Fiat G.55 Centauro

what is it?

The Fiat G.55 Centauro (Italian: "Centaur") is a single-engine single-seat monoplane fighter aircraft designed and produced by the Italian aircraft manufacturer Fiat Aviazione. It was operated by both the Regia Aeronautica and the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana during the latter half of the Second World War. The G.55 was developed and produced at Fiat's Turin facility.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 11.9 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 623 km/htop speed
• range 1,200 kmwithout refuelling
• size 3,718 kgmax take-off weight
• built 349made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 84 years ago, in 1942.
• 🏎️Top speed is 4.8× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 11.9 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🌍Range of 1,200 km: 7× Amsterdam to Brussels.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.4× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1942-04-30

introduced

1943

retired

1945

status

retired

number built

349

role

fighter

origin

Kingdom of Italy

makers

Fiat Aviazione

engines

1× Fiat RA.1050 R.C.58 Tifone

length

9.4 m

wingspan

11.9 m

height

3.1 m

max take-off weight

3,718 kg

top speed

623 km/h

range

1,200 km

ceiling

12,750 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.