The second prototype, MC.205N-2 MM500, of the Macchi MC.205 “Orione” which flew at Lonate Pozzolo, pilot Guido Carestiato, on 19 May 1943 and soon after transferred at Guidonia for test. The N-2 was armed with three Mauser 20mm cannon, one firing through the propeller hub and two on the wing, plus two 12,7 machine guns over the engine cowling. During the test at Guidonia the “Orione”, both N-1 and N-2, was judged slightly faster but less handy of the Fiat G.55 and of the Reggiane Re.2005. However the Air Ministry on 25 January 1943 requested 1,200 MC.205N-2 (600 to Breda and 600 to Macchi), but on March 1943 both the orders, because the war developments which urged aircraft quickly available, was cancelled and replaced by a purchase of a similar numbers of MC.205V. The fate of the two “Orione” is unclear. According some sources the N-1 was destroyed by an air raid over Guidonia, while the N-2 disappeared, probably scrapped, during the frantic events after the Armistice of the Italy (8 September 1943). The new about a transfer of the N-2 in Germany is unfounded. Victor Sierra

“Orione” Number Two

Front view of the MC.205N-1, military registration MM449, first of the two prototypes of the Macchi MC.205N “Orione” (Orion), at the snow-capped Lonate Pozzolo airfield on winter 1942. According to intentions of Mario Castoldi, designer of all the Macchi MCs (MC for Macchi-Castoldi), the “Orione” it must have been the “true” MC.205 whose the aircraft actually produced for the Regia Aeronautica (MC.205V) were an MC.202’s airframe with DB.605 engine. Compared to the MC.205V “Veltro” (Greyhound) mass produced for the Regia Aeronautica making use of the same tools and the same assembly lines of the MC.202, the MC.205N Orione was a new plane with, for instance, a new wing with a wing area of 19 square meters (against the 16,80 of the “normal” MC.205V) for better performance over the 7,000 meters. The first prototype, MC205N-1 MM.499, had four 12,7mm machine guns, two over the engine cowling, two on the wing roots, plus a 20mm cannon in the engine firing through the propeller hub, and flew for first time, test pilot Guido Carestiato, on 1st November 1942 and on 19 January 1943 was transferred to Guidonia’s Flight Test Center for military evaluation. Victor Sierra