Arado Ar.68F - Wartime users

Good morning, today we are going to deal with the wartime users of the Ar.68F.

When the war started, the Ar.68 was already outdated by the much more effective monoplanes like the Bf.109 or, on the other side, the Hawker Hurricane, the Supermarine Spitfire or the French Morane-Saulnier Ms.406 among others.

That's why the Ar.68, in every variant, was relegated to the second line in order to fullfil the adavanced trainer role and, until January 1940, the night fighter role. In fact, in order to achieve better night stealth rates, some versions were equipped with flash suppressor tubes, just like some Italian contemporary night fighters like the Fiat Cr.42CN had.

When much better night fighters were available, like the Bf.110, the Ar.68 was fully retired from the combat line, in order to serve as an advanced trainer, not just in the day flying role, but also in the night fighter role. They served mainly in the Czech academies until, at least 1942.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arado_Ar_68
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
3. http://histaviation.com/ar_68.html

Arado Ar.68F - Prewar users

We keep going with this German biplane, maybe one of the last biplanes made in Germany.

Designed as an unequal span and chord wing biplane, it was the creation of Arado's chief engineer, Walter Rethel who saw the first prototype of his creation flying at Warnemünde in 1934. It was of mixed construction with wooden plywood and fabric covered wings.

When the Arado Ar.68e was built, it was the production prototype for the Arado Ar.68E and was powered by the 610hp Junkers Jumo 210Da engine, but given the lack of available engines of that type led the company to create an interim version powered by a 670hp BMW VI engine.

The F variant was relatively rare, of the 511 Ar.68 built only 147 belonged to that variant and the production of this variant ceased in the spring of 1937.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arado_Ar_68
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
3. http://histaviation.com/ar_68.html

Arado Ar.68E - Wartime users

The Arado Ar.68E was a single-seat biplane fighter, that was a contemporary of other famous biplane fighters of the 1930s like the Italian Fiat Cr.32, the British Gloster Gladiator or the Russian Polikarpov I-15. It was intended to be the successor of the excellent but already aging Heinkel He-51 which was very popular among the pilots of the Luftwaffe thanks to it's excellent flying capabilities.

In order to convince the doubtful pilots of the Luftwaffe Ernst Udet decided to organise some mocked-up combats between an Arado Ar.68 and a Heinkel He.51, Udet flying himself the Arado. In this fictional dogfight, the He.51 found itself outmaneouvered in every count as the Arado appeared to out-turn, out-climb and out-fight the Heinkel without further effort and so, some months later the Jg. 134 "Horst Wessel" was the first unit to be reequiped with Arado Ar.68.

That way, the Arado Ar.68E progressively replaced the Heinkel He.51 until the much better Messerschmitt Bf.109 was fully developed and improved.

When the war started, the Ar.68 had already been fully replaced by the Bf.109 and it had been relegated to the night fighter role until the winter of 1939-1940 and to the advanced trainer role.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arado_Ar_68
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighter
3. http://histaviation.com/ar_68.html

Arado Ar.68E - Prototypes and prewar German users

The Arado Ar.68 was a single-seat biplane fighter of the mid-1930s and it was one of the first fighters massively produced by the German industry when they abandoned the restrictions of the pact of Versailles.

It was developed in parallel to the Ar.67 and many prototypes of it were made:

• Ar.68V1, AKA Ar.68a: The very first prototype, it was powered by a 750hp BMW VId engine. It flew for the first time in 1934. Unarmed.
• Ar.68b/c: The second and third prototypes. Both of them were powered by a 680hp Junkers Jumo 210A 12-cylinder inverted-vee liquid-cooled engine. The b variant was unarmed, while the c variant was armed with two 7,9mm MG 17 machine guns with 500 rounds each.
• Ar.68d, AKA Ar.68V4: Production prototype powered by a 650hp BMW VI engine.
• Ar.68e, AKA Ar.68V5: Production prototype powered by a 660hp Junkers Jumo 210Da engine. 
• Ar.68E: The first type to enter service with the Luftwaffe, it was powered by a 610hp Junkers Jumo 210.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arado_Ar_68
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
3. http://histaviation.com/ar_68.html

Arado Ar.68E - Spanish users

Good morning, today we deal with the brief intervention of this biplane during the Spanish civil war.

The Arado Ar.68E arrived in Spain as an experimental night fighter. Just another war-experiment conducted by the Luftwaffe during that war. Those experiments consisted in adding searchlights to some fighters in order to achieve better night vision and were conducted both in Spain and Germany.

