mc.202 folgore

A World War II Italian fighter aircraft developed and produced by Macchi Aeronautica from 1941 to 1948. Marking a break with tradition, the MC.202 Folgore ("Thunderbolt") was powered by a license-built Daimler-Benz DB.601 instead of an Italian engine, resulting in an aircraft with good top speed and performance at par with contemporary Allied fighters. Recognition features include the long, streamlined nose and exhaust stacks indicative of a liquid-cooled engine, a three-bladed propeller, underfuselage radiator, straight wings with rounded tips (the port wing longer by 21.59 cm (8.5 in)), an antenna mast just behind the raised, faired canopy, and a non-retracting tailwheel.

The MC.202 was armed with 2 Breda-SAFAT 12.7 x 81 mm machine guns mounted in the nose cowling. Later batches added 2 7.7 mm machine guns in the wings (these tended to be removed due to their weight and their ineffectiveness against Allied aircraft). Underwing stores could include 2 bombs or two 100-liter drop tanks.

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