Travel For Aircraft Bookshelf – FIAT Aeritalia Fighters: CR.32, CR.42 Falco, G.50 Freccia, G.55 Centauro by Luigino Caliaro

FIAT Aeritalia Fighters: CR.32, CR.42 Falco, G.50 Freccia, G.55 Centauro by Luigino Caliaro, reviewed by Joe May, available on Amazon.

Coming off two outstanding books (Savoia Marchetti S.79 Sparviero: From Airliner and Record Breaker to Bomber and Torpedo Bomber 1934-1947 and Macchi Fighters: Mc.22 Saetta, Mc 202 Folgore, Mc 205 Veltro) is this extraordinary book. Extraordinary for its expertise, production quality, authenticity, and context. Context, you may ask? Yes…context. Cagliari is Italian, a highly experienced pilot, and he researched Italian archives (which most writers in English cannot do, so it is an edge for deeper understanding). FIAT Aeritalia Fighters delivers more than what is expected regarding the CR.32, CR.42 Falco, G.50 Freccia, and G.55 Centauro—it is a thorough history of FIAT, the firm, beginning with its 1908 expansion into aviation, including the stories and specifics of the early FIAT aircraft types.

Caliaro’s writing is thorough and detailed, not seemingly missing even the one-off or the human dimension, such as the engineering drawing of the G.57—the G.55 type but modified with a FIAT radial engine—as a torpedo attack aircraft. The human dimension is also present throughout FIAT Fighters, such as detailing when Royal Navy Swordfish bombers attacked an Italian base during World War II (WWII), with unremarkable results, with half of the eight aircraft lost. This mission has been described in many books on the Fairey Swordfish, but it is only in Caliaro’s book that readers learn which aircrew of the downed aircraft survived and which did not, as well as the Reggia Aeronautica’s managing to get a Swordfish into working order and employing it as a utility aircraft.

FIAT entered WWII with one of the fastest biplane fighters flown—the CR.42 Falco [Falcon] and ended the war with one of the better designed fighter/interceptor aircraft of WW II in the G.55 Centauro [Centaur]. Cagliari brings the reader into the context of Italian pilots from flying in Northern Africa to the Balkans to the coast of Great Britain. Readers will learn how the Italian Air Force made do, won, lost, and drew throughout highly dynamic situations. This is a side most non-Italian writers do not, or cannot, address, and this book is much richer for it. Caliaro’s telling of the Italian perspective makes the telling of WWII’s history all the more balanced.

Caliaro’s flowing writing is paired well with the artwork of Paulo Waldis. The plentiful color profiles, as well as drawings of these aircraft, are a wonder to behold, with much that can be learned. The black and white photos are reproduced with excellent resolution and high quality. FIAT Aeritalia Fighters is a treat for the eye as well as the mind. Perhaps the rich end portion of this fantastic book is the most pleasant, with its huge full-color images of these aircraft as they now appear in museums around the world. Anything worth knowing about the engineering or service history of these four aircraft is in the FIAT Aeritalia.