As it was intended to be just an experiment, only three Ar.68E were sent to Spain, where they served in the Condor Legion and were based at La Sénia airfield, in southern Catalonia where they intended to be used as twilight provisional night fighters. They were coded 9-1, 9-2 and 9-3 and apart from being used as night fighters, they also performed some ground attack missions during the Battle of the Ebro in 1938 and the nationalist conquest of Catalonia during January-February 1939. After the war ended, they were handed over to the nationalists air force, and one of them became the personal airplane of Cpt. Javier Murcia Rubio who later would be the commanding captain of the 5th Blue Squadron, inside the 15. Spanische Staffel dependant of the Jg.27.

Two of those Ar.68 were still flying in 1945 when their serial code was changed to C-11 and we believe that their roundels were changed too, from a complete black circle to the French style roundel featuring the Spanish colours, that were also present in the pre-Republican airplanes.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arado_Ar_68
2. Salamander Book - The Complete Book of fighters
3. http://histaviation.com/ar_68_in_spain.html

Arado Ar.67

Good morning. Today we bring you another Arado airplane, this time it's a prototype.

The Arado Ar.67 was a single seat German biplane fighter of the 1930s that was intended to be the successor to the Ar.65.

It was smaller than the Ar.65 and was powered by the 640hp Rolls-Royce Kestrel VI 12-cylinder liquid cooled engine. It featured a welded steel-tube fuselage and wooden wings as well as fabric and plywood skinning. It was to be armed with a pair of 7,9mm MG 17 machine guns, but the development was cancelled in favour of the Ar.68, after the Ar.67 was flown for the first time in late autumn 1933.

The initial idea when this airplane was designed was to create a design which could improve the spin recovery.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arado_Ar_67
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
3. http://histaviation.com/ar_67.html

Arado Ar.65 - Training and wartime users

With this post we finish with the Arado Ar.65.

As we previously wrote, the Arado Ar.65 was a German biplane fighter of the 1930s that was intended as the successor of the Ar.64. It appeared in 1931 and various prototypes and versions were made:

• Ar.65a: The prototype that was built in 1931. It was powered by a 750hp BMW VI 7.3 12-cylinder water-cooled engine. It was also armed with two 7,92mm MG17 machine guns that armed all the variants. As we couldn't find graphical evidence, it's left undrawn.
• Ar.65b: The second prototype that was identical to the first. It only differed from the first in some minor structural and equipment changes. Undrawn due to the lack of sources.
• Ar.65c: The third prototype. Was identical to the previous two ones. Just some minor structural and equipment alterations were made. Not drawn because the sources are scarce.
• Ar.65d: Initial production model. First built in 1933. It featured a vertical fuselage magazine to carry six 10kg bombs. 
• Ar.65E: Another production version. Probably the most manufactured one. The bomb magazine was removed, probably because it slowed down the performance of the aircraft.
• Ar.65F: Final production model with some minor improvements from the E version.

As it was retired from the active service in 1935, it was relegated to the training role in Czechia, where it served in the flying schools of Olomouc, Prostějov and Plzeň. Later, in 1942 and 1943 a not documented variant which featured two extra fuel tanks under upper wings and glider towing equipment, served with the Erganzungs-Schleppgruppen 1 and 2 towing the DFS 230 gliders carrying troops from the Kuban bridgehead in Russia.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arado_Ar_65
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuban_bridgehead
4. http://histaviation.com/ar_65.html

Arado Ar.65 - Prewar German users

Today we post about the early German users of this fighter.

The Arado Ar.65 was a German biplane fighter that was a direct successor to the Arado Ar.64, which had certain resemblance from.

The first prototype appeared in 1931 and the production version -the D version- was built two years later, in 1933 and remained in the fighter role with the two fighter groups, the Fliegergruppe Döberitz and Fliegergruppe Damm, alongside with the older Ar.64. It also served with the Reklamme-staffel -which later would be the JG.132 and much later the famous JG.2. In 1935 as the better Heinkel He.51 was available it was started to be replaced by that one and the Ar.65s were transferred to the DVS Jagdfliegerschule Schliessheim to serve in the fighter training role.

It's known that also some airplanes served with the Luftpolizei, which was the forerunner of the Luftschutzpolizei, the air protection police.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arado_Ar_65
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
3. http://histaviation.com/ar_65.html
4. http://modelingmadness.com/review/preww2/attardar65.htm

Arado Ar.65 - Bulgarian Users

Yes, that's the Luftwaffe's roundel over there.
Today we start covering the foreign users for the Arado Ar.65. As Bulgaria was the only non-German user of this fighter, it will be over in this post.

