Hey, there! I hope you enjoy this new video and thank you all for your support. You've been fantastic. About this video: If you want to know more about the German Commission's findings on this aircraft, you can check out the Military Aviation History video on this subject: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/palon8V3nLOapJs.html It contains more details and I used it for some of the information on the Head to Head section of this video.

The limited information on the G.56 indicates it could have seriously challenged for the best air superiority fighter of the War had it been mass produced. It combined incredible speed (465 mph) and outstanding maneuverability at all altitudes. It probably needed a little more resilience and had there been a will to solve a few of its problems, it would have conceivably become the Axis' best conventional fighter.

My dad was a colonel in A A. Corp in ww2.and said the italians made some beautiful planes. They were master craftsmen in motor industries. Like marble cutters just masters with their hands and if they had the resources they could outdo all others Its shows today with their cars. Very expensive but well worth the money the work is fantastic

The Spitfire and Bf 109 were beautiful looking fighters. The P-40 had its own appeal as well. The Italian Serie 5 fighters were at the top of the heap, in my eyes. Sleek and graceful.

As an RC model pilot I don’t understand that we don’t see this beautiful plane somewhere as scale plane🤔… looks so cool

One of my favorite airplane!! It is good to remember that despite being all-metal it, instead of being made more commonly with wood, had a structure that took roughly 15,000 man-hours to be built compared to 5,000/7000 man-hours to build up the Me 109G series. The ugly truth was that the Italian industry was never optimised for mass production and generally it was produced in rather cramped halls with limited resources like alloys like aluminium ensuring ridiculously slow production not to mentionrelatively few skilled labour. Going back to the Fiat G.55 it was a delight to fly and necessitated lower power settings than the Me 109 as it was aerodynamically cleaner and with wide legs was more safer to land and to take off. I have spoken with the R.S.I. veterans years ago, I'm Italian, and told me that it was not true at all that they disliked the Me 109G but were generally nervous to land in half prepared fields as they never knew if the legs were going to snap! That said the airframe of the G.55 could easily accept the bigger and more powerful DB 603, that couldn't fit in the Me 109G, so it was slated to put in production but because Germany had big problems to mass produce this engine together with the difficulty to mass produce the airplane and limited resources it had to cease production. Hope I didn't bore you....

Italians make great anything with a motor. To them its a true art to make it beautiful and run and sound better than it looks. Beautiful looking birds. 55 was like a fararri in the sky. Just a nice piece of art theyre always in the top

The G56, C205, and Re. 2005 are probably my favorite planes of the war thank you for covering this one!!

However our top ace fighter in WW2 was Serg. Maj. Luigi Gorrini, gold medal. He shot down two B 17, and seveeral others allied planes: B 24, P 47, Spitfire, P 40, P 38, Blenheim. Hurricane. Always with Macchi (ing. Castoldi) airplanes: MC 200 Saetta, MC 202 Folgore, MC 205 Veltro. He was a true gentleman pilot, often launching water bottles to the enenmies he shot down on the african desert to save their lives.

You can see the staggered wings 1:10 that the G-55 and C. 205 used to counter engine torque the starboard is shorter than the port wing. Italy was only 2 nations to do this during the war the other was Sweden with their limited production F.F.V.S. J-22 but it didn't have it quite as extreme as the Italian fighters did. All single engine fighters want to rotate with the engine revolutions and direction, and this was a cheap way to counter it and so make the plane fly in a straight line without any control inputs to counter the torque. It also had the benefit of making it turn sharper to the right due to that shorter wing, a lot of US and British pilots said you never wanted to turn with these in a right hand turn as they could out turn you and be on your tail in 2 full revolutions. The first Italian fighter to use this was the predecessor to the 205 the C. 202.

I love the G.55 and the Serie 5 fighters in general. Very unrecognised, people tend to not know that Italy actually designed some of the best performing airframes in the Axis despite the various problems Italy and its armed forced had during the war. I was kinda hoping you'd mention the post-war G.59 that was re-designed to use a RR Merlin engine instead of the DB 605 but I guess some other day then..

Thank you for elaborating on pilot Giulio Torresi, Italian aces of WW2 book does not mention his tally (3) with the Re-2005 versus spitfires in Sicily, bombers in Naples and his G-55 tally in N. Italy

German heart in an Italian fighter. We didn't see enough of them but was a great one.

