Fiat Aviazione
Encyclopedia
Fiat Aviazione was an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 aircraft
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...

 manufacturer, at one time part of the Fiat
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...

 group, focused mainly on military aviation. After the World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, Fiat consolidated several Italian small aircraft manufacturers, like Pomilio
Fabbrica Aeroplani Ing. O. Pomilio
Fabbrica Aeroplani Ing. O. Pomilio was an Italian World War I biplane aircraft manufacturer.The Pomilio series of aircraft were two-seater scout aircraft. When first introduced in Spring 1917 the type was faster than most other machines of its day although instability problems had to be dealt...

 and Ansaldo
Gio. Ansaldo & C.
Ansaldo was one of Italy's oldest and most important engineering companies, existing for 140 years from 1853 to 1993.-From foundation to World War I:...

. Most famous were Fiat biplane fighter aircraft
Fighter aircraft
A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...

 of the 1930s, Fiat CR.32
Fiat CR.32
The Fiat CR.32 was an Italian biplane fighter used in the Spanish Civil War and World War II. This nimble little Fiat was compact, robust and highly manoeuvrable and gave impressive displays all over Europe in the hands of the Pattuglie Acrobatiche. The CR.32 fought in North and East Africa, in...

 and Fiat CR.42
Fiat CR.42
The Fiat CR.42 Falco was a single-seat sesquiplane fighter which served primarily in Italy's Regia Aeronautica before and during World War II. The aircraft was produced by the Turin firm, and entered service, in smaller numbers, with the air forces of Belgium, Sweden and Hungary...

. Other notable designs were fighters CR.20
Fiat CR.20
|-See also:-References:* Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. The Complete Book of Fighters. New York:Smithmark, 1994. ISBN 0-8317-3939-8....

, G.50
Fiat G.50
The Fiat G.50 Freccia was a World War II Italian fighter aircraft. First flown in February 1937, the G.50 was Italy’s first single-seat, all-metal monoplane with an enclosed cockpit and retractable landing gear to go into production...

, G.55
Fiat G.55
The Fiat G.55 Centauro was a single-engine single-seat World War II fighter aircraft used by the Regia Aeronautica and the A.N.R. in 1943-1945. It was designed and built in Turin by Fiat. The Fiat G.55 was probably the best type produced in Italy during World War II, but it did not enter...

 and a bomber, the Fiat BR.20
Fiat BR.20
The Fiat BR.20 Cicogna was a low-wing twin-engine medium bomber produced from mid-1930s until the end of World War II by the Turin firm. When it entered service in 1936 it was the first all-metal Italian bomber and it was regarded as one of the most modern medium bomber of the world...

. In 1950s, the company designed the G.91
Aeritalia G.91
The Fiat G.91 was an Italian jet fighter aircraft. It was the winner of the NATO competition in 1953 as standard equipment for Allied air forces. It entered in operational service with the Italian Air Force in 1961, with West Germany's Luftwaffe, in 1962, and later with the Portuguese Air Force....

 light ground attack plane. In 1969, Fiat Aviazione merged with Aerfer
Aerfer
Aerfer was an Italian manufacturing company created in 1955 by the merger of IMAM and Meridionali. The name is a contraction of Costruzioni Aer onautiche e Fer roviarie ....

 to create Aeritalia
Aeritalia
Aeritalia was an aerospace engineering corporation based in Italy, originally Fiat Aviazione before merging with Aerfer, and now part of Alenia Aeronautica....

, which would become Alenia Aeronautica
Alenia Aeronautica
Alenia Aeronautica, a Finmeccanica subsidiary, is a European aerospace company from Italy. Its subsidiaries include Alenia Aermacchi and Alenia Aeronavali...

 in 1990.

History

In 1908, aeronautical production started taking its first steps in Turin, in Fiat, with the decision to design and produce an engine, the SA 8/75, derived from racing cars. It was the beginning of a centennial story whose heritage is today linked directly to Avio. The first mass produced engine produced by Fiat was the A10, created in 1,070 units between 1914 and 1915: at this point the pioneer age had come to an end and the company decided to design and construct complete aircraft. Thus in 1916 the Società Italiana Aviazione was founded, changing its name in 1918 to Fiat Aviazione.