In 1937 Bulgaria bought some Arado Ar.65 (which by then they were already obsolete) in order to equip their training squadrons. Those airplanes were of the F sub-variant (which barely differed from the E variant) and nicknamed them as "Orel" (Eagle). They were assigned to the second fighter Orlyak (Wing) that was based in Kàrlovo, close to Plovdiv. The wing was composed by five Yato (Bulgarian word for Training Squadrons) and one acrobatic school. Those training squadrons were equipped with many types of airplanes, ranging from Avia B.534, Avia B.122, Heinkel He.51, Bücker Bü.131 and, of course, the 12 Arado Ar.65F. Obviously those training squadrons were just a cover-up for the rebuilt Bulgarian air force and they were purely fighter squadrons.

Officialy the rebirth of the Bulgarian air force was proclamed in 27th June 1937 at Bozhurishte airfield, close to Sofia when the king Boris III handed over to the Vazhdushnite na Negovo Velichestvo Voiski (VNVV - Royal Bulgarian Air Force) 12 Arado Ar.65 and another 12 Dornier Do.11 medium bombers that had been paid from his own pocket. Needless to say that the Ar.65 was intended to be used as a fighter (even if disguished in a training squadron) and the Do.11 was intended to be used in the bomber role. Due to the fact that those airplanes were paid from the king's own pocket, they displayed the king's Boris III own cipher, consisting in a yellow B inside a red shield located in the fuselage side and tail fin.

Despite the design of the Ar.65, it was never liked by the Bulgarian pilots who found the airplane hard to pilot, but they are famous for breaking the restrictions of the Neuilly-sur-Seine treaty that was officialy abolished by the Salonika Agreement of 1938 that allowed Bulgaria to stablish it's own air force.

They were used until well entered the war in the training role.

Sources:
1. http://histaviation.com/ar_65_bulgarian_service.html
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arado_Ar_65
3. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Arado Ar.64

Today we start with the rearmament of the Luftwaffe.

The Arado Ar.64 was a German biplane fighter that was designed in the very late 1920s and built for the first time in the very early 1930s.

It was basically a variant of the previously built Arado SD.II and SD.III, it was manufactured by the Arado Handelsgesellschaft in order to comply with an order from the Reichwehrministerium of developing a successor to the Fokker D.XIII, which were the backbone fighter force of the clandestine German air force.

Some variants of this airplane existed:

• Ar.64a: The first prototype, it was flown for the first time in the spring of 1930 and was powered by a Siemens und Halske built 530hp direct-drive Bristol Jupiter VI nine-cylinder radial engine. Just like its predecessors, it was of mixed construction. As we couldn't find a single pic or photo about this one, it's left undrawn
• Ar-64b: Two examples were built of this variant which was powered by a 640hp BMW VI 6,3 12-cylinder Vee-type water-cooled engine. This and the previous one, the 'a' variant were among the last fighters evaluated in Lipetsk. This is undrawn because there aren't graphical references. At least we couldn't find any.
• Ar.64c: This variant, which only one example was built, was powered with the same engine as the prototype, but some minor structural changes were made. Again, we couldn't find graphical evidence, so it's left undrawn.
• Ar.64D: Together with the next variant, the E, it was the first massively produced fighter in Germany since the end of the World War I. This variant introduced redesigned and enlarged vertical tail surfaces plus a revised and improved undercarriage. It was powered by a geared version of the Siemens built 530hp Bristol Jupiter VI nine-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine which required a four-bladed propeller in order to function properly. 
• Ar.64E: Another production model which was powered by a direct-drive version of the Siemens built Bristol Jupiter VI engine which required only two bladed propellers to work properly. Both this variant and the previous D one, were armed with a pair of 7,92mm MG 17 machine guns. 

A contract for 20 aircraft was placed by the Reichwehrministerium and in the summer of 1932 the deliveries started to roll-out. Those 20 were assigned to the Jagdfliegerschule at Schleißheim and later to the Jagdstaffeln of the Fliegergruppe Döberitz and Fliegergruppe Damm together with some Ar.65s. 

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arado_Ar_64
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Arado SSD.I

As it has been a long time since we drawn a floatplane, here comes another one. About time!

The Arado SSD.I was a German floatplane fighter of 1930 that was intended to be launched from catapults on warships. It hadn't any resemblance with any other Arado airplane of the period.

It was designed by Walter Rethel, the same who designed the Arado SD.I, SD.II and SD.III and consisted in a single-bay equi-span biplane in sesquiplane configuration with plywood-covered wooden wings with N-type struts. Unlike another designs of Rethel, it had ailerons both in upper and lower wings. The upper wing was slightly gulled into the upper side of the welded steel-tube of the fuselage ahead of the cockpit and the lower one was suspended below the fuselage and the gap was where the tunnel-type radiator was placed.
It was powered by a 640hp BMW VI 6,3 12-cylinder vee-type water-cooled engine and was armed with two 7,92mm machine guns.