If my recollections are correct, George Beurling the unforgettable Canadian Ace, in his book Malta Spitfire mentions that the Axis fighter he thought was the best and the one to watch was the Fiat, I cannot remember which of the G series he mentioned. I lost that book long time ago. He you can find that book READ it it describes all the heroic feats of this Canadian warrior. He is also mentioned the the books by Pierre Closterman, I believe Fire in the sky.

Don't forget to mention that the Italian fighters used in the test had a less powerful engine. If they had the same engine as the Bf 109G, they would have matched its speed and probably climbed faster. The Germans saw the G.55 as a suitable base for the DB 603A but in fact, the DB 605ASM delivered the same power. As such, the G.55 could have stayed in production until more powerful versions of the DB 603 appeared in 1945. Finally, it is true that the Italian aircraft required more manhours, thereby making it unsuited to produce in Germany. However, there was nothing stopping them from starting a bigger decentralised production of the Fiat G.55 in Italy, where there was less of an issue with manpower.

I think the G.55 confirms the adage that if a plane is beautiful it flies well. The A6-M Zero, the Spitfire, the P-51Mustang. These fighters stood out in their time for exceptional flying characteristics. Not coincidently they were uniquely "sexy" in their lines and proportions compared to other fighters. Naturally the Italians are going to design a fighter on par with the best; a beautiful aircraft. How can the hereditary practitioners of style and function do otherwise? Though relatively few in number and somewhat lost to history it should be of no surprise these were great planes. Great video. Much appreciated, thanks.

Without a doubt your series on aircraft is one of the most informative on the internet. Thank you for all your hard work and dedication to accuracy and detail. Keep up the good work. 🤙

If I were flying for the Axis, I would’ve preferred an Italian plane. Any of the 3 mentioned here. But I understand that it would’ve been easier to mass produce the German planes. Amazing planes though! Thanks for making a video on less spoken of aircraft

Good vid, good to hear abt the Italian planes, thanks. I see lots of comments here abt Italian planes, cars, etc all looking great - and I agree, thats why I found this video. HOWEVER looks arent everything in life, especially engineering. I'm a retired aerospace engineer, and in my humble opinion many Italian products, be they cars or fridges, often look great and even perform well when new, BUT often at the expense of them being complex, fragile and unreliable, be they 1980s Lancias & Fiats which rusted even! faster than British Leyland cars, or modern kitchen appliances or even supercars that are nightmares for even trained mechanics. So add this recipe to a wartime scenario, and it's NO surprise the "sensible" Germans stayed with their proven 109. Plus, despite people mentioning how the G55 takes FAR longer than a 109 to build, this is despite the fact that German aircraft industry were themselves overly-reliant on highly-skilled staff almost hand-crafting parts, they wern't that good at mass-production either !. In conclusion, a lovely looking and undoubtedly excellent plane "on it's day", just like the Italian Schneider Trophy seaplanes of the 30s - yet they didn't perform when they were most needed. (PS - I should add that from 1988 to 1995 my job in UK was design, build and flight-proving of new oil cooler fans for the main engine gearboxes of Italian Helicopters (Agusta A129 and A109K2), both very challenging projects. I worked with, and occasionally visited, the Agusta engineers in Samarate, and in all fairness they were capable and their end products were reliable, esp the A109. So clearly Italian engineering can be very good, especially in more modern times and in aerospace. However I still stand by my statement that it's NO surprise that Germany did not adopt the G55 over their own BF109.)

Nicely informative, well laid-out video. I always wondered if the G-55 was the Re-2005's superior. Now, I know, that what my Uncle (a B-26 & B-17 combat pilot, and B-26 Instructor, employed by Martin) said about not being able to 'get above' some of the Italian planes was entirely true. Thanks!

Always loved the look of this plane, it looks like it’s going 100mph sitting still

Wow what an excellent video about an underrated bird! She's my absolute favorite aircraft and she never gets the respect she deserves for how good it was. Liked and Subscribed!

It is a nice change of pace learning about WW2 Italian aircraft...very nice production!

Onore ai nostri piloti che hanno sempre combattuto come leoni senza mai tirarsi indietro nemmeno di fronte a centinaia di aerei avversari

What a fantastic series! Thanks very much and looking forward to more.

By the time the Germans concluded the testing of the Italian fighters, a new policy document had been added to the procurement rules for Luftwaffe: All fighters had to be able to carry bombs and perform JaBo missions, since this was the only way to give Close Air Support to the Army, after the Stuka had become obsolescent. The Italian fighters could not carry any bombs or maybe a very small load (like one 100kg (220lb) bomb under each wing), so they were not suited for CAS work. That was a very important reason why the Luftwaffe didn't adopt any of these fighters.