In Turin, besides aircraft engines, and always along the lines of the internal-combustion engine, Fiat diversified production with the constitution in 1909 of Fiat San Giorgio for marine diesel engines, the area from which activities in the field of industrial engines for electric power generation later ensued. In Colleferro (Rome), the Bombrini Parodi-Delfino-BPD Company, established in Genoa in 1912, started manufacturing explosives and chemical products, from which the space segment originated.

In the aeronautical field, roots grew in Brindisi with the SACA Company. Gradually, many other realities began such as the CMASA di Marina Company in Pisa, founded in 1921 by German design engineer Claude Dornier, in collaboration with Rinaldo Piaggio and Attilio Odero. Finally, interactions and exchanges, accumulation of skills and experience, and multi-faceted stimuli have come from the many varied forms of international collaboration that have taken place with major companies like General Electric, Rolls-Royce, Pratt & Whitney and Eurocopter, just to mention a few of the most important names with whom current partnerships go back over half a century.

From biplanes to jet aircraft

After the first pioneering design of aircraft engines at the beginning of the twentieth century, against the opinion of over-cautious directors towards new technologies and areas of activity, Giovanni Agnelli, one of Fiat’s founder members, and technical director Guido Fornaca, supported aeronautical production, started up on an industrial basis during the Great War to meet military orders. Therefore, the Società Italiana Aviazione (Italian Aviation Company) was established in 1916, and later passed to the Aviation Section of Fiat in 1918. The first mass-produced aeronautical engine (over 1,000 units), the A10, was installed on several aircraft between 1914 and 1915 such as the Farman, later produced under licence, and the three-engined Caproni bomber aircraft.

At the end of the First World War, the technical and production resources accumulated during the conflict were directed at the emerging sector of the commercial aeroplane. The production of complete aircraft, already started up with the SP series, intensified under the guidance of design engineer Celestino Rosatelli who began his collaboration with Fiat in 1918. In about fifteen years, Rosatelli contributed to the famous CR and BR fighter and bomber aircraft while, thanks to its highly technical and reliable engines, Fiat aircraft had a run of world records: power, with the A14 of 700HP produced between 1917 and 1919; speed, with the 300 km/h achieved by the R700 in 1921; speed and airworthiness, with the AS2 engine that, installed on the Idromacchi M20, established the speed record for seaplanes and won the prestigious Schneider Cup in America in 1926; and speed again, with the new record attained by Francesco Agello in 1934 on an aeroplane powered by the Fiat AS6 engine of 3,100HP.

In 1926, with the acquisition of the Ansaldo factory in Corso Francia, Turin, Fiat Aviazione merged with the Società Aeronautica d’Italia (Italian Aeronautical Company). In 1931, Vittorio Valletta, the then General Manager of Fiat, employed a young design engineer Giuseppe Gabrielli to head the Aviation Technical Office. In 1934, the acquisition of the CMASA Company marked the entry of Fiat into the production of seaplanes. A great many of the targets achieved in the subsequent thirty-year period were linked to the genius of Gabrielli who quickly made a name for himself, beginning with the G2, a commercial plane of six seats besides the pilot, destined to be used by the Società Aviolinee Italiane (Italian Airline Company), with Fiat as majority shareholder, which boasted original innovations and developments under six patents.

While investments in the passenger and cargo transport sector continued with opening up of European routes of civil airlines, which used G18 and APR2 twin-engine monoplanes, in 1937, in the CMASA factory in Marina di Pisa, the G50 was produced, the first single-seater fighter plane employed by the Italian Air Force.

In 1949, having overcome the uncertainties and difficulties of the Second World War, the Fiat aeronautical activities were reorganised in the Aviation area. The delay in the production typologies accumulated in the years of autarchy were soon overcome thanks to the technical competences of Gabrielli and the new climate of Atlantic and inter-European collaboration. Already in 1951, Gabrielli had designed the G80, the first Italian jet aircraft powered by a De Havilland “Goblin” turbojet engine.

