Fiat G.50 Series I Unit: Reparto Sperimentale G.50, Aviazione Legionaria, Escalona Spain May 1939 The FIAT G.50 Freccia (Freccia means Arrow in English) was first flown in February 1937. The G.50 was Italy's first single-seat, all-metal monoplane with an enclosed cockpit and retractable landing gear to go into production. Pilots disliked the sliding cockpit canopy, which was not easy to open quickly. So, in later production series, an open cockpit was adopted. The first series I aircraft were delivered to the Regia Aeronautica in 1938. An experimental unit, the Reparto Sperimentale G.50, was formed for operational evaluation of the G.50. In January 1939, the unit flew to Spain with 12 G.50's. For some reason, none of the aircraft had landing gear doors. By that time, most of the air war there was finished and the G.50s never met enemy aircraft. Very maneuverable, it was one of the best fighters during the Spanish Civil War. But by the time World War II began it was becoming obsolescent, being too slow because it was underpowered and underarmed with only two Breda-SAFAT 12,7mm machine guns. Credits Captain Kurt: Aircraft model, VC, paint textures, aircraft flight files, and .dp Kelticheart: Prop blurred texture Gauges, as far as I know, credit goes to kelticheart, mvg3d, Chalachew, Beepee, and Gius for their WWII Italian gauges. The panel, much modified, is based on an IL-2 panel.

Fiat G.50 Series I Finland Unit: 1/LeLv26 Kilpasilta, Finland Mar 1943 (this aircraft had 5 victories with various pilots) Pilot: L. Kalkkinen The FIAT G.50 Freccia (Freccia means Arrow in English) was first flown in February 1937. The G.50 was Italy's first single-seat, all-metal monoplane with an enclosed cockpit and retractable landing gear to go into production. Italian pilots disliked the sliding cockpit canopy, which was not easy to open quickly. So, in later production series, an open cockpit was adopted. Fourteen G.50 were drawn from the first Series I production batch and shipped to Finland in January of 1940. They were assigned to LeLV 26, then stationed at Utti, but the unit was still in training when the so called Winter War with Russia ended with a peace treaty in March 1940. The enclosed cockpit canopies perspex began yellowing and fogging leading to the removal of the sliding canopies and painting over the fixed rear canopies. Twenty one more G.50s were delivered during 1940 (two lost in transit), this time from the Series II version. Finland declared war on the Soviet Union on June 25, 1941 after the Russians bombed several Finland cities. With LeLv26, The G.50 saw its longest and most successful service in the two Finnish wars against the Soviet Union, the Winter War of 1939 1940 and the Continuation War of 1941 1944. Overall, LeLv 26 achieved 52 kills against only 2 losses in combat. Credits Captain Kurt: Aircraft model, VC, paint textures, aircraft flight files, and .dp Kelticheart: Prop blurred texture Gauges, as far as I know, credit goes to kelticheart, mvg3d, Chalachew, Beepee, and Gius for their WWII Italian gauges. The panel, much modified, is based on an IL-2 panel.

Fiat G.50 bis Unit: 352 Squadriglia, 20 Gruppo at Pantelleria 1941 - later transferred to Libya The FIAT G.50 Freccia (Freccia means Arrow in English) was first flown in February 1937. The G.50 was Italy's first single-seat, all-metal monoplane with an enclosed cockpit and retractable landing gear to go into production. Pilots disliked the sliding cockpit canopy, which was not easy to open quickly. So, in later production series, an open cockpit was adopted. It was employed in all the Regia Aeronautica area operations in the Mediterranean and North Africa for fighter defense, convoy escort and bomber escort missions. In the Greek campaign, it performed adequately against opposing obsolescent types like the Gladiator and Blenheim. After that it was clear it was not a match for more modern Allied aircraft and was eventually used more for ground attack. Credits Captain Kurt: Aircraft model, VC, paint textures, aircraft flight files, and .dp Kelticheart: Prop blurred texture Gauges, as far as I know, credit goes to kelticheart, mvg3d, Chalachew, Beepee, and Gius for their WWII Italian gauges. The panel, much modified, is based on an IL-2 panel.