The initial water trials were performed in Travemünde, where it was tested with a central main float and twin outrigger stabilising floats and, in order to cope with the restrictions of the Versailles treaty, it was unarmed. The floaters were latter replaced by a rudimentary wheeled undercarriage in order to transport it to Lipetsk, to perform the weaponry trials, where the twin 7,92mm machine guns were fitted in order to compete agains the Heinkel HD.38, which was selected. The sole prototype of the SSD.I was assigned in April 1932 to the Luftdienst GmbH and, one year later, to the Deutsche Verkehrsfliegerschule (DVS) which was the German commercial pilots school. Apparently, once fitted with the wheeled undercarriage, it never got the floaters back.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arado_SSD_I
2. Salamander Books - The complete Book of Fighters.

Arado SD.III

Good Saturday morning. Todays' post is dedicated to the third Arado fighter prototype, the Arado SD.III.

The Arado SD.III was a biplane fighter prototype that was built in Germany during the very lates 1920s. The development was made in parallel with the SD.II and employed a similar airframe.

Unlike the SD.II which was powered by a geared engine, this one was powered by a 510hp Siemens und Halske-built Jupiter VI engine which featured a smaller-diameter and a two-bladed propeller. In order to adapt the engine to the fuselage, the shape of the forward fuselage was revised and shorter underacarriage with more rake was fitted. It was armed with two 7,92mm 08/15 machine guns, just like the SD.II.

It was evaluated in Staaken, Rechlin and Lipetsk and, despite it was judged unsuitable for mass production, it served as the basis in order to design and develop the following Arado Ar.64 and Ar.65.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arado_SD_III
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters.

Arado SD.II

Today we write about another Arado fighter prototype which, unfortunately, there aren't any known blueprints, so this post has not any drawing.

The Arado SD.II was a German biplane fighter developed in 1929. It was meant to equip the German clandestine air force that was being formed.

Despite sharing the same basic outlines from the previous SD.I, it was an all-new design, larger and heavier. The wings were less staggered and they were braced with conventional wires. Both the landing gear and the tail of the airplane were considerably stronger.

It was powered by a 530hp Bristol Jupiter nine-cylinder radial engine built by Siemens und Halske which, with a three bladed propeller, it required a high angle of attack on the ground. It was also armed with a pair of 7,92mm 08/15 machine guns.

It proved to be difficult to fly and was discarded in favour of the Heinkel HD.37. However, this one, together with the Arado SD.III set the basis for the Arado Ar.64, which was the company's first mass produced fighter.

The only known pic of the Arado SD.II

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arado_SD_II
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Arado SD.I

Good morning, we are back in Germany, in order to cover this early German fighter, and we're going to stay in that country for quite some time.

The Arado SD.I was the first biplane fighter developed by the Arado Flugzeugwerke in Warnemünde. It was designed by the engineer Walter Rethel, who owed much experience gained with Fokker.

The SD.I was a relatively small mixed-construction sesquiplane. The fuselage was of welded steel tubing with light alloy skinning to the cockpit firewall and fabric aft. Wings were made out of wood with plywood skinning and the ailerons were placed in the upper wings only. It had V-type struts and lacked conventional flying wires, which apparently was something very typical from Fokker.

It was powered by a 425hp nine-cylinder Gnome-Rhône Jupiter air-cooled radial engine and was armed with two synchronised 7,92mm 08/15 machine guns.
It was the first fighter to be object of a contract from the Reichswehrministerium (ministry of war) and its' development was totally clandestine. The first two prototypes were tested in Lipetsk, USSR on 11th October 1927 and the performance prooved to be poor specially at low speeds. Given those poor characteristics, the development was halted in order to favour a complete new design, the Arado SD.II

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arado_SD_I
2. Salamander Books - The complete book of fighters

Ansaldo A.C.4

Good morning, today we keep going with this shot saga of Italian fighters.

Today it's the turn for the Ansaldo A.C.4 which was an Italian single-seat fighter prototype which was a direct development of the Ansaldo A.C.2.

The Ansaldo A.C.4 was basically an Ansaldo A.C.2 powered by a 410hp Fiat A.20 engine which was already successful in Italy thanks to some successful biplane fighters like the Fiat Cr.20. It was armed, like the A.C.2 with a pair of 7,7mm Vickers machine guns.

It was flown for the first time in 1927, but only one prototype was built and, given the avaliability of better fighters, the project was abandoned.

