Macchi Machines

John asked me where he was supposed to find the Macchi post. There was none. I am therefore quickly posting some (borrowed) images now. The two models are closely related. The Macchi C. 202 Folgore ("Lightning") essentially evolved from the C. 200 Saetta ("Thunderbolt" ), replacing a FIAT radial air-cooled engine by a liquid-cooled Daimler-Benz engine and thus gaining another 97 kph speed ceiling.

Two great looking Macchi models: the Saetta and the Folgore

On a site dedicated to the memory of his father, a decorated veteran, Fabrizio Storti published the photographs of two Macchi aeroplanes, i. e. the Macchi C. 200 Saetta and the Macchi C. 202 Folgore. I am sure he does not mind me reproducing these since the photographs are, apparently, without copyright ("libere da qualsiasi vincolo").

Another contemporary photo of a Macchi (a 202 or a 205) can be found at the site of the Indiana Military Organization which hosts a remarkable collection of photographs taken by Earl Ware, a civilian photographer who under contract to the U. S. Army Air Corps at Freeman Army Air Field, Seymour, Indiana in 1945-1946. I found a good photo by Daniel Caussé of an extant Macchi C.202 which is hung from the ceiling in the National Air and Space Museum at Washington D.C. Another survivor is exhibited by the Italian Air Force Museum at Vigna di Valle. Here, a very good series of photographs was made by Pierluigi Castellani for the Associazione Modellismo Storico on an extraordinary "Walkaround" session by special permission on 29 September 2004. For further web reading, I gladly refer to webpages by Sebastiano Tringali and the Smithsonian.