Fiat CR.30

CR.30
Role	Single-seat fighter biplane
Manufacturer	Fiat
Designer	Celestino Rosatelli
First flight	March 1932
Introduction	1932
Primary users	Regia Aeronautica; Hungarian Air Force
Produced	1932-1935
Number built	176
Variants	Fiat CR.32

TheFiat CR.30was a 1930sItaliansingle-seatbiplane fighter aircraftdesigned byCelestino Rosatelliand built byFiat.

Design and development

The Fiat CR.30 was a new design byCelestino Rosatellifor a single-seat fighter. Fourprototypeswere built with the first flight occurring in March 1932. The CR.30 was a biplane with W-forminterplane strutsand a fixedtailwheel landing gear.The aircraft was powered by a 447 kW (600 hp)Fiat A.30 R.A.V-12piston engine.Two prototypes were entered into an international meeting inZurichin July 1932 and won the speed circuit contest at average speeds of 340 km/h (211 mph) and 330 km/h (205 mph). The impressive performance led to orders from theRegia Aeronautica(Italian Air Force) for 121 aircraft.^{[citation needed]}

Two of the prototypes were converted into two-seaters designatedCR.30Bfor use as refreshertrainersandliaison aircraft.A large number of single-seaters were converted into two-seaters as they were replaced with more modern equipment. The air force later ordered an additional 20 new-build CR.30Bs. Two aircraft were converted toseaplaneswith the designationCR.30 Idro.The aircraft was also operated by other European air forces with theHungarian Air Forcebeing the largest foreign operator, using two CR.30s from 1936 and one single-seater and ten CR.30bs from 1938.^{[citation needed]}

Variants

CR.30: Single-seat production variant.
CR.30B: Two-seat variant.
CR.30 Idro: Seaplane variant.

Operators

Austria

Austrian Air Forcereceived three CR.30 and three CR.30B aircraft.^[1]

Republic of China

Chinese Nationalist Air Force

Germany

Luftwaffeoperated captured former Austrian aircraft.

Hungary

Royal Hungarian Air Force

Kingdom of Italy

Regia Aeronautica

Paraguay

Paraguayan Air Forceoperated two aircraft from 1939 as advanced trainers.

Spanish State

Spanish Nationalist Air Forceoperated two CR.30s from 1938.

Venezuela

Venezuelan Air Forceoperated one CR.30 from 1938.

Specifications (CR.30)

Data fromThe Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985), 1985, Orbis Publishing, Page 1794

General characteristics

Crew:one
Length:7.88 m (25 ft 7.25 in)
Wingspan:10.50 m (34 ft 5.5 in)
Height:2.78 m (9 ft 1.5 in)
Wing area:27.05 m²(291.17 sq ft)
Empty weight:1,345 kg (2,965 lb)
Gross weight:1,895 kg (4,178 lb)
Powerplant:1 ×Fiat A.30 R.A.12-cylinder Vee piston engine, 447 kW (600 hp)

Performance

Maximum speed:351 km/h (218 mph, 189 kn)
Range:850 km (528 mi, 459 nmi)
Service ceiling:8,350 m (27,845 ft)

Armament

2 ×Breda-SAFAT7.7 mm (0.303 in) machine guns (synchronised forward-firing)

References

^Haubner, F (1982).Die Flugzeuge der Österreichischen Luftstreitkräfte vor 1938.H Weishaupt Verlag, Graz

Bibliography

Sapienza, Antonio Luis (September 1994). "Les chasseurs Fiat au Paraguay" [Paraguayan Fiat Fighters].Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire(in French) (19):9–13.ISSN 1243-8650.
TheIllustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft(Part Work 1982–1985), 1985, Orbis Publishing, Page 1794

[1] Haubner, F (1982).Die Flugzeuge der Österreichischen Luftstreitkräfte vor 1938.H Weishaupt Verlag, Graz

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