Sources:
1. https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansaldo_AC.2
2. http://www.aviastar.org/air/italy/ansaldo_ac-4.php
3. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Ansaldo A.C.3

Today it's the turn for the Ansaldo A.C.3 which was a development of the A.C.2 and was the most used variant of the Ansaldo built Dewoitine variants.

The Ansaldo A.C.3 was heavily based in the French Dewoitine D.9 and it differed in having a slightly increased wing span area and being marginally shorter than the original D.9.

It was powered by a 420hp Alfa Romeo Jupiter , which was a license-built version of the French Gnome-Rhône Jupiter IV nine-cylinder radial. It was armed by two 7,7mm Vickers machine-gun mounted in the fuselage, and, sometimes, two wing-mounted 7,62mm Darne machine guns. However those wing-mounted ones were sometimes replaced by a single one mounted in the centre of the wing section in order to fire upwards in an oblique angle. They also introduced in Italy some new features for the time like radio equipation or smoke-bomb system.

The prototype was flown in early 1926 and a total of 150 A.C.3s were delivered between September 1926 and April 1927 and they gradually replaced the Ansaldo A.C.2 serving in the same squadrons that the A.C.2 had served with, the 93ª, 94ª and 95ª squadrons, all of them comprised inside the 8º Gruppo (8th group) of the 2º Stormo Caccia Terrestre (2nd land-fighter wing). They continued in active service during the early-to-mid 1930s performing the assault role in order to develop the theories of the Italian general Amedeo Mecozzi. After a first experimental stage where they served with the VII Gruppo Caccia (7th fighter group) in order to clearly define the specifications needed for a dedicated assault airplane, in 1930 the group was transformed into the VII Gruppo Autonomo Caccia (7th Autonomous Fighter group) and then, in 1931 into the VII Gruppo Auonomo Caccia e d'Assalto (7th Autonomous Fighter and Assault group) based in the airfield of Rome-Ciampino south.

In 1934 the VII Gruppo became part of the 5º Stormo Assalto (5th Assault wing) which kept in active the A.C.3 until 1936 when they were replaced by the Caproni A.P.1 or the Breda Ba.64 which were much adequate for the assault role, apart from being more modern.

Sources:
1. https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansaldo_AC.2 (The parts about the A.C.3)
2. Salamander Books - The Complete book of fighter

Ansaldo A.C.2

Good morning. We start this week with another Italian fighter of the 1920s.

The Ansaldo A.C.2 was an Italian monoplane single-seat parasol fighter made manufactured by the Italian company Ansaldo during the 1920s.

When the Dewoitine D.1 was flown for the first time in November 1921, it was one of the most advanced fighters of that decade, that's why Ansaldo was very interested in producing it, so it bought a production license, in order to produce am improved sub-variant of it.

That's how in 1925 Ansaldo bought a Dewoitine D.1ter (named by the own company as the Ansaldo A.C.1) and made their own version powered by a 300hp Hispano-Suiza HS 42-8 eight cylinder water-cooled and was armed with two synchronised 7,7mm Vickers machine guns.

In 1925 it was assigned to serve with the Italian 93ª,94ª and 95ª squadrons (squadriglia) all of them belonging to the 2º Stormo Caccia Terrestre (2nd land-fighter wing). being in active service with the Regia Aeronautica until 1929 when they were progressive replaced by the Ansaldo A.C.3. Some sources claim that the French Aéronautique Navale (French naval aviation) used some of them in their Mediterranean base, as the only reference about that airplane that we could find was only in text format, the drawing should be considered as speculative.

Sources:
1. https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansaldo_AC.2
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters.

Ansaldo A.1 "Balilla" - Italian Users

We finish the series of posts dedicated to this Italian fighter by covering its' native users.

The Ansaldo A.1 "Balilla" (which named after a Genoan folk hero) was an Italian fighter locally produced in Italy during the closing stages of the World War I.

The A.1 was the result from Ansaldo company to create a true fighter, given that the SVA proved to be not suitable for that role. The Ansaldo's designer Giuseppe Brezzi revised the design of the SVA in order to increase the size of the lower wing and redesigned the interplane strut configuration. Those two redesignments created more drag but at the same time the stiffness of the wing structure was increased and the stress in the airframe was reduced. It was powered by a powered-up version of the SVA engine, the SPA 6A piston engine and a safety system to jettison the fuel tank through a ventral hatch was installed.

The first prototype was completed in July 1917 but it wasn't accepted in the Corpo Aeronautico Militare until December. That reluctance to accept it was because the test pilots weren't enthusiastic when evaluating and, even if they found it to be better than the SVA.5, the type still wasn't as maneouvrable as the French fighter of those years. That's why the prototype was furtherly modified, in order to enlarge the wings,  the rudder and to increase slightly the power of the engine. Apparently that elevated the modified prototype to Corpo Aeronautico Militare standards and it was accepted, named Ansaldo A.1 bis. It was assigned in the 91ª Squadriglia to be evaluated.

The reports about its' performance were fixed, while some of them praised its' high speed, other deemed it difficult to manoeuvre and in general to control it. However as the Italian fighter pool was becoming obsolete, it was ordered anyway.

The first machine of the first 100 batch entered in service in July 1918 and most of them were assigned to second line duties performing home defense roles, as the first line fighters were performed by the better and much modern SPAD S.XIII. Before the war ended it only scored one aerial victory against an Austro-Hungarian reconnaissance airplane, and it was during those months that Ansaldo decided to promote the airplane, including the decission of nicknaming it as "Balilla", flying demonstration flights in the major Italian cities and gifting one machine to the Italian aviator Antonio Locatelli in order to perform stunts with it. However it backfired when Locatelli had to make a forced landing behind Austro-Hungarian lines due to a mechanical failure and was taken prisoner. Despite that negative propaganda, the Corpo Aeronautico Militare ordered another 100 of them to be produced, in order to be delivered before the end of the war and, at the date of the armistice, 186 were in service, of which 47 were used for training duties and the remainder were put into storage.

After the war, an Italian aviators association, the Cooperativa Nazionale Aeronautica (CNA) bought 40 of them together with other SVA, Hanriot HD.1, Fokker E.V and some unespecified Aviatik airplanes in March 1921.
When the Corpo Aeronautico was disbanded and replaced by the Regia Aeronautica in 1925, the Balilla was assigned to training duties, together with other outdated Aviatik and SVAs which were operated by the CNA, which in practice was a disguised pilot training association.
The CNA trained more than 400 pilots between 1925-1930 and it's reported that some Balillas were built (or rebuilt) by this association. With the next great reform of the Regia Aeronautica in 1933, the task of training the pilots was assumed by the Regia Aeronautica itself, 12 Balillas were kept in active until March-April 1940, but most probably they had dissappeared some years earlier.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansaldo_A.1_Balilla
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
3. Windsock Datafile 88 - Ansaldo A.1 Balilla

Ansaldo A.1 Balilla - Polish users, part two

Today we finish with the Polish users for this Italian airplane.

We are centering in the Polish-built Lublin A.1 Balillas.

The Lublin A.1 was a license-built version of the Ansaldo A.1 Balilla manufactured by the Lublin factory, in the Polish city of Lublin.

They were heavier than their Italian counterparts, around 80 Kg heavier and showed frequent problems with the engine and the quality of the welds. That leaded to various accidents, many of them fatal. Because of that bad reputation, in 1924, in spite of the Ansaldos' effort to convince that the type was reliable, the production was reduced from 100 to 80, and eventually only 57 of them were built. In 1925 their armament was completely retired and in 20th September 1927 the last of the Balillas was written-off from Polish service because they had been gradually replaced with Blériot-SPAD S.51, Blériot-SPAD S.61 and Potez 25.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansaldo_A.1_Balilla
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
3. Windsock Datafile 88 - Ansaldo A.1 Balilla

Ansaldo A.1 Balilla - Polish users, part one

We keep going with this Italian fighter, now we are centering in the Polish users. As Poland used this fighter so widely, we had to divide it into two parts.

A Polish purchasing commitee visited Italy in 1919 looking for new weapons, and they closed a deal for ten evaluation airplanes. Those were delivered to Warsaw in January 1920. Initally the impression caused, mainly from American volunteers was extremely good due to its' high speed, fuel capacity and maneuvrability. It's curious to point out that this last aspect was disdained by the Italian pilots.

On May 25th they were deployed on the front line (the Polish-Soviet war was active during those days) and all except one of them were destroyed during a Soviet counter-attack in Ukraine. However, the Polish commitee had already closed another contract to buy another 25 machines plus a license to locally build them. The new batch of airplanes arrived in Poland after hostilities ended and, in July 1921 the first of 36 machines were produced in the Lublin factory.

Anyway, we are going to cover the Lublin-built ones in the next post.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansaldo_A.1_Balilla
2. Salamander Books - The Complete book of fighters.

Ansaldo A.1 Balilla - European users

We keep going with this Italian fighter, this time we cover its' European users, excluding the Polish and Italian users because those two will have their own posts.