In the early 1950s, Fiat Aviazione started a production revival by means of American orders and, in particular, was the only company in Europe to obtain the licence from NATO for the construction of the F86 K. It entered into an agreement with General Electric and Pratt & Whitney for the production of jet engine components. The experience acquired through this work allowed the Company to participate in the international call for tenders by NATO in 1954 for a light tactical fighter aircraft. The following year, the Italian project, named G91, obtained the order for three prototypes, in the same way as the English and French competitors, and then emerged as winner, with the final decision taken in 1958. The G91 was affirmed as NATO’s standard light fighter aircraft in the European zone, becoming the most important Italian post-war aircraft with over 700 planes produced, for the most part exported.

In 1961, Fiat Aviazione took on the role of Italian prime contractor for the NATO F104 G aircraft and, under these circumstances, established collaboration relations with the Alfa Romeo Avio Company in Pomigliano d’Arco, near Naples, directly controlled by the Finmeccanica State Company. From the middle of the 1950s, under the guidance of the engineer Stefanutti, Alfa Romeo Avio had also intensified collaboration relations with Rolls-Royce and General Electric in aeronautical engines. In the second half of the 1960s, following consistent orders of the DC-9 for the national flagship airline Alitalia, controlled by the IRI State Company, the collaboration began between McDonnell Douglas and Aerfer, an aeronautical and railway Construction Company established by Finmeccanica in 1950 on part of the Aeronautical Centre in Pomigliano d’Arco.

In 1969, Fiat and Finmeccanica set up the Aeritalia Company, who Fiat entrusted with the aircraft activities.

Subsequently, through different international collaborations, Pomigliano d’Arco specialised in the development and production of components for the “hot parts” of jet engines and the overhaul of civil aeroengines.

Instead, Fiat concentrated on aeroengines and transmissions for helicopters, put together in Fiat Aviazione in 1976, with 3,700 employees, and production centres in Turin and Brindisi.

This choice was consistent with the transformation of the aeronautical industry’s worldwide scenario, characterised by the formation of just a few large groups and growing specialisation and internationalisation. A twofold necessity ensued, on the one side, to put into the field collaborations crucial to bringing together the financial resources and technological competences required by an increasingly sophisticated production in the area of materials, electronics and safety systems and, on the other, to identify areas of specialisation in which to play a leading role at a worldwide level. The programme of refinement and improvement of quality control was a strategic factor that gave rise to Fiat Aviazione’s success during those years.

With the change of the company name to Fiat Avio in 1989, the Turin Company collaborated on the design and manufacture of propulsion systems for the Tornado and Harrier Jump Jet (vertical/short take-off and landing) in the military sector, and Boeing and Airbus in the commercial one, just to mention the most important cases in both military and commercial fields.

In 1997, the acquisition of the controlling stake in Alfa Romeo Avio from Finmeccanica was key to a national strategic project aimed at reducing the excessive fragmentation of the Italian companies and at increasing competitiveness through more systematic synergies.

Aircraft

Giuseppe Gabrielli
Giuseppe Gabrielli
Giuseppe Gabrielli was an Italian aeronautics engineer. He is famous as designer of numerous Italian military aircraft, including the FIAT G.50 and G.55 World War II fighters....

 series
  • Fiat G.2
    Fiat G.2
    The Fiat G.2 was an Italian three-engine six-passenger monoplane transport aircraft designed by Giuseppe Gabrielli and built by Fiat.-Development:...

  • Fiat G.5
  • Fiat G.8
    Fiat G.8
    The Fiat G.8 was a military utility aircraft produced in Italy in the mid-1930s. Its design and production were undertaken at the CMASA works in Pisa which became part of Fiat in 1930, hence the type is sometimes referred to as the CMASA G.8 or Fiat-CMASA G.8...

  • Fiat G.12
    Fiat G.12
    -See also:-References:* Angelucci, Enzo The World Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft. London:Jane's Publishing, 1981. ISBN 0-7106-0148-4.* Angelucci, Enzo The World Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft, London, 1987....

