That CR 42 at Hendon.

Transall –
My copy of ‘Guida Algi Aerei Storici Italiani’ of 1978 has it taking off from Ursel, but the research will be rather old now, and perhaps superceeded. HTH,

‘Bells & Whistles’
There’s an interesting debate here
A) do you have everything you might need (two pilots, lots of electrical gear, everything that opens and shuts – P-38 / Twin Mustang, P-47) or
b) simple mass produced minimal aircraft (Russian fighters – no radios there either)
c) simple minimal manouverable aircraft with open cockpits for visibility? (Italian pre-war / early war designs)

They are / were all oposite ends of the performance envelope – no change today – F-16 vs F-14/F-15 etc… Perhaps the most famous opposite approaches was the Wildcat vs the Zero.

Just a thought!

Hi,

Brave pilots indeed. There was not only the issue of the Spitfires and Hurricanes. They had very inadequate avionics, if one can call their equipment avionics.
It seems unbelievable nowadays that they came to Northwest Europe in the autumn to fly with such equipment.

Cheers, Transall.

Hi,
Contact the RAFM direct. The curator of aircraft has a word doc history of most of the collection’s aircraft. PM for further details!

CR42. Brave pilots. Would you tackles Spitfires and Hurricanes in a CR-42? Brought down by a single bullet through the oil feed line. Don’t knock it either; did quite well around the Med.

Cheers!

Thanks, Stieglitz.

I was quietly hoping it was Ursel, but I wasn’t sure.

Cheers, Transall.

This one is a hard nut to crack, but I think I got the answer.

This Fiat at Hendon is painted as 13-95. This means plane number 13 from the 95a Squadriglia. This unit was always based at Ursel.

Units always based at ursel with Fiat CR42 where 83a, 85a and 95a Squadriglia.

Units based at Ursel and later at Maldegem which where equiped with Fiat CR42 where 351a, 352a and 353a Squadriglia.

That, together with my previous post makes me believe that the Hendon Fiat came from Ursel.

PS: see the pic below from a fiat of the 85a Squadriglia during 1940 and note the position of the squadron number on the plane which is identical to the position of the 95 at the Hendon Fiat.

Greets,

Stieglitz

Dan,

The RAF assigned serial BT474 to it and evaluated it.
Remarkably, these machines came to the Battle of Britain without radios!

Cheers, Transall.

How ironic that an example of this ineffective type survived to be put on the RAFM whereas some more important Axis and Allied types are extinct or not far-off extinct.

Did the RAF never fly this Fiat?

Thanks for the replies, guys.

If this was soccer, we could say; “Maldegem-Ursel: 1-1 it’s a draw”. 😉

Anyone?

Cheers, Transall.

The Fiat came from ursel.

The Hendon Fiat made a forced landing in the UK on Nov. 11th 1940. See this link:

http://www.warbirdregistry.org/italianregistry/cr42-mm5701.html

I help to organize an event from the airfield of ursel. At the webpage of our event under the info of the airfield of Ursel (click on: ‘ursel airfield’), you can see that 50 fiat CR42 biplanes took of on that day for a raid on the UK. Only 3 out of 50 aircraft returned to Belgium. See this link:

http://www.wingsandwheels.be/framespagina-uk.htm

Greets,

Stieglitz

I understand it was Maldegem where the squadron of CR42’s was based.

I was contacted this week by a researcher from that town who is writing a book on the airfield.