The Ansaldo A.1 Balilla was sold to many European countries, the ones covered in this post are:

• Belgium: According to the Belgian Military Aviation archives, one Ansaldo A.1 was in service, with the code "1". Apparently it was in service from some 1920 until 1924 when it was written-off. Some sources claim that one Balilla was displayed in Brussels in order to sale it, but no orders were forthcoming. In anyway it's remarkable to point out that in order to make the return trip of that machine to Paris, it was fitted with a British compass taken from a Belgian airplane. As we couldn't find graphical evidence, the drawing is speculative.
• Greece: Eight Balillas were bought by Turkey in order to use them in their independence war against various European users, among them, Greece. In 1923 a Greek cruiser ship seized an Italian cargo ship bound for Turkey loaded with those airplanes which were retained by the Greeks. However, lacking an appropriate training and maintenance manuals they were never operative. They were used as trainers operating from Tatoi airfield, in Athens.
• Latvia: On August 1922 the Ansaldo operatives which were in Warsaw, selling armament to Poland, concluded a contract with Latvia. The contract stipulated four SVA.10 and A.1 with previssions for more. Those airplanes were to be flight-tested in Riga by Ansaldo crews and, on August 21st the Polish government wrote a letter supporting the qualities of those airplanes. In the end, Latvia bought 13 Balillas, but unfortunately, that success claimed the life of the Tenente Mainardi who spun in at Riga-Spilve airfield when performing low-level acrobatics at a festival held in 1924. The Latvian Balillas were used by a fighter squadron first and by a flying school later.
• USSR: The White Russian army bought some Balillas in order to equip some of their fighter squadrons in 1920 but they weren't delivered until 1922 when 18 airplanes arrived by ship via Odessa which was already under Bolshevik control, and were assigned to the Independent Navy Fighter Sections (IAO, later known as OMIAO) at Novy Petergof (2nd IAO) and Odessa (1st IAO) which were organized in the traditional Russian system of six operational aircrafts and two in reserve. The last two Balillas were used by the Moscow School for Advanced Pilots until 1925. It's also known that the 1st IAO used the Balillas from 1923 to 1925 and some accidents were, unfortunately, suffered by various pilots. Even if the data about those accidents are scant, it's known that the No.2 crashed on 7th July 1924 while piloted by Akulinichev and the No. 3 crashed on 26th May 1924 killing its' pilot, SF Paenkov. The type continued in service until 1927 with the 2nd IAO when it was retired from active service.  

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansaldo_A.1_Balilla
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
3. Windsock Datafile 88 - Ansaldo A.1 Balilla

Ansaldo A.1 Balilla - Latin-American users

We switch countries and airplanes, France for Italy and the ANF Les Mureaux by the Ansaldo ones.

The Ansaldo A.1 Balilla was an Italian fighter designed in 1917 and it didn't enter into service until July 1918.

In this post we are going to center in the Latin-American users of it.

• Argentina: The 350º Squadriglia was assigned to Argentina in order to try to sell many type of airplanes. From old Farmans to the newly Caproni bombers. That's why many aces flew some propaganda flights there. On 30th April 1919, two Italian pilots, Locatelli and Tenente Silvio Scaroni flew two Balillas from Buenos Aires to Rosario in a round-trip. Later, on 5th September the Tenente Edoardo Olivero made a round trip from Buenos Aires to Tandil and was followed on 27th September by another Buenos Aires-Tandil-Tres Arroyos flight which took three days in total. They couldn't sale any airplane to the government, however it's known that at least one was sold to the Centro de Aviación Civil (Civilian Aviation Center) in the city of Castelar. As we couldn't find any graphical evidence on this one, the colours should be considered as speculative.
• Costa Rica: It's reported that at least one Balilla was flown in Costa Rica in 1920. Again, there isn't any graphical evidence on this, so it's just an speculative drawing.
• Honduras: It's also reported that at least one was flown in Tegucigalpa in August 1920 plus another unspecified others in September, but not further details are known. As the previous ones, the colours are speculative due to the lack of graphical sources.
• Mexico: Mexico ordered the Ansaldos in January 1920 but they didn't arrive until December 1920. It was flight tested by Lievre, crashed and was rebuilt by the Talleres Nacionales de Construcciones Aeronauticas (National Aircraft Construction Workshops) TNCA and given the registration of 1-D-79. It was tested again in April 1921 piloted, most probably by the German pilot Fritz Bieler. The American pilot who was hired to reorganize the Mexican Fuerza Aerea (Mexican Air Force), Lt. Ralph O'Neil flew it on June 10th, August 1st and September 12th 1921. On May 1st 1923 it was assigned to the newly formed 1er Escuadrón de Caza (1st Fighter Squadron) but that unit barely saw any action and was centered in training duties. Unfortunately, the airplane spun while performing a low altitude barrel roll during a fund rising event at Balbuena Airfield, killing its' pilot, the Teniente Ramón Alcalá on 12th August 1923. 
• Peru: Two Balillas were shipped to Peru, where, after a memorable demonstration flight from Lima to Trujillo performed by the Italian pilot Enrico Silvio Rolandi on 28th March 1921 were bought by the Peruvian Aviation Corps. However some sources claim that it was a SPAD S.VII the airplane that performed that flight. In any way, Rolandi made another flight from Lima to San Vicente de Cañete in order to carry a sum in behalf of the government. After that the Italian mission returned to Italy liquidating its' assets at cost. One Balilla is known to have crashed on 7th December 1922.
• Uruguay: The Italian mission in Argentina linked the capital cities of Argentina and Uruguay and, on June 20th 1919, the Tenente Giorgio Michetti and Sergente Nicola Bo flew from Buenos Aires to Montevideo and back, in order to extend the sales to that country. Some sources claim that at least one airplane was sold. As the graphical evidences of this one are lacking, the drawing should be considered as speculative.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansaldo_A.1_Balilla
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters.
3. Windsock Datafile 88 - Ansaldo A.1 'Balilla'