Phönix D.I / D.II The Phönix D.I biplane was intended as a replacement for the Hansa-Brandenburg D. I. It was produced in smaller numbers (120 D. I, 45 D. II, and 48 D. IIa fighters) than the Hansa-Brandenburg. The Phönix D.I began production in August 1917 and the D.II replaced the D.I in production in March 1918 . The Phönix D-series fighters are generally considered the best fighters designed and produced in Austria-Hungary. Previously, the Phönix Flugzeug-Werke firm had been contracted to produce the Hansa-Brandenburg D.I fighter under license. It became apparent by 1917 that the infamous Star-strutter could not be developed further, and the company embarked on a new aircraft. The design eventually incorporated a fuselage similar to the D.I and also sported wings of unequal span that ended in rounded wingtips. It was also considerably more powerful, with a Hiero 200- horsepower engine. It located the machine guns within the engine cowling which enhanced streamlining but placed the guns beyond the pilot’s reach if they jammed. The resulting craft was faster in level flight but somewhat unstable and slow-climbing. In December 1917 it entered service as the Phönix D.I and was deployed with army and navy units. The new machine was far from perfect, but it represented a dramatic improvement over the earlier Star-strutter, proving to be a match for Allied fighters. The Phönix D.II fighter was designed to improve performance and maneuverability. The wing dihedral was eliminated, new high aspect ailerons, a new tail plane design with balanced elevators quickened aircraft response. The D.IIa was identical but used an up rated Hiero 230 hp engine. The D.II entered service in May 1918. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The model, textures. panel and air files are by Captain Kurt. The pilot figures were developed from Wolfi's freeware Japanese pilot .fsc source file. The prop spinning texture is by Kelticheart. Gauges are by Martin Klein with texture change outs by Captain Kurt, .

Hansa-Brandenburg D.I (Phönix built) Pilot: Several including Godwin Brumowski Unit: Flik 41J, Sežana, Slovenia, 1917 The first purely Austro-Hungarian fighter to enter production was the Hansa-Brandenburg D. I biplane, which was designed by one of the German firm’s top engineers, Ernst Heinkel. The wings featured an unusual "Star-Strutter" arrangement of interplane struts, where four Vee struts joined in the centre of the wing bay to result in a "star" arrangement. The interplane struts themselves were steel tubes. The design had a deep fuselage, which gave a poor forward view for the pilot and blanketed the small rudder, giving poor lateral stability and making recovery from spins extremely difficult. Later production introduced a larger rudder and tail fin which helped somewhat. Early production aircraft were then retrofitted with the improved tail / rudder combination. Armament was a single Schwarzlose machine gun, which owing to difficulties in synchronizing the Schwarzlose, was fitted in a fairing on the upper wing, firing over the propeller. Even though aware of its deficiencies, Austro-Hungary was desperate for any type of fighter and at the time, this was the only option. So, its production was ordered. The D.I entered service in Autumn, 1916. Its unusual arrangement of interplane bracing gave rise to the nickname "Spider", while its poor handling gave rise to the less complementary nickname "the Coffin". The D.I was the standard fighter aircraft of the Luftfahrtruppen until mid 1917, being used by several Austro-Hungarian air aces such as Godwin Brumowski and Frank Linke-Crawford. The model, textures. panel and air files are by Captain Kurt. The pilot figures were developed from Wolfi's freeware Japanese pilot .fsc source file. The prop spinning texture is by Kelticheart. Gauges are by Martin Klein with texture change outs by Captain Kurt, .

