Fiat G.91 R/3 (Italian Fiat G.91 R/1 modified for testing)

[Would you like to see this in-game?]
  • Yes
  • No
0 voters

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

image

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

-Fiat G.91 - Wikipedia

-http://www.aeronautica.difesa.it/storia/museostorico/Pagine/FiatG91R.aspx

-https://www.flugzeuglexikon.com/Luftwaffenmuseum/Fiat G-91 R3 Gina - Erdkampfflugzeug/fiat g-91 r3 gina - erdkampfflugzeug.html

7 Likes

YES +1 Screenshot_20230414-102136~2.png

Screenshot_20230414-102431~2.png

7 Likes

+1, Italy needs more CAS

1 Like

+1, a needed addition, very surpised we’ve yet to see it in game.

1 Like

+1 we need all the g91s that were used so yes

2 Likes

+1 A plane with Italian registration number and insignia is an Italian plane in all respects, understand Gaijin?

1 Like

Was this loadout type real or did they just take off one of the guns in game for balance reasons? Because (as far as I remember) there was no need to take off one of the cannons for the AS-20s.

probably because they needed to mount a missile guidance system in the place where the gun would go. i doubt its for balance.

I guess, but I say that because in game when using the loadout, you don’t remove one of the cannon models (its still there). Could be lazy on their part or could be because it was not originally intended to be removed.

It’s hard to tell, and I don’t think these are the same planes, but if one side of the gun needed to be removed (in game, the right gun) then it would be removed on the test one I think. So I don’t know.

its possible that the gun wasnt removed but only the ammo container?

No, you were right.
Flight Manual for the G.91 R/4 Page 17, which is close enough,
image
Left gun panel replaced with AS-20 guidance systems. No pictures but the manual says it, and the same probably applies to the R/3.
Now we just need to deal with the gun still being there on the model.

1 Like

but even in the pictures… both guns are still there…
also interesting pylons for the AS.20

it was nevessary to mount the missile guidance, sorry for the late reply

Cool +1!