Wow. Knew nothing about this plane until today. Well done video! Thank you. Subscribed.

It is fantastic to finally hear about Italy and WW2. Thank you!

I think after watching this video, I can call the G. 55 "The Plane I Learned to Respect." The thumbnail of video makes the G. 55 look cool, too.

Brilliant Video, just discovered the channel. Engaging storytelling and a great summary of what the plane is all about! One suggestion though: maybe you count speed, climb rate and maneuverability double in the head to head comparison as they make or break a fighters performance in combat. Thrilled for more videos!

One of my favourites of all time! Great stuff!

The Italian Fiat G.55 and it's variants were lovely aircraft. Beautifully designed airframes looked organic, not mechanical.

Beautiful video as always mate keep up the good work. I would like to see the La7's high alt conversion video someday too

Congratulations on a very well produced video. Your use of graphics and titles is a great example to many other content makers.

Italy makes good stuff as a 30 year maintenance mechanic in the food and container industry I have dealt with many Italian made machines . This video makes me think that the SM-79 bomber would have been what Japan could have used as the G4M betty had deficiencies and the SM79 was better suited to their needs being faster better armed and a awesome torpedo bomber as it could carry two torpedos or a 1000 larger bomb load and as a three engine aircraft a loss of one engine was less of a problem from asymmetrical thrust not to mention 2340 HP compared 1060 HP. I always liked this plane and it could have been a good ship killer in the right theater .

Really like your channel! You are doing a lot of fighters others have ignored such as these Italian ones. Also love the time you have spent on on of my favorites the P-39.

Excellent video! Liked and subscribed! 👍 Thank you for shedding light on one of my favorite aircraft of WW2, and certainly the one I consider to be the best looking of all the WW2 fighters. 😎

Awww yeah, it’s the italian’s time to shine, and with one of my favorite planes nonetheless! Always happy to see your videos in my feed!

An excellent report. I am greatly impressed by your explaining the amount of man hours required to produce the Centauro compared to the Bf 109. Quantity has a quality of its own.

Excellent compilation, thank you! 👏👏👏👏

Thankyou. Excellent video. Subscribed. Greetings from Scotland.

Very good instructive video. Thank you.

Excellent piece of information - thanks a lot for that 🙏 - Very well done!

Great video. While the G55 was probably the better fighter, the best case was that it would take slightly under double the time and effort to produce a G-55 versus a Me-109. As the Germans found out on the Eastern front - quantity has a quality all of its own.

Very interesting! Now I want "IL-2 Battle of Italy" even more :)

Beautiful examples of these found in air museum north of Rome, on lake b. I was able to walk there from train station to the north.

Good content. Thanks for posting.

As we have seen with sports cars, the Italians have built the most beautiful ones. The same can probably be said of these fighters.

Good format, enjoyable and interesting video on obscure ww2 aircraft

Superb video thank you !

I love the format of this video. Bravo!

Bout time we hear about the Italian fighter planes, would have thought they spent their time on train schedules rather than producing good fighter planes. New information for me. Thank you.

Simply lovely. Wonderful job guy.

Great video, great channel, subbed.

P51 next- love this channel and got sad when there were only 5 videos when I found it. Thank you

*Good job !! This is really amazing*

A great Italian WWII fighter. This is something we never hear about in the states, probably due to the fact that Italy started the war on the side of the axis. But this makes sense considering the most beautiful cars in the world are still produced in small cities in Italy today. Italians make amazing, beautiful machines but the Germans were better on the mass production end of it. I believe that still holds true today.

Very good video. Clear and Informative and when I heard _The Godfather_ music in the background I got the biggest smile 🙂 Very well done!!

Muy buen video. Es un avion que los argentinos tenemos un cariño especial ya que se fabrico bajo licencia y sirvio en la Fueza Aerea Argentina. Buen video.Saludos

Fantastic Documtaries. 10/10. Love these.

I love your videos man! Keep it up! I hope one day you will make video about soviet La series.

A most interesting video. Thank you!

Another good and interesting video. The G55 looks like its designers took at least of a visual cue from the XP-37, a forerunner of the P-40.

