Best early Italian Monoplane fighter?

[cheddar cheese]

Agreed. The CR.42 was developed from an established line of excellent Fiat biplanes and was just about identical to/better than the 0-serie monoplanes in everything barring speed, when even then wasnt that far off, as the CR.42 was, I think, the fastest biplane of WW2.

[JCS]

And one of, if not the most manueverable plane of the war....

[carpenoctem1689]

It might not have been the most manouverable aircraft, the Ki-27 was pretty damn agile. But it might have been. Certainly the most agile in the ETO/MTO and a contender for all around. It was the best biplane in my opinon, faster than anything the british had (gladiator) and the earlier italian aircraft (Cr.32) or the chinese I-15'a, i think some were still in service in 1940, but as i am not sure, just confident there were, i cant say for sure. What it would have been to see a gladiator and Cr.42, with equal pilots facing off in the skies above malta, that would have been a spectacular thing to see.

[MP-Willow]

CC, it is the 2000 I think that was the best, but the MC 200 was used the most I think, yes? So, that meens somthing, but really these were being replaced rather quickly and then the 5s were the best if the Italians could ever get an gengine they did not destroy in flight.

[cheddar cheese]

Yes I agree, the only reason that the MC.200 was used the most as due to the fact that Macchi had better production capabilities and could produce it cheaper. The Re-2000 was by far the most advanced and modern, as it was based on the Seversky P-35 and it was the only 0-serie to have an enclised cockpit althrough its life. Structural wekness was one of the only problems, as well as poor armament like the other 0-serie fighters.

[loomaluftwaffe]

hit a Re.2000 wing and set it on fire, fuel was in the wings, right?
the Re2000 was not as durable as the Macchi, and it looks fat, so does the Re-2001, while the 2002 looks like it is in better shape, while a Re2005, in my opinion, the Re2005 was one of the nicest-looking axis aircraft.

what WAS so good about the Freccia over the other monoplanes.
i think their engines were a copy of the R-1830 i think, but without the good gas

[Parmigiano]

The Macchi MC200 was the best (or less worse...)

The Fiat G50 was just a wrong aircraft, with a tricky flight behaviour not compensated by better performances vs the competitors

The Reggiane was a kind of 'improved' copy of the Seversky P35 (later 'Republic') and like this the frame had no development potential (the Seversky/Republic P47 was a brand new design)

The frame of the Macchi fighters (btw designed by Castoldi, the same guy who designed the Schneider Cup Macchis) was basically the same for the MC 200, MC 202 and MC 205V. Only the engine, weapons and some other things changed, but the modifications were less extensive than those, for instance, implemented on the Spit I-V-IX or Bf 109E-F-G

This fact accounts for the good design of the aircraft and, in my opinion, ranks it at the top of the 3 fighters in discussion.

There is a bit of confusion about the MC 205: the original Castoldi project (later identified as MC 205N) was a major redesign (wings, armament etc.) but necessity pressed to put into service a MC202 re engined with the DB 605 and a couple of wing mounted MG151 that was called MC205V and is the plane that is commonly known as MC205.
The new MC205N remained little more than a prototype, production priority being assigned to his competitor Fiat G55.

[Parmigiano]

The Macchi MC200 was the best (or less worse...)

The Fiat G50 was just a wrong aircraft, with a tricky flight behaviour not compensated by better performances vs the competitors

The Reggiane was a kind of 'improved' copy of the Seversky P35 (later 'Republic') and like this the frame had no development potential (the Seversky/Republic P47 was a brand new design)

The frame of the Macchi fighters (btw designed by Castoldi, the same guy who designed the Schneider Cup Macchis) was basically the same for the MC 200, MC 202 and MC 205V. Only the engine, weapons and some other things changed, but the modifications were less extensive than those, for instance, implemented on the Spit I-V-IX or Bf 109E-F-G

This fact accounts for the good design of the aircraft and, in my opinion, ranks it at the top of the 3 fighters in discussion.

There is a bit of confusion about the MC 205: the original Castoldi project (later identified as MC 205N) was a major redesign (wings, armament etc.) but necessity pressed to put into service a MC202 re engined with the DB 605 and a couple of wing mounted MG151 that was called MC205V and is the plane that is commonly known as MC205.
The new MC205N remained little more than a prototype, production priority being assigned to his competitor Fiat G55.