- Yes
- No
GENERAL INFO
The story of the Fiat G.91 is well known to anyone, was the italian answer, to a competition held by NATO for a lightweight tactical support aicraft.
But today i want to point out a more interesting story, the one about the R/3 version, that was used by the Luftwaffe and in game is only present in the German TechTree.
Even tho the Fiat G.91 was the winner of the NATO competition, many of the main nations preferred to adopt their domestic designs, Germany, however, was really interested in the airplane and requested Italy some modifications to suit better their needs.
Germany requested the main armament to be swapped in favor of 2x30mm DEFA cannons, a Reinforcement of the wings and the overall structure to add 2 more Hardpoints under the wings and better Avionics, the same that were later adopted on the G.91 R/1A variant.
The G91 is equipped with a Bristol Orpheus MK.803 turbojet engine that can produce 2270kgf of thrust, allowing the plane to reach 1084km/h at sea level as well as sustain a climb rate of 39m/s with a MTOW of 5,5 metric tons. As overall performance the G.91 has a service ceiling of 11000, a turn rate of 26seconds, a maximum structural speed for the wings of 1128km/h and 345 km/h for the landing gear, with a maximum G+ load of around 11 and a maximum G- load of around 5.
Before any license R/3’s would actually be produced and put in service inside of the German Air Force Italy had already been experimenting with a new variant of the G.91 aircraft. Specifically made for the purpose of testing and evaluation of the new proposed machine, Fiat had requested an Italian airforce Fiat G.91 in the R/1 configuration (serial Number MM6275). Shortly thereafter they would proceed to convert it to what would be known as the R/3 standard (which included all the advancements such as the new 30mm Defa cannons). Its vital to note that this variant had Italian markings. Not much is known of the tests but we can easily assume they went smoothly due to Germany going ahead with the purchase of the G.91 R/3.
ARMAMENT+EQUIPMENTS
The G.91 R/3 can be outfitted with the following ordnance:
- 2 x 30 mm DEFA 552 cannons (125 rpg = 250 total)
- 2 x 30 mm DEFA 552 cannons + 4 x 250 lb AN-M57 bombs (1,000 lb total)
- 2 x 30 mm DEFA 552 cannons + 2 x 500 lb AN-M64A1 bombs (1,000 lb total)
- 1 x 30 mm DEFA 552 cannon + 4 x AS-20 Nord missiles
- 2 x 30 mm DEFA 552 cannons + 38 x SNEB type 23 rockets
SPECIFICATIONS
Crew: 1
Length: 10.29 m (33.9 ft)
Wingspan: 8.53 m (27.12 ft)
Wing area: 16.42 m² (177 ft²)
Height: 3.96 m (12.12 ft)
Empty weight: 3,100 kg (6,834 lbs)
Loaded weight: 5,440 kg (11,933 lbs)
Max. takeoff weight: 5,500 kg (12,125 lbs)
Powerplant: 1 x Bristol-Siddeley Orpheus 803 turbojet engine developing 2,267.962 kgf of thrust (22.24 kN, 5,000 lbf)
WHY IT SHOULD BE IN GAME
In my opinion the Fiat G.91 R/3 should be in game in the italian Tech tree as it would be more than a valuable CAS option for the italians and an easy one to add being the same as the German’s one but with its own camo and markings. That would benefit a lot the italian players allowing them to have access to the best single engine G.91 with devastating cannons and excellent CAS capabilities that are lacking in the italian Tech tree. Not only that, this would give them a more capable Fighter aircraft than the actual R/1 variant and boosting the interest and appeal of the italian Tree more than ever.
PHOTOS
SOURCES
-Fiat G.91 by Giorgio Apostolo
-Fiat G.91 Flight Manual
-Fiat G.91 R.3. 1960-1968 by Siegfried Wache
-speciale Fiat G.91 il piccolo sabre
-Fiat Aviation Brochure
-Storia Militare G.91
-http://www.aeronautica.difesa.it/storia/museostorico/Pagine/FiatG91R.aspx