  • Fiat G.18
    Fiat G.18
    The Fiat G.18 was an Italian airliner developed in the mid 1930s. It was a conventional low-wing monoplane with twin engines mounted on the wings. The main units of the tailwheel undercarriage retracted into the engine nacelles, leaving their wheels partially exposed...

  • Fiat G.46
    Fiat G.46
    -External links:* *...

  • Fiat G.49
    Fiat G.49
    -References:* The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft , 1985, Orbis Publishing, Page 1798...

  • Fiat G.50
    Fiat G.50
    The Fiat G.50 Freccia was a World War II Italian fighter aircraft. First flown in February 1937, the G.50 was Italy’s first single-seat, all-metal monoplane with an enclosed cockpit and retractable landing gear to go into production...

  • Fiat G.55
    Fiat G.55
    The Fiat G.55 Centauro was a single-engine single-seat World War II fighter aircraft used by the Regia Aeronautica and the A.N.R. in 1943-1945. It was designed and built in Turin by Fiat. The Fiat G.55 was probably the best type produced in Italy during World War II, but it did not enter...

  • Fiat G.61
  • Fiat G.80
    Fiat G.80
    |-References:* * -See also:Vittorio Sanseverino, the test pilot who flew the aircraft in its maiden flight....

  • Fiat G.82
  • Fiat G.91
  • Fiat G.212
    Fiat G.212
    -References:NotesBibliography* Donald, David, ed. The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. Aerospace Publishing. 1997. ISBN 1-85605-375-X.* Stroud, John. "Post War Propliners: Fiat G.12 and G.212". Aeroplane Monthly, Volume 23 No. 1, January 1994, pp. 64-68. London: IPC.-External links:** Airliners.net*...

  • Fiat G.222


Celestino Rosatelli
Celestino Rosatelli
Celestino Rosatelli was an Italian aeronautics engineer.Celestino Rosatelli was born in Belmonte in Sabina, close to Rieti, to Bernardino Rosatelli and Apollonia Santini. His parents noticed his brilliant mathematical skills and were able to support his studies. Sent to Rome to study engineering,...

 Bomber series
  • Fiat B.R.
  • Fiat B.R.1
  • Fiat B.R.2
  • Fiat BR.20
    Fiat BR.20
    The Fiat BR.20 Cicogna was a low-wing twin-engine medium bomber produced from mid-1930s until the end of World War II by the Turin firm. When it entered service in 1936 it was the first all-metal Italian bomber and it was regarded as one of the most modern medium bomber of the world...

  • Fiat BRG
    Fiat BRG
    |-References:*The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft , 1985, Orbis Publishing, Page 1780*...



Celestino Rosatelli Fighter series
  • Fiat CR.1
    Fiat CR.1
    |-See also:-External links:*...

  • Fiat CR.20
    Fiat CR.20
    |-See also:-References:* Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. The Complete Book of Fighters. New York:Smithmark, 1994. ISBN 0-8317-3939-8....

  • Fiat CR.25
    Fiat CR.25
    |-See also:-External links:*...

  • Fiat CR.30
    Fiat CR.30
    |-See also:-References:*The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft , 1985, Orbis Publishing, Page 1794...

  • Fiat CR.32
    Fiat CR.32
    The Fiat CR.32 was an Italian biplane fighter used in the Spanish Civil War and World War II. This nimble little Fiat was compact, robust and highly manoeuvrable and gave impressive displays all over Europe in the hands of the Pattuglie Acrobatiche. The CR.32 fought in North and East Africa, in...

  • Fiat C.R.33
  • Fiat C.R.40
  • Fiat C.R.41
  • Fiat CR.42
    Fiat CR.42
    The Fiat CR.42 Falco was a single-seat sesquiplane fighter which served primarily in Italy's Regia Aeronautica before and during World War II. The aircraft was produced by the Turin firm, and entered service, in smaller numbers, with the air forces of Belgium, Sweden and Hungary...