Hansa-Brandenburg D.I (Phönix built) Pilot: Several including Frank Linke-Crawford Unit: Flik 41J, Sežana, Slovenia, 1917 The first purely Austro-Hungarian fighter to enter production was the Hansa-Brandenburg D. I biplane, which was designed by one of the German firm’s top engineers, Ernst Heinkel. The wings featured an unusual "Star-Strutter" arrangement of interplane struts, where four Vee struts joined in the centre of the wing bay to result in a "star" arrangement. The interplane struts themselves were steel tubes. The design had a deep fuselage, which gave a poor forward view for the pilot and blanketed the small rudder, giving poor lateral stability and making recovery from spins extremely difficult. Later production introduced a larger rudder and tail fin which helped somewhat. Early production aircraft were then retrofitted with the improved tail / rudder combination. Armament was a single Schwarzlose machine gun, which owing to difficulties in synchronizing the Schwarzlose, was fitted in a fairing on the upper wing, firing over the propeller. Even though aware of its deficiencies, Austro-Hungary was desperate for any type of fighter and at the time, this was the only option. So, its production was ordered. The D.I entered service in Autumn, 1916. Its unusual arrangement of interplane bracing gave rise to the nickname "Spider", while its poor handling gave rise to the less complementary nickname "the Coffin". The D.I was the standard fighter aircraft of the Luftfahrtruppen until mid 1917, being used by several Austro-Hungarian air aces such as Godwin Brumowski and Frank Linke-Crawford. The model, textures. panel and air files are by Captain Kurt. The pilot figures were developed from Wolfi's freeware Japanese pilot .fsc source file. The prop spinning texture is by Kelticheart. Gauges are by Martin Klein with texture change outs by Captain Kurt, .

Phönix D.I Kriegsmarine The Phönix D.I biplane was intended as a replacement for the Hansa-Brandenburg D. I. It was produced in smaller numbers (120 D. I, 45 D. II, and 48 D. IIa fighters) than the Hansa-Brandenburg. The Phönix D.I began production in August 1917 and the D.II replaced the D.I in production in March 1918 . The Phönix D-series fighters are generally considered the best fighters designed and produced in Austria-Hungary. Previously, the Phönix Flugzeug-Werke firm had been contracted to produce the Hansa-Brandenburg D.I fighter under license. It became apparent by 1917 that the infamous Star-strutter could not be developed further, and the company embarked on a new aircraft. The design eventually incorporated a fuselage similar to the D.I and also sported wings of unequal span that ended in rounded wingtips. It was also considerably more powerful, with a Hiero 200- horsepower engine. It located the machine guns within the engine cowling which enhanced streamlining but placed the guns beyond the pilot’s reach if they jammed. The resulting craft was faster in level flight but somewhat unstable and slow-climbing. In December 1917 it entered service as the Phönix D.I and was deployed with army and navy units. The new machine was far from perfect, but it represented a dramatic improvement over the earlier Star-strutter, proving to be a match for Allied fighters. Austro-Hungarian Kriegsmarine pilots flew the Phönix D.I and D.IIa fighters to defend the naval bases at Pola and Cattaro against Italian bomber attacks. Navy Phönix fighters numbered J.1 to J.8 were taken from Army production between October 1917 and November 1917. Another twelve D.I fighters numbered J.9 to J.20 were ordered directly from Phönix and delivered between December 1917 and March 1918. The model, textures. panel and air files are by Captain Kurt. The pilot figures were developed from Wolfi's freeware Japanese pilot .fsc source file. The prop spinning texture is by Kelticheart. Gauges are by Martin Klein with texture change outs by Captain Kurt, .

