CR.42 (Germany)

▀CR.42

▀Marcolin's C.R.42 CN

▀G.50 serie 2

▀CR.42

▀Marcolin's C.R.42 CN

▀G.50 serie 2

Germany

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
1.7	1.3	1.3

Class:

Fighter

Purchase:Bundle or Gift

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This page is about the German fighter CR.42 (Germany). For other uses, see C.R.42 (Family).

Description

The ▀CR.42 Falco is a rank I German fighter biplane with a battle rating of 1.7 (AB) and 1.3 (RB/SB). This fighter has been in the game since the start of the Open Beta Test prior to Update 1.29 in the German aviation tree. In Update 1.69 "Regia Aeronautica", the CR.42, as well as the other Italian planes in the German tree, were moved to the new Italian tree, although it still exists in the German tree for those who unlocked it prior to Update 1.69.

The CR.42 is a Rank 1 biplane in the "German" Italian line of fighters. It possesses exceptional manoeuvrability, speed, and durability, especially for a biplane. Armament is quite good as well, due to the Breda-SAFAT .50 calibre MGs. At 1.7BR, the CR.42 gets thrown with the likes of P-36's and LaGG-3's. As such, the majority of aircraft the CR.42 will engage are faster, and more heavily armed. The best bet for survival, and securing kills, is to climb to about medium altitude and lure fighters into turning combat. The overwhelming majority of pilots are unwilling to run from a lowly biplane, allowing you to score critical damage before they realize that they have expended all their energy and must extend away from you. By that time, the damage is usually severe enough that they cannot accelerate away from you quickly enough to escape further damage.

For the armament, the same applies to all other Italian aircraft; generally, you want to use Tracers, Anti-air or Stealth since they are the belts that deal the most damage. Shell velocity is low, hence they suffer above 300 meters, so only fire at or below that range for best effects. Furthermore, much like the other Italian fighters, the armament is woefully inadequate to deal with bombers, hence it is best to avoid them entirely, or focus on taking out the engines. The only exceptions are the very early biplane bombers, such as Swordfish, Po-2 and the likes.

General info

Flight Performance

Characteristics
Stock
Max Speed (km/h at 5,200 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
410	402	8,500	20.2	20.6	12.6	14.3?	294
Upgraded
Max Speed (km/h at 5,200 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
449	429	8,500	18.3	19.2	23.9	17.2	294

Details

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

Limits
Wing-break speed (km/h)	Gear limit (km/h)	Combat flap (km/h)	Max Static G
			+	-
580	450	???	~19	~19

Optimal velocities
Ailerons (km/h)	Rudder (km/h)	Elevators (km/h)	Radiator (km/h)
< 380	< 420	< 420	> 200

Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
4,271 m	856 hp	1,001 hp

Survivability and armour

Examine the survivability of the aircraft. Note how vulnerable the structure is and how secure the pilot is, whether the fuel tanks are armoured. Describe the armour, if there is any, also mention the vulnerability of other critical aircraft systems.

Armaments

Offensive armament

The CR.42 (Germany) is armed with:

• 2 x 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns, nose-mounted (400 RPG = 800 total)

Usage in battles

In AB, the CR.42 is nothing more than a point-and-shoot arcade-style plane. There is little skill involved at these early tier matches. Therefore turning is the most appropriate tactic. However, due to the high climb rate, Boom & Zoom can be effective, as most monoplanes cannot nearly climb as fast.

As in real-life, the Falco faces off advanced mono-wing designs. While a grim view at first the CR.42 is the pinnacle of biplane evolution, only rivalled by the up-gunned Chaika series. Common opponents are faster and have a superior armament. However, the CR.42 has got traits to counter. It is immensely agile, and can easily out-manoeuvre any monoplane in 1^st rank. Turning is thus an appropriate tactic for the CR.42. Due to it being a biplane, the Falco can also be used to effectively rope-a-dope enemy aircraft. Stall fighting is one of the strongest play styles, albeit the slowest and hardest to master.