  • Fiat R.2
  • Fiat R.22
  • Fiat-Ansaldo A.120
  • Fiat-Ansaldo A.S.1
  • Fiat CANSA F.C. 12
  • Fiat CANSA F.C.20
  • Fiat RS.14
    Fiat RS.14
    |-See also:-Comparable Aircraft:*Heinkel He 115*Consolidated PBY Catalina*Fokker T.VIII*Hall XPTBH-References:* Mondey, David , The Concise Guide to Axis Aircraft of World War II, Chancellor Press, ISBN 1-85152-966-7...

  • Fiat M.F.4


Helicopters
  • Fiat 7002
    Fiat 7002
    |-See also:-References:* Flight 1958* The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft , 1985, Orbis Publishing...


Aircraft engines

  • Fiat SA8/75
  • Fiat S.55
  • Fiat A.10
    Fiat A.10
    -References:* Gunston, Bill. . World Encyclopaedia of Aero Engines. Patrick Stephens: Wellingborough. p. 62...

  • Fiat A.12
    Fiat A.12
    -References:* Gunston, Bill. . World Encyclopaedia of Aero Engines. Patrick Stephens: Wellingborough. p. 62...

  • Fiat A.14
    Fiat A.14
    -References:* Gunston, Bill. . World Encyclopaedia of Aero Engines. Patrick Stephens: Wellingborough. p. 62-63...

  • Fiat A.15
  • Fiat A.20
    Fiat A.20
    -References:* Angelucci, Enzo. World Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft. London:Jane's Publishing, 1981. ISBN 0-7106-0148-4.* Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. London:Guild Publishing, 1986....

  • Fiat A.22
  • Fiat A.24
  • Fiat A.25
  • Fiat A.30
  • Fiat A.50
    Fiat A.50
    The Fiat A.50 was a seven-cylinder, air-cooled radial engine for aircraft use built in Italy in the 1930s. It was first run in 1928, it had a bore and stoke of 100 mm × 120 mm and was rated at 78 kW at 1,800 rpm.-Applications:* Ambrosini SAI.3* Ambrosini SAI.10* CANSA C.5* CANT 26* Caproni...

  • Fiat A.53
  • Fiat A.54
    Fiat A.54
    -References:*...

  • Fiat A.55
  • Fiat A.58
  • Fiat A.59
  • Fiat A.60
  • Fiat A.74
    Fiat A.74
    -See also:-References:*...

  • Fiat A.76
  • Fiat A.78
  • Fiat A.80
    Fiat A.80
    -References:* Gunston, Bill. . World Encyclopaedia of Aero Engines. Patrick Stephens: Wellingborough. p.56* Ragazzi, Paolo . The Power of Aircraft Engines at Altitude. p.3...

  • Fiat A.82
  • Fiat AS.2
    Fiat AS.2
    -See also:-Bibliography:*Eves, Edward The Schneider Trophy Story. Shrewsbury. Airlife Publishing Ltd., 2001. ISBN 1-84037-257-5.*Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9...

    Schneider Trophy 1926
  • Fiat AS.3
    Fiat AS.3
    -See also:-Bibliography:*Eves, Edward The Schneider Trophy Story. Shrewsbury. Airlife Publishing Ltd., 2001. ISBN 1-84037-257-5....

  • Fiat AS.5
    Fiat AS.5
    -See also:-Bibliography:*Eves, Edward The Schneider Trophy Story. Shrewsbury. Airlife Publishing Ltd., 2001. ISBN 1-84037-257-5.*Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9...

    Schneider Trophy 1929
  • Fiat AS.6
    Fiat AS.6
    -See also:-Bibliography:*Eves, Edward The Schneider Trophy Story. Shrewsbury. Airlife Publishing Ltd., 2001. ISBN 1-84037-257-5.*Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9...

     Schneider Trophy 1931
  • Fiat AN.1 Diesel
  • Fiat 4002
  • Fiat 4004
  • Fiat 4301
  • Fiat 4700
    Fiat 4700
    -Notes:...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK