Macchi C202B Folgore - 363 Sqdn
CFS3 V2.65.09
This aircraft was built by Bill "SPITFRND" Wilson using version 2.85.09 of the AvHistory 1% Assembly Line process. It is based on the visual created by and painted by Corrado La Posta. Please see the original readme file for more information.
Corrado painted this plane in the represent an aircraft assigned to Squadron 363, 150 Gruppo, 53 Stormo (wing). It carries the "Three Birds" insignia that was adopted to commemorate one of the Squadron's fallen comrades, Luigi Caneppele.
Luigi Caneppele was born in northern Italy, near Trento, in 1913. After studies at the University of Milan (Engineering) he became a skilled glider pilot, participating in the Olympic Games in 1936 where he established the Italian record for the category. The distinctive for being a glider pilot was made of three little eagles in flight. He continued to use that insignia after joining the Regia Aeronautica. After his assignment to sq. 363 (Gruppo 150)he was asked the meaning of his insignia and he simply relied just "tre osei", northern Italy slang for "three birds". From that moment on he was known as "Gigi Tre Osei", something like "Louis Three Birds".
At the breakout of the war he was sent to sq. 384 in Sicily and later moved to sq. 78 in North Africa. Later he was moved again to sq. 77 and went back to sq. 363 and North Africa. He was awarded two silver medals for his bravery in action. On February 1st 1942, while piloting a transport plane Savoia 81, he was caught into a sand storm and crashed near Benina; 7 out of 12 passengers survived but Luigi was not among them.
He was buried at Bengasi War Cemetery with a prop blade, as usual for a pilot, as a stone. On that blade his glider pilot distinctive was sculpted. Being much loved by his comrades, the Macchi 200 planes of the squadron began to be painted with the "Three Birds" insignia and Squadron 363 became the "Gigi Tre Osei" squadron. The distinctive insignia later spread over on more Italian units.
The Macchi c202a Folgore was the second fighter in the Macchi-Castoldi series to be employed by the Regia Aeronautica. It was designed by Mario Castoldi and married the basic aerodynamics of his agile c200 Saetta with the power of the German Daimler Benz DB 601A liquid cooled inline engine. The result reproduced the sleek lines of his highly successful Schneider Trophy seaplanes but retained the excellent handling properties of the Saetta. It was first flown on August 10, 1940.
Engine Covers Retract With The "D" Key
The Macchi c202 first saw service in Libya in November 1941 with the 1 Stormo. Soon the Regia Aeronautica 6 Groupo and 17 Groupo were both equipped with c202s and the Folgore was employed aggressively in the effort to achieve air superiority over the desert battle areas. In these efforts, the Folgore was proven very effective, particularly against the Hurricane and P-40. The Folgore was able to turn inside the British fighters and only the Spitfire was able to out climb it.
The Macchi c202 carried an armament of 2 x 12.7 mm Breda SAFAT machine guns mounted in the nose and most were equipped with 2 x 7.7 mm machine guns in the wings. Later models were able to carry a bomb load of 2 x 100 kg under the wings.
Squadron 363 was initially equipped with Fiat CR-42s. On June 10th 1940 it was based in Italy and later moved to Albania, Greece and, by the end of 1941, to North Africa. By that time it was equipped with Macchi C.200 Saettas and, starting mid 1942, with Macchi 202 Folgores. In November 1942 the Stormo went back to Italy and was re-equipped with Bf-109 F/G fighters. Its final battles were in defense of Rome and Turin from allied bombing raids. One of its planes scored the last aerial victory of Regia Aeronautica, a B-17 of 97th BG, on September 8th 1943, a few hours before the Armistice was announced.
The preceding text includes original and edited material provided by Bill Wilson from the following sources: Famous Fighters of the Second World War, William Green; Aircraft of WWII, Steward Wilson; The Hamlyn Concise Guide to Axis Aircraft of WW II, David Mondey; Aircraft of the Second World War, edited by Philip Jarrett; Smithsonian Air and Space Museum
http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero/aircraft/macchi.htmand Sky Corner Aviation Reference, Drawings
http://www.airwar.ru/.
You can fly the MC-202B of the Regia Aeronautica with a download from the 1% site, AvHistory
BEAR - AvHistory
http://www.avhistory.org
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