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Re: extant G.59s

Posted by Gregory on Wed Feb 05, 2003 05:18:45 AM

In reply top Re: If you won the lottery what five aircraft???? posted by Steve T yet again on Tue Feb 04, 2003 10:07:14 PM

Steve -

As far as I think of, there are six G.59s around, including the two flyers with Pino Valenti in Parma (on the mend after a landing mishap) and Aerotex in Australia. Plus the former G.59 single-seater converted to G.55 standard for the Italian Air Force Museum.

As to a red racer - well, if I had the choice, I wouldn't. When the Regia Aeronautica tested the three DB605-powered fighters in 1942-43, it found that the Macchi 205 delivered the best low altitude performance, with the Fiat G.55 best at medium altitude and the Reggiane RE 2005 at high altitude. And guess what - that tallies perfectly with their gradually increasing wing area ...

So, if I were to race in red, with or without the Prancing Horse, I'd go for a Macchi 205 - maybe in the unbuilt postwar derivative with a Merlin and P-51D style cowling. Photos show it progressed as least to mock-up stage. Now, maybe that's idea on which to spend my lottery euros!

Gregory

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