The FIAT G Nothing Fighter
Two paper airplanes by Giuseppe Gabrielli
by Giorgio Configliacco (Translated by Leonardo Pavese)
In Leonardo’s archive there is preserved a report entitled Velivolo (airplane) G.90, dated 3.31.1952. It consists of a three-page description and two drawings. One of the drawings is a 1:50 scale three-view rendering (shown above) dated 3.26.1951, while the second picture is also a three-view representation, but it is on a 1:10 scale and therefore it is more detailed.
According to the report, the G.90 project originated from “…the need of a high-performance trainer for allowing the cadets to familiarize themselves with jet-propelled aircraft, after a relatively short training period on propeller driven airplanes, in order to reach the (FIAT) G.80 level being adequately prepared.”
The FIAT G.90 presented a close resemblance to the second (and third to fly) prototype of the French Fouga Magister, which had a cruciform empennage instead of the characteristic V tail of the others. And, like the Magister, it was also designed to use two 400 kg (3.92 kN) static thrust Turbomeca Marboré turbojet engines.
The envisioned FIAT was larger than the Fouga:
Wingspan: m 12 (39.3 ft)
Length: m 11.5 (37.7 ft)
compared with the m 11.43 wingspan and the m 9.85 length of the French airplane. The FIAT G.90 was also heavier: it grossed 2960 kg (6525.6 lbs.) compared to the 2634 kg ( 5806.9 lbs.) of the Fouga Magister. Accordingly, the estimated performance of the Italian jet was inferior: the climbing speed was only 9 m/s (1771 ft/m) well below the 17 m/s (3346 ft/m) of the French airplane.
Like the first prototype of the Magister, the G.90 was not going to have a pressurized cockpit nor was it equipped with ejectable seats for the pilots sitting in tandem.
The uncertainty about the dating of this project prevents us from determining how much the FIAT G.90 owed to the Magister, which first flew on July 22, 1952.
Probably, the termination of the G.90 by FIAT in 1953 was due to the knowledge that Aermacchi had developed a much more capable ab initio trainer.
Another discovery made in Leonardo’s archive is a curious report dated 5.29.1946.
On the cover it bears the title: “Aeroplano a reazione FIAT G” (FIAT G Jet Airplane). The first typed page has the heading: “Ufficio Tecnico aviaz. 1⁰” (Aviat. Technical Bureau 1st) and the title: “Velivolo da caccia a reazione FIAT-Vickers” (FIAT-Vickers Jet Fighter).
Two drawings of the aircraft are attached to the report. They depict a single-engine, single-seat jet propelled airplane.“…designed for the fighter and assault role.” The aircraft is very similar to the American Republic XP-84 Thunderjet that had flown for the first time on 2.28.1946, just three months before the report.
The main difference between the two fighters was the engine: the Thunderjet used a G.E. J-35, while the FIAT project envisioned the use of a British Metropolitan-Vickers F2/4 (hence the name of the Italian aircraft). Both engines had an axial compressor. The J-35 developed an 1814 kg thrust (kN 17.7), while the F2/4 turbojet was limited to about 1500 kg (14.7 kN). The latter was produced by Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Co. that had begun studying and building aviation gas turbines in 1938. After the early bench engine tests in 1941, the first F2 was flight-tested in 1943 on an AVRO Lancaster and later on a Gloster Meteor. The thrust increased from the original 817 kg (8 kN) to the 1590 kg of the 1945 version of the F2/4. A later development, designated Beryl Mk.1, was installed on the prototype of the seaplane fighter Saunders-Roe SR/A1. After the Beryl, Metropolitan-Vickers started the project of a new engine called Sapphire, but in 1949 abandoned the aviation gas turbines field and transferred the project of the Sapphire to Armstrong Siddeley.
The report about the Italian project does not provide a reason for the choice of an engine that, after all, had not been used very much up to that point. Probably, in the early post-war period, FIAT was more familiar with British engines, due to its experience with the Merlins (which FIAT also overhauled in Italy) and the Goblins that were used on the Italian DeHavilland Vampires. And the British industry did not provide any other option for an engine with an axial compressor.
The FIAT G-jet fighter had a metal airframe and tricycle landing gear but lacked an ejectable seat for the pilot.
The foreseen armament consisted of two mm 37 or mm 50 cannons in the nose, plus two mm 20 guns in the wing roots and four mm 12,7 machine guns also in the wings.
Projected technical data:
Wingspan: m 11.7 (38.3 ft)
Length: m 9.7 (31.8 ft)
Empty weight: 2600 kg (5732 lbs.)
Gross weight: 4300 kg (9479 lbs.)
Maximum speed: 900 km/h at an altitude of 8,000 meters (559 mph; 485 knots at 26,200 ft)
Service ceiling: m 12000 (39370 ft)
Range: Km 1200 (6480 NM)
These reports with the attached drawings, although embryonic (as proven by the lack of a project number after the G), are in any case very interesting, because they document Dr. Gabrielli first approach to the design of a jet military aircraft, just two years after the drawing of the heavy G-58 fighter powered by two DB-605 inverted V-12 piston engines.
