The courageous volunteer pilots of three obsolete British biplanes nicknamed Faith, Hope, and Charity engaged enemy raiders in combat over Malta in June 1940. Top Image: Gloster Gladiator in flight over Egypt, 1941. Courtesy Imperial War Museums. Malta is a tiny archipelago situated between Sicily and Tunisia. Well, good place as any to post my notes on Italian aircraft.---Historically, the Fiat CR.42 first flew on May 23, 1938. By the spring of 1939 the first machines are delivered to the Regia Aeronautica - specifically to 53 Stormo C.T. [Gladiator vs CR.42 Falco: 1940–41 By Håkan Gustavsson, Ludovico Slongo Pg 6] In North Africa, Gladiators had to face Italian Fiat CR.42 Falcos, the performance of which was slightly superior to that of the Gladiator at higher altitudes.The first aerial combat between the biplanes took place on 14 June 1940 over Amseat and a claim was made by Regia Aeronautia of a Gladiator kill. A month later 17 CR.42's clashed with 15 The Fulmar was actually little more than the Fairey P,4 /34 light bomber, re-modeled as a two-seat carrier-based fighter. Nevertheless, in 1940 the FAA fighter pilots were happy to get these because they actually represented a major advance over the Blackburn Skuas, Blackburn Rocs and Gloster Sea-Gladiators they had been issued hitherto! reply Short S.31 - ½-scale flying test version of Stirling [74] Short Sealand. Short SC.7 Skyvan. Short Stirling. Short Sturgeon [75] SIAI-Marchetti S.F.260. Siebel Si 204 [citation needed] Sikorsky HRS. Sikorsky R-4B Hoverfly - first helicopter flown by Brown, learned to fly it from aircraft manual. . With more than 1,800 built, it was the most numerous Italian aircraft in World War II. The CR.42 was the last of the Fiat biplane fighters to enter front line service, and represented the epitome of the type, along with the Gloster Gladiator. Source: Fiat CR.42 on Wiki This gave it a much heavier attack capability than most earlier biplane fighters and equalled that of the final biplanes used by the British and Italians, the Gladiator and Fiat CR.42 Falco. The S.510 was doomed to obsolescence before it even flew, although when it was designed many pilots and experts strongly believed that biplanes would prove The Gloster Gladiator (or Gloster SS.37) was a British-built biplane fighter. It was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) (as the Sea Gladiator variant) and was exported to a number of other air forces during the late 1930s. It was the RAF's last biplane fighter aircraft and was rendered obsolete by newer monoplane designs even as it was being introduced. Though often 659 mph. 1944. Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet (Comet)Single-Seat Rocket-Powered Interceptor Aircraft. 577 mph. 1945. Lockheed P-80 / F-80 Shooting StarSingle-Seat, Jet-Powered Fighter / Fighter-Bomber Aircraft. 559 mph. 1941. Heinkel He 280Single-Seat, Twin-Engine Jet-Powered Fighter Prototype Aircraft. Quel giorno, su Coriza, nove Gloster Gladiator della B Flight dell' 80 Squadron sorprendevano quattro C.R.42 del 160º Gruppo Autonomo C.T. di pattuglia da quota più alta e ne abbattevano subito uno (insieme ad un Fiat G.50 accorso in sua difesa). Allora altri otto C.R.42 decollavano per dar man forte ai colleghi, ma i piloti della RAF li

fiat cr 42 vs gloster gladiator