How Fiat Sabotaged A (Slightly) Better Fighter: Fiat G.55 Centauro

In this video, we take a look at the Fiat G.55 Centauro, an Italian fighter from World War II that was one of their three "Series 5" fighters. We first talk about aircraft that were "late to the party", so to speak, where designs aren't able to participate in the conflict that they were designed for. We then move over to the mid 1930's, with Italy's initial efforts to modernize their aerial forces, and how these efforts were relatively subpar, making agile, yet weak fighters.

We then talk about the influence Germany had on Italy, and how that allowed Italy to make more powerful fighter designs. We talk about Fiat's competitors in Macch and Reggiane, and how they all attempted to make new, modern, powerful fighters. We talk about how they compared to one another, how Fiat finished in a close second to Macchi's C.205 design and just ahead of Reggiane's Re.2005 design, and how both ease of production and corporate shenanigans led to the G.55 coming out on top. We talk about the sluggish production of the G.55, and why the G.55 ultimately had a disappointing career.

Link to The Aviation Historian article: https://archive.org/details/issue-31/...