Last touch up, in the just restored Fiat Aeritalia’s factory at Turin, to one G.55B, two seat version of the post-war G.55 Centauro, for the Aeronautica Militare (Italian Air Force). Behind a three engines transport aircraft Fiat G.12, another WW2 plane of which the production restarted after the war, for the Italian Air Force. In background another G.12 and a G.55A single seat waiting for the paint. Victor Sierra

“Centauro”: the story continuing-2

A couple of Italian Air Force’s Fiat G.55A built after the war from Centauro’s airframe and components still stocked in Fiat’s factory at Turin. The all silver finish typical of post-WW2 Italian military aircraft highlight the beautiful shape of this fine Giuseppe Gabrielli’s plane. Equipped with British and American fighters, Spitfire IX, which had replaced the Spit V of the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force, and P-38 Lightning, and waiting for the P-51D and P-47D, the Aeronautica Militare (AM), the new Italian Air Force born with the Italian Republic, decided, for help the Italian aeronautics industry’s revival, the purchase of a small number of the last generation’s aircraft designed before the end of the WW2 as G.55 Centauro only for training duties. The post-war Centauro was built, using some DB.605 engines still in stock, in two version: G-55A single seat and G.55B two seat, both without armament, for advanced training, whose prototypes flew on 1946. The total number assembled for AM was 19 G.55As and 10 G.55Bs, plus 45 (30 “A” and 15 “B”) for the Argentine Air Force armed with four 0.5in machine guns. Anyway the life of last G.55s in the AM’s fleet was extremely brief. But from the G.55’s design was derived the G.59 with Rolls-Royce Merlin engine in active duty until the end of Seventies. Victor Sierra

“Centauro”: the story continuing

The Fiat G.59 in flight. This superb plane, one of last fighters with piston engine built in the world, was created by Giuseppe Gabrielli, the Fiat “G” plane’s designer, coupling the G.55 with a British Rolls-Royce Merlin 500-20 1635 HP engine. As first prototype was employed the airframe of the G.56, last development of G.55 Centauro never entered in service, which flew on 1948. The G.59, employed by Italian Air Force as advanced trainer in the Flying School of Elmas in Sardinia and Lecce in Apulia, was built in abound 100 exemplars in version single seat (G.59A) and two seat (G.59B) and in four series (1, 2, 3 and 4). The aircraft of fourth series (G.59-4A and G.59-4B) had the cockpit revised with a bubble canopy. The G.59 was employed by the Schools until 1965, but some planes, in “jet era” considered a “romantic plane” for “romantic pilots” (and also well experienced, piloting a plane of WW2 isn’t easy for jet pilots) pilots, was still in service for practice of “old pilots” (many NCO) and for air show until the half Seventies. Victor Sierra