Fiat G.80

Fiat G.80/G.82
Fiat G.80
Role Trainer
Manufacturer Fiat
Designer Giuseppe Gabrielli
First flight 9 December 1951
Retired 1955
Primary user Italian Air Force
Number built 2 prototypes + 3 Fiat G.80
2 prototypes + 4 Fiat G.82[1]


The Fiat G.80 was a military trainer developed in Italy in the 1950s, and was that country's first true jet-powered aircraft. It was a conventional low-wing monoplane with retractable tricycle undercarriage and engine intakes on the fuselage sides. The pilot and instructor sat in tandem under a long bubble canopy.

Design and development

Two G.80 prototypes were followed by three pre-production machines, but the Aeronautica Militare found it unsuitable for their requirements and did not purchase it in quantity. Undeterred, Fiat developed a more refined version, dubbed the G.82, for entry in a NATO competition to select a standard jet trainer. Apart from many detail changes, the G.82 featured a longer fuselage, a Rolls-Royce Nene engine in place of the G.80's de Havilland Goblin, and wingtip tanks. Five aircraft were constructed, but when the competition was cancelled and the G.82 was not selected by either NATO or the Aeronautica Militare, the development programme was finally terminated. Plans for specialised versions including night fighter, reconnaissance, and close-support aircraft went unrealised, as did the G.84 that was to have been powered by an Allison J35. The G.82s were used for a few years by the Aeronautica Militare's training school at Amendola before being handed over to the Reparto Sperimentale Volo ("Department of Experimental Flight") in 1957.

Variants

Fiat G.82

Operators

 Italy

Specifications (G.82)

Fiat G.80-3 formerly operated by the Italian Air Force in
the museum Vigna di Valle

Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1956–57.[2]

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fiat G.80.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, September 11, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.