Even Boom & Zoom is feasible, as altitude can be gained quickly; however, the lack of cannon armament forces the pilot to use significant trigger control as well as aiming when diving and attacking opponents at a lower level. If Boom & Zooming, watch your speed in a dive. The CR.42 does have a limit of around 440~480 km/h (274~300 mph) before instability sets in.

The Breda SAFAT .50 calibre MGs are actually very effective for their battle rating. Tracers are by far the best belt for these main armaments, due to the presence of entirely APIT rounds, which easily set fire to enemy planes and provide good penetration and damage capability. Due to the MGs being placed in the centre cowl, they provide heavy damage when the fire is focused on your opponent's wings or engines.

Unfortunately, MGs, in general, are ridiculously weak against bombers.

Visibility is normal for a biplane. Rearward vistas are nonexistent while frontward vision is hampered by the second strut/wing. The open cockpit does provide decent visibility in general, though.}}

Specific enemies worth noting

Versus other biplanes, the Falco can rely on its top speed and should combat them in the very same fashion mono-planes use to fight them off. An exception to this rule is the aforementioned Chaika, which is in most aspects on par with the CR.42. Against this Soviet fighter, either scissors or careful turn fights are advised.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Controllable	Not controllable	Not controllable	Not controllable	Separate	Not ontrollable	Not controllable

Modules

Tier	Flight performance	Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage Repair, Radiator		Offensive 12 mm
II	Compressor	Airframe
III	Wing Repair, Engine		New 12 mm MGs
IV	Engine Injection	Cover

Pros and cons

Pros:

• High speed for a biplane
• Good ammunition count
• Maneuverability is sufficient to out turn nearly all non-biplane opponents
• Well armed for a biplane
• Ammo belts use heavy amounts of incendiary ammo

Cons:

• Poor Energy Retention
• Lightly armed compared to most of the opposition it is faced with
• No options for striking heavy targets
• Turn rate is worse than of most biplanes
• Poor armour protection

History

The CR.42 was Fiat's attempt at modernizing their CR.32 design, which was deployed during the Spanish Civil War with great success. The new fighter would be of all metal construction, with Fiat's new, homegrown A.74 supercharged radial engine. The result was a fast, accurate, and manoeuvrable platform, that, while outdated at the onset of World War Two, would be almost the pinnacle of biplane design.

Early in the war, CR.42's were used with some success as escorts, night fighters, and even interceptors. Against the early Hurricanes and Spitfires, Italian and German pilots both were delighted to find that the manoeuvrability of the Falco put it, at the least, on par in a dogfight. However as the war dragged on, and enemy aircraft became faster, the CR.42 was relegated to night harassment, light ground attack, and sparingly used as night fighters.

The CR.42 is also credited with the world's last aerial combat biplane kill. A group of CR.42's based in Croatia under the command of Nachtschlachtgruppe 7 were directed to Grabovica Airfield for a strafing mission. However, the flight was redirected at the last moment to a harassment mission northwest of Sisak, where they were intercepted by P-38's of the 14th Fighter Group. Three Fiats were lost for two P-38's, one of which was claimed by an unknown German pilot.

In-game description

"The CR.42 Falco (“Falcon”) fighter plane had, for a biplane, excellent speed and handling, and is rightly considered one of the best biplanes of the Second World War.

Despite the fact that it was clear (even at the time of the prototype CR.42) that monoplanes would have an advantage in air battles, the Italian Air Force still gave the go-ahead for development and production of the biplane, which began to enter the service in 1939.

The sheathing of a greater part of the fuselage was made of duralumin, and the frame was built of steel pipes. The plane had smaller control surfaces and fuselage sections between the cab and tail to save weight and had fairings for the fixed main landing gear. An 840-horsepower engine was used for the CR.42. The first production version of the Falco was armed with two synchronous machine guns - one 12.7 mm and the other 7.7 mm.

All in all, 1,781 CR.42 fighters were produced."

Media

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

See 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.

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

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