Phönix D.I / D.II The Phönix D.I biplane was intended as a replacement for the Hansa-Brandenburg D. I. It was produced in smaller numbers (120 D. I, 45 D. II, and 48 D. IIa fighters) than the Hansa-Brandenburg. The Phönix D.I began production in August 1917 and the D.II replaced the D.I in production in March 1918 . The Phönix D-series fighters are generally considered the best fighters designed and produced in Austria-Hungary. Previously, the Phönix Flugzeug-Werke firm had been contracted to produce the Hansa-Brandenburg D.I fighter under license. It became apparent by 1917 that the infamous Star-strutter could not be developed further, and the company embarked on a new aircraft. The design eventually incorporated a fuselage similar to the D.I and also sported wings of unequal span that ended in rounded wingtips. It was also considerably more powerful, with a Hiero 200- horsepower engine. It located the machine guns within the engine cowling which enhanced streamlining but placed the guns beyond the pilot’s reach if they jammed. The resulting craft was faster in level flight but somewhat unstable and slow-climbing. In December 1917 it entered service as the Phönix D.I and was deployed with army and navy units. The new machine was far from perfect, but it represented a dramatic improvement over the earlier Star-strutter, proving to be a match for Allied fighters.The model, textures. panel and air files are by Captain Kurt. The pilot figures were developed from Wolfi's freeware Japanese pilot .fsc source file. The prop spinning texture is by Kelticheart. Gauges are by Martin Klein with texture change outs by Captain Kurt

Unit: Yokosuka Kokutai, Yokosuka Airfield, Japan April 1945 Pilot: unknown The N1K2-Ja Shiden Kai (Japanese for "Violet Lightning") was the best fighter used in significant numbers by the Japanese Navy during World War II. Known by the Allies as the "George," this maneuverable, heavily-armed fighter was a formidable opponent in the closing months of the war. The Shiden Kai was considerably better than the Japanese Navy's most common fighter, the A6M Zero. With a top speed of 369 mph, the N1K2a was about 20 mph faster than the A6M Zero. It had CO2 fire suppression systems in the fuel tanks so it did not burn easily like other Japanese fighters did. The N1K2-Ja was a further development of the N1K2-J, which incorporated 4 bomb shackles in the wing and a reduced horizontal tail span. The heavier Shiden Kai also possessed surprisingly good maneuverability due to a mercury switch that automatically extended the flaps during turns. These "combat" flaps created more lift, thereby allowing tighter turns. Moreover, its four 20 mm automatic cannon provided greatly increased firepower than earlier Japanese designs. Unlike the A6M Zero, the Shiden Kai could compete against the best late-war U.S. Navy and U.S. Army Air Forces fighters. It first entered combat early in 1945, and over 400 were produced before the war ended (200 of the N1K2-J and 200 of the N1K2-Ja). Credits Captain Kurt: Aircraft model, VC, paint textures, drop tank, and .dp Wolfi: Crew figure Gauges by: ACWai, Wolfi and Microsoft Prop spinning disc texture by:Kelticheart Bombs by: Allen Flight files: Microsoft stock with modifications. Sound: Microsoft stock

Kawanishi N1K2-J Shiden Kai (George) Unit: 343 Kokutai, 407th Hikoutai. Matsuyama Air Base Japan. March 1945 Pilot: P/O Kouji Ohnara The N1K2-J Shiden Kai (Japanese for "Violet Lightning") was the best fighter used in significant numbers by the Japanese Navy during World War II. Known by the Allies as the "George," this maneuverable, heavily-armed fighter was a formidable opponent in the closing months of the war. The Shiden Kai was considerably better than the Japanese Navy's most common fighter, the A6M Zero. With a top speed of 369 mph, the N1K2 was about 20 mph faster than the A6M Zero. It had CO2 fire suppression systems in the fuel tanks so it did not burn easily as other Japanese fighters did. The heavier Shiden Kai also possessed surprisingly good maneuverability due to a mercury switch that automatically extended the flaps during turns. These "combat" flaps created more lift, thereby allowing tighter turns. Moreover, its four 20 mm automatic cannon provided greatly increased firepower than earlier Japanese designs. Unlike the A6M Zero, the Shiden Kai could compete against the best late-war U.S. Navy and U.S. Army Air Forces fighters. It first entered combat early in 1945, and over 400 were produced before the war ended (200 of the N1K2-J and 200 of the slightly improved N1K2-Ja) Credits Captain Kurt: Aircraft model, VC, paint textures, drop tank, and .dp Wolfi: Crew figure Gauges by: ACWai, Wolfi and Microsoft Prop spinning disc texture by:Kelticheart Flight files: Microsoft stock with modifications. Sound: Microsoft stock