Excellent video. The issues with the G-56 cited by the German commission could have been addressed and resolved if the motivation to do so would have been apparent. The leaders in the Italian aviation industry at the time would have had to embraced a paradigm shift in manufacturing processes, procedures and techniques for which it was not only unprepared, but unwilling to undertake. The German commission's purpose was to discover opportunities that were so overwhelming superior to any available at home. However, and as great as the G-56 was, and with the advent of jet fighter development in Germany, there must not have been in the minds of the German commission the belief or the feeling that the G-56 was overwhelmingly superior to any designed or produced piston engine fighters serving in the Luftwaffe at the time.

a very nice and interesting video. Right now I am sitting less then 2 miles from the former Officine Reggiane and the connected "airport". thanks for making this video, thanks a lot

Very refreshing, having a closer look at a plane away from the main stream.

Love these vids man please do the p-51/p-47/p-38 or f4U corsair next

Nice video. Grazie mille!

great vid

Great video on a little known axis fighter. Study has shown how each country contributed unique designs to produce capable fighters. Just shows the aspect of universal consciousness.

Great vídeo 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

A great, no nonsense channel that tells the story in easy to understand way. I'd of had this aircraft for bomber interception mixed with spitfires, P47 for ground attack, P51s as escorts and Mosquitoes in the PR/interdiction role and to top it off; 24hr strategic Lancs+ and B-17. Anyone any other thoughts on building a fantasy airforce?

Hello, Really Good..... Great history coverage..... Is there any Centauro's that still are airworthy there in Europe ?

Thank you, great video….

I like Italian planes they seem to be overlooked a bit. Russian planes too. When you look into the wartime aviation world, there's a lot of what ifs.if the Germans had have produced some of their better stuff the war would have been so much longer.Makes you think eh?: Good video 👍

It wasn't just labor hours that decided the conclusions, but also all the logistics of supply and repair. The Germans already had tons of spare parts and airframes etc for the 109 and changing the airframe to anything else that late in the war was deemed as not being worth it. The repair and maintenance infrastructure was catered to the 109s. It would have been a massive burden to change their main fighter

I'm fairly certain that the 109G-4's standard armament was 2x 7.92mm MG17 and 1x 20mm MG151/20. The 13mm's weren't fitted until the G-6 model

If the G55 had arrived a year sooner, the allies would have had a much harder time defeating the Italians. The Germans would have fared better if they could have produced the G55 from 1943 when American bombers started bombing Germany. They could have supplemented the German fighter production. German central planning and priorities were always flawed. The Me 110 remained in production although its shortcomings were known. The Me 410 was not taken out of production, although it was hardly better than the 110. Herrmann Goring and Ehrhard Milch did not have their priorities straight.

Great analysis on an interesting subject. Well done! Do I detect a Portuguese accent?

I read first hand the conclusion of Ing. Kurt Tank about all the Series 5 Fighters. None of the new fighters were obviously as promising as the upcoming Me262, but nothing even came close. What Tank focussed on how to mass produce a plane that could improve over the existing Bf-109 and Fw-190A. They wanted a fighter chassis for their DB603. The Macchi was not good because it was not good where the war wanted it to be: Up high. It also was a nightmare to build, despite inheriting the thoughtless of all 200 series. It could not mount an engine mounted gun at least on the first series. the N would be required but it was not ready for the showdown. It was a good stopgap because every MC202 could be converted to the 2005 standard. The Mc-205 was also too small to fit the Db603 engine. The Re2005 was an excellent airframe aerodynamically speaking, but had a fatal flaw in the tail assembly that made it too vulnerable. It also was the most complex to build and not at all conceived for mass production in large numbers. I saw some images of the Re2006 with the DB603 engine, but I don't know if it ever flew. It was damaged in an Allied bomb raid and scrapped. The G55 was excellent, despite being marginally slower then the Re2005 and the Bf-109G. Where the true strength of the plane lied was a large fuselage, allowing for a heavy armament and provision for an engine mounted 20 or 30mm. It was excellent and very comfortable above 12000m where no other axis plane could fly with ease. Build complexity was a problem, but as Tank stated it could be reduced to a manageable 9000 men hours, not far from the FW190. It also was a very sturdy plane, with a large landing gear footprint, unlike the Bf109. The presence of a large cooling radiator under the cockpit prevented the use of large bombs, but the plane was mainly intended for interception. What really amazed Kurt Tank was the incredible harmony of the controls of the plane up to Mach 0.85 which literally required no trims. Tank was so impressed to ask for a n interview with Ing. Gabrielli to better understand how it was made possible. The Luftwaffe industry ministry higly prised the G55 and pushed for it's immediate mass production, evaluating production in Germany for the G56 variant. It was 1942, so Italy had no industrial capacity to rapidly switch production of the Reggiane and Macchi design for the Fiat: it was decided to keep all three the models in low production until a large manufacture chain could be arranged, but the war was going badly and northern industrial area was repeatedly hit by allied bombardment flying form North Africa. This is the reason because Kurt Tank developed the Ta-152, as the G55 was no more a viable solution, rather then "difficulties" in bringing the G56 build time in line with German requirements. Actually the build time of a G56 was comparable to a Fw-190D had mass production really started. Another reason might have been the lack of DB603 engine, which were almost all mounted on Junkers and Henschel and Dornier Night Fighters. Both the Fw-190D and the Ta-152 had to be adapted to the Jumo engines, which Tank never loved. The G55 kept flying and being built after the end of the war, until the DB605 became difficult to get. The G55 found new life by adapting the Rolls Roice Merlin engine, with the name G59 becoming the backbone trainer for the italian air force.