FIAT G.90
In Leonardo’s archive there is preserved a report entitled Velivolo (airplane) G.90, dated 3.31.1952. It consists of a three-page description and two drawings. One of the drawings is a 1:50 scale three-view rendering (shown above) dated 3.26.1951, while the second picture is also a three-view representation, but it is on a 1:10 scale and therefore it is more detailed.
According to the report, the G.90 project originated from “…the need of a high-performance trainer for allowing the cadets to familiarize themselves with jet-propelled aircraft, after a relatively short training period on propeller driven airplanes, in order to reach the (FIAT) G.80 level being adequately prepared.”
The FIAT G.90 presented a close resemblance to the second (and third to fly) prototype of the French Fouga Magister, which had a cruciform empennage instead of the characteristic V tail of the others. And, like the Magister, it was also designed to use two 400 kg (3.92 kN) static thrust Turbomeca Marboré turbojet engines.
The envisioned FIAT was larger than the Fouga:
Wingspan: m 12 (39.3 ft)
Length: m 11.5 (37.7 ft)
compared with the m 11.43 wingspan and the m 9.85 length of the French airplane. The FIAT G.90 was also heavier: it grossed 2960 kg (6525.6 lbs.) compared to the 2634 kg ( 5806.9 lbs.) of the Fouga Magister. Accordingly, the estimated performance of the Italian jet was inferior: the climbing speed was only 9 m/s (1771 ft/m) well below the 17 m/s (3346 ft/m) of the French airplane.
Like the first prototype of the Magister, the G.90 was not going to have a pressurized cockpit nor was it equipped with ejectable seats for the pilots sitting in tandem.
The uncertainty about the dating of this project prevents us from determining how much the FIAT G.90 owed to the Magister, which first flew on July 22, 1952.
Probably, the termination of the G.90 by FIAT in 1953 was due to the knowledge that Aermacchi had developed a much more capable ab initio trainer.
FIAT G…and that’s it
Another discovery made in Leonardo’s archive is a curious report dated 5.29.1946.
On the cover it bears the title: “Aeroplano a reazione FIAT G” (FIAT G Jet Airplane). The first typed page has the heading: “Ufficio Tecnico aviaz. 1⁰” (Aviat. Technical Bureau 1st) and the title: “Velivolo da caccia a reazione FIAT-Vickers” (FIAT-Vickers Jet Fighter).
Two drawings of the aircraft are attached to the report. They depict a single-engine, single-seat jet propelled airplane.“…designed for the fighter and assault role.” The aircraft is very similar to the American Republic XP-84 Thunderjet that had flown for the first time on 2.28.1946, just three months before the report.
The main difference between the two fighters was the engine: the Thunderjet used a G.E. J-35, while the FIAT project envisioned the use of a British Metropolitan-Vickers F2/4 (hence the name of the Italian aircraft). Both engines had an axial compressor. The J-35 developed an 1814 kg thrust (kN 17.7), while the F2/4 turbojet was limited to about 1500 kg (14.7 kN). The latter was produced by Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Co. that had begun studying and building aviation gas turbines in 1938. After the early bench engine tests in 1941, the first F2 was flight-tested in 1943 on an AVRO Lancaster and later on a Gloster Meteor. The thrust increased from the original 817 kg (8 kN) to the 1590 kg of the 1945 version of the F2/4. A later development, designated Beryl Mk.1, was installed on the prototype of the seaplane fighter Saunders-Roe SR/A1. After the Beryl, Metropolitan-Vickers started the project of a new engine called Sapphire, but in 1949 abandoned the aviation gas turbines field and transferred the project of the Sapphire to Armstrong Siddeley.
The report about the Italian project does not provide a reason for the choice of an engine that, after all, had not been used very much up to that point. Probably, in the early post-war period, FIAT was more familiar with British engines, due to its experience with the Merlins (which FIAT also overhauled in Italy) and the Goblins that were used on the Italian DeHavilland Vampires. And the British industry did not provide any other option for an engine with an axial compressor.
The FIAT G-jet fighter had a metal airframe and tricycle landing gear but lacked an ejectable seat for the pilot.
The foreseen armament consisted of two mm 37 or mm 50 cannons in the nose, plus two mm 20 guns in the wing roots and four mm 12,7 machine guns also in the wings.
Projected technical data:
Wingspan: m 11.7 (38.3 ft)
Length: m 9.7 (31.8 ft)
Empty weight: 2600 kg (5732 lbs.)
Gross weight: 4300 kg (9479 lbs.)
Maximum speed: 900 km/h at an altitude of 8,000 meters (559 mph; 485 knots at 26,200 ft)
Service ceiling: m 12000 (39370 ft)
Range: Km 1200 (6480 NM)
These reports with the attached drawings, although embryonic (as proven by the lack of a project number after the G), are in any case very interesting, because they document Dr. Gabrielli first approach to the design of a jet military aircraft, just two years after the drawing of the heavy G-58 fighter powered by two DB-605 inverted V-12 piston engines.
This article appeared originally on the n. 147 issue of the Italian magazine Ali Antiche. The magazine is published by G.A.V.S. (Gruppo Amici Velivoli Storici), an Italian association of volunteers dedicated to the preservation of the Italian aviation heritage.
Your comments will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
L. Pavese
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