ANF Les Mureaux 190

Good morning. We start the day with another French prototype fighter.

The ANF Les Mureaux 190 was a French lightweight fighter prototype aircraft, in order to response to a program created by the French Ministry of Air.

It was designed by André Brunet. It was an all-metal monoplane first tested in July 1936 and took part in the Paris Air Show celebrated in November of that same year, where it proved to be very manoeuvrable. Less than one year later, in mid 1937, the project was abandoned due to the poor quality of the engine.

It was powered by a 450hp Salmson 12vars inverted V-12 engine. It was going to be armed by a 20mm cannon firing through the propeller hub and two 7,7mm machine guns mounted in the wings. A version with a retractable undercarriage, the ANF Les Mureaux 191 was planned but its' development was dropped.

This airplane was the last fighter of ANF Les Mureaux before being nationalized and become part of SNCAN (Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Nord).

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANF_Les_Mureaux_190
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANF_Les_Mureaux

ANF Les Mureaux 180

We keep going with the French ANF Les Mureaux fighters and now it's the turn for the ANF Les Mureaux 180.

The ANF Les Mureaux 180 was a French fighter prototype of the early-to-mid 1930s. It was a single-engined two-seater, gull-winged monoplane. Only one was built and modified because the program was abandoned due to obsolescence.

The original ANF Les Mureaux 180 flew for the first time on 10th February 1935 and was powered by a 690hp Hispano-Suiza 12xbrs engine and a single fin and rudder. In April of the same year it was modified to be powered by a 690hp Hispano-Suiza 12xcrs engine in order to fit a 20mm cannon that could fire through the propeller hub. It was also armed with a pair of wing-mounted 7,7mm machine guns, it had another 7,7mm machine gun mounted in a flexible mount located in the observer position and the tail was changed to two vertical stabilizers. Testing continued until April 1936, but it was abandoned because the design was considered to be obsolete.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANF_Les_Mureaux_180
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters.

ANF Les Mureaux 170

Today we keep going with the French ANF Les Mureaux fighters.

The ANF Les Mureaux 170 was a French single-seat parasol fighter monoplane which was rejected to enter into service with the French Armée de l'Air.

In 1930 the French government issued a contest for a single-seat fighter that should reach the 350 km/h and that should be powered by a supercharged engine. In order to win the contest, ANF Les Mureaux presented the ANF Les Mureaux 170 which was a parasol winged monoplane of all metal construction. It was powered by a 690hp Hispano-Suiza 12Xbrs V12 engine and was armed with two wing-mounted 7,7 Vickers machine guns.

The wings were slightly gulled and tapered out in order to give it maximum chord and thickness along the wing. They were braced to fuselage by struts, both undercarriages, the tailwheel and the front one were fixed and the pilot sat in an open cockpit.

The prototype was flown on 19th November 1932 and, in spite of the good performance shown, it was in fact described as "the fastest French service aircraft", the view from the cockpit was very poor, specially when landing. A second prototype was flown for the first time in March 1934 but it wasn't chosen for production, because the contest was won by both the Dewoitine D.500 and the Blériot-SPAD S.510. This type served as the basis for the next ANF Les Mureaux airplane, the ANF Les Mureaux 180.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANF_Les_Mureaux_170
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters