http://www.virtualpilots.fi/hist/WW2History-MeAndTheGustav.html

Arado

Second half oh Thirties, for Italy the war is still a long way: on Rome’s Littorio Airport, at this time the Italian capital’s commercial airport (Ciampino were a military airfield), the aircraft of two future enemy, an Italian and a French, parked side-by-side. The French plane is an Air France’s three engines Bréguet-Wibault 282 operated on the Paris-Rome line. Very interesting the Italian aircraft: it’s in effect an American-built Douglas DC-2 purchased via Netherlands and registered in Italy, I-EROS, by Avio Linee Italiane (FIAT Group) operated from 1935 on international airlines. After the Italy’s entry in WW2 the I-EROS, on 14 June 1940, was embedded by the Air Force and afterwards transferred to German Luftwaffe. The Avio Linee Italiane had also a DC-3, the I-EMOS, former Belgian Sabena OO-AUH commandeered after the Belgium’s fall, afterwards transferred to Ala Littoria on 26 September 1940 and registered military with the code MM60520. On September 1943, after the Italy’s Armistice, the I-EMOS was commandeered by the Germans and switched to Deutsche Luft Hansa with the registration D-ATZP. The ultimate fate of this aircraft is unknown. The Littorio Airport is today the Urbe Airport (Aeroporto “Mario De Bernardi” di Roma-Urbe) employed by general aviation. Victor Sierra

The war is still a long way

The Macchi MC.205 “Veltro” of Repubblica Sociale Italiana’s Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana (ANR) landed perhaps intentionally in Switzerland, at Lausanne. Note the background canceled by Swiss authorities which kept secret the landing’s location. On 4 March 1944 an ANR’s officer pilot received the order of ferry a MC.205 fresh factory, the aircraft military code MM92289, to Lonate Pozzolo Airport, near Varese, to Venaria Airport, near Turin, for delivery to 1st Gruppo Caccia. After the take-off the pilot diverted to Locarno, Magadino Airport, crossing the Alps an altitude of 6,000 meters, but, short of fuel, the aircraft had only the fuel for the brief ferry flight Lonate Pozzolo-Venaria, landed over a wavy ground near Lausanne Airport damaging the right landing gear and the propeller. The MC.205 was transferred by the Swiss from Lausanne to Emmen, where he was repaired in the Swiss Federal Aircraft plant. According Swiss sources the plane was used for test flights and for comparison flights with the P-51B Mustang J-900, an aircraft interned after the land in Switzerland. After the war, on 24 June 1947 the MC.205 was returned to Italy by an Italian pilot (not the same of 1944 flight). Victor Sierra