It was late to join the war, if the Italian design and German engineering were sorted out sooner the Fiat G.55 would have had a greater effect on the war. Those Italian fighters were good looking planes.

NIce video, and nice Portuguese accent :)

Excellent video ..and yes I enjoyed..even it's one of the best fighters of WW2 there wasn't mistake not produce it, also in the war, in addition to the "lethality of system" the price in money, material and working hours, the most dominant factor ..so that where the T-34, AK-47 & StuGs wins over Panther or PzKpf VI or VII

In a global conflict with huge attrition, the aircraft that takes fewer man-hours to produce has a major advantage.

6:29 La serie zero aveva si 4 mitragliatrici Breda Safat da 12,7 ma tutte in fusoliera (2 in alto e due in basso) e non 2 in fusoliera e 2 nelle ali. Grazie per il bel video

When WT brought these out you were forever being chased by these guys. Great plane!

You forgot the Macchi C.202! It was an earlier war aircraft that had some success. It was simialr to the C.205 but slower with worse armament, if I remember correctly.

Thanks for your interesting insights and work. I do not think, that Germany should have adopted the production because at that time they already immensely struggled to replace the losses of fighters not that costly (effortwise) to build. I also am not quite sure whether the G-10 was the one to compare with. Maybe, armamentwise, comparison to the butcher bird would have made more sense. I feel the G.55 and the Fw 190 both had the best effect as bomber interceptor, whereas due to its comparably weak armament, the 109 was relegated to the role of fighter interceptor.

Something to be said about Italian mechanics Even if the thing they build has it’s issues It’s always 3 things Fast as a bat out of hell Absolutely drop dead gorgeous Extremely expensive The G.55 and even the precursor, the G.50 are absolutely gorgeous planes Much better lookers IMO then the P-51 and the Spitfire Which are both excellent planes in their own right, but something about the G.55 is so striking and beautiful Like a Red Tailed Hawk of airplanes Just striking

They have a Macchi Veltro in the Smithsonian in Washington. Great looking aircraft.

didn't know about the radial engine version the g57, I wonder what that would have looked like and how it would've performed

Do you use Me-109 and Bf-109 interchangeably or do you use the place where they were built? Every one I've seen in museums are labeled Me-109s. These Fiats are all fine looking airplanes.

Possiamo quindi dire che i caccia li sapevamo fare , complicati da costruire ma efficaci.

Mit dem DB 605 Motor wurde die Maschine zur G56.Die G56 war den Meisten Deutschen und Alliierten Jägern Ebenbürtig oder sogar Überlegen.Auf Grund von Mangel an Motoren ging diese Version aber nie in Serie.Es wurden lediglich 2 Prototypen gebaut

“No virtual airmen were harmed in this video.” Me: *Doubt*.

G55 was an exceptional aircraft. Italy have a gift for engines and the engine is the heart and soul of any combat aircraft. Needless to say they make good airplanes.

G.55 had a top speed of 417 mph with WEP. The 390 mph quoted figure was without WEP and fully armed.

No, far too many man hours required when the Germans needed planes so badly. Still a beautiful plane w so much promise. Great video! 👍

had an old navy man tell me yrs ago the Italians were hard to beat one on one but get a bunch of em together was a different story. think he was talkin' 'bout strategy not as a people

I loved this