商品簡介
At the heart of the Italian Regia Aeronautica thoughout the 1930s, the CR.32 was both a handsome and a highly manoeuvrable biplane fighter. Some 400 were in service in 1936 when Gen Franco asked Germany and Italy for air support in his fight with the Republicans for the control of Spain. By the end of that year 120 CR.32s had been sent to help protect Nationalist transports and bombers, and by dint of their numbers, and superior performance over the German He 51, the Fiat fighter was soon tallying up numerous successes in aerial combat. Initially, CR.32s were flown exclusively by Italian volunteers, and by late 1936 the first all-Spanish unit had also been formed. In the thick of the action through to the end of the civil war in April 1939, no fewer than 477 CR.32s were involved in the conflict. Italian pilots flying the fighter were credited with an astounding 709 confirmed aerial victories, and an additional 320 kills were claimed by Spanish and other non-Italian Nationalist pilots. In return, just 118 Fiat fighters were lost to all causes
作者簡介
Alfredo Logoluso is an aeronautical engineer and formerly an officer the missile Air Defence section of the Italian Air Force. He has worked in both the military and civil aerospace industries. For many years he has researched the aeronautical history of the Spanish Civil War, writing numerous articles for Italy's specialist press on the subject. One of his primary contacts is Angelo Emiliani, who was the first Italian researcher to document the air war in Spain.