Fiat G.80

Picture - Fiat G.80

Role: Trainer
Manufacturer: Fiat
Designed by: Giuseppe Gabrielli
First flight: 9 December 1951
Primary user: Italian Air Force
Number built: 10

Picture - Fiat G.80

The Fiat G.80 was a military trainer developed in Italy in the 1950s, and was that country's first true jet-powered aircraft. It was a conventional low-wing monoplane with retractable tricycle undercarriage and engine intakes on the fuselage sides. The pilot and instructor sat in tandem under a long bubble canopy.

Two G.80 prototypes were followed by three pre-production machines, but the Aeronautica Militare found it unsuitable to their requirements and did not purchase it in quantity. Undeterred, Fiat developed a refined version dubbed the G.82 for entry in a NATO competition to select a standard jet trainer. Apart from many detail changes, the G.82 featured a longer fuselage, a Rolls-Royce Nene engine in place of the G.80's de Havilland Goblin, and wingtip tanks. Five aircraft were constructed, but when the competition was cancelled and the G.82 was not selected by either NATO or the Aeronautica Militare, the development programme was finally terminated. Plans for specialised versions including night fighter, reconnaissance, and close-support aircraft went unrealised, as did the G.84 that was to have been powered by an Allison J35. The G.82s were used for a few years by the Aeronautica Militare's training school at Amendola before being handed over to the Reparto Sperimentale Volo ("Department of Experimental Flight") in 1957.

Variants

Picture - Fiat G.82

G.80-1B - prototype (1 built)
G.80-3B - pre-production version (4 built)
G.81 - definitive production version of G.80 (not built, development cancelled in favour of G.82)
G.82 - prototypes for NATO competition (5 built)
G.84 - Allison J35-powered version (not built)

Operators

Italy

Italian Air Force

Specifications (G.82)

Data from

General characteristics

Crew: 2, pilot and instructor
Length: 12.93 m (42 ft 5 in)
Wingspan: 11.80 m (38 ft 9 in)
Height: 4.07 m (13 ft 4 in)
Wing area: 26.0 m² (280 ft²)
Empty weight: 4,400 kg (9,700 lb)
Gross weight: 6,250 kg (13,880 lb)
Powerplant: 1 x— Rolls-Royce Nene 6/21, 24.0 kN (5,390 lbf) thrust

Performance

Maximum speed: 910 km/h (570 mph)
Range: 1,150 km (710 miles)
Service ceiling: 12,300 m (40,400 ft)

Armament

2 x— fixed, forward-firing 12.7 mm (.5 in) Colt-Browning M3 machine guns
Up to 340 kg (750 lb) of disposable stores on two pylons, including bombs or rockets

Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. pp. 390-91.
Italian Defence Department fact sheet (PDF format)

Vittorio Sanseverino, the test pilot who flew the aircraft in its maiden flight.

Fiat G.80 Pictures

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Source: WikiPedia