a staff meeting and even raised the interest of Hermann Göring, the leader of the Luftwaffe. In February 1941, a German test commission was sent to Italy in order to evaluate the new Italian fighters, led by Oberst Petersen. They also brought with them several aircraft including a Fw 190 A-5 and a Bf 109 G-4 for direct comparison in simulated dogfights.

The German commission was very impressed by the Italian aircraft, the G.55 in particular. The Serie 5 fighters were found to be very efficient at low altitudes, but the G.55 was competitive with its German opponents in terms of performance at higher altitudes, even while keeping its superior handling characteristics. The definitive evaluation by the commission was "excellent" for the G.55, "excellent" for the Re.2005, but merely "average" for the C.205. Petersen defined the G.55 as the best fighter in the axis and immediately telegraphed his impressions to Hermann Göring. Apart from the excellent test results, the Germans saw development possibilities they were able to see in the G.55 and Re.2005. Particularly, the G.55 was considered a very solid candidate for the significantly larger and heavier DB 603 that was too large to fit into the Bf 109. Even after the armistice, the interest in the programme was still high. The legendary Kurt Tank, who had personally tested a G.55 and had nothing but praise for the aircraft, travelled to Turin to discuss the production. However, the G.55 programme was abandoned by the Luftwaffe due to a large number of man-hours compared to the Bf 109.

Media

An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.

Read also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example,

• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.
• [Vehicle Profile] Fiat G.55 serie 1

Sources

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• page on aircraft encyclopedia;
• other literature.