Italy's WW2-Era Biplanes, Part 1 | The 'Peacetime' Fiat Cr.1 & Cr.20 [Aircraft Overview #79] 

Sadly I did not get the other video finished in time, so you'll have to survive on just this one until I return after the 27th. F.A.Q Section Q: Do you take aircraft requests? A: I have a list of aircraft I plan to cover, but feel free to add to it with suggestions:) Q: Why do you use imperial measurements for some videos, and metric for others? A: I do this based on country of manufacture. Imperial measurements for Britain and the U.S, metric for the rest of the world, but I include text in my videos that convert it for both. Q: Will you include video footage in your videos, or just photos? A: Video footage is very expensive to licence, if I can find footage in the public domain I will try to use it, but a lot of it is hoarded by licencing studies (British Pathe, Periscope films etc). In the future I may be able to afford clips :) Q: Why do you sometimes feature images/screenshots from flight simulators? A: Sometimes there are not a lot of photos available for certain aircraft, so I substitute this with digital images that are as accurate as possible.

seeing Rex talking briefly about my country and the Chaco War makes me so happy since I've barely seen any other channel even mention it, never on english or by a foreigner, I can't wait for you to cover the Chaco War in the future!

Aw man, I have been dying for another video about interwar Italian planes, especially to CR.20. Keep up the amazing work Rex!

I appreciate you breaking these into smaller length videos. Some of us just don't have time to sit through marathon presentations and end up watching them in chunks anyways.

Italy had amazing bibplanes, only rivaled by the Czech Avia B-534 which saw service until the end of the war. Fun fact, in WW2 Italian radios were so bad the pilots would replace them with sandbags.

Truly a most beautiful time in the history of the Airplane, The Savoia-Marchetti seaplanes are just a revelation in simplicity and the Italian lust for Art in Design..

Rex, thank you for the great job, as always. As a native italian speaker I can assure you that "A.Q", or "Alta Quota" means "high altitude" or "high ceiling" 😅. Eventually, the Italian air force standardized the Aircraft engine naming, so "FIAT A80 R.C. 41" would mean FIAT A80 Riduttore (geared) Compresore (supercharger) enabling full manifold pressure up to 4100m (41 x 100 meters)... Cheers!

Given that my RP group may be recently about to play a Pulp Cthulhu adventure set during the Chaco war, you making a video on the air part of that war has certainly piqued my interest.

The fabulous Fiats!

Thanks for doing it as a series, it's always easier to find a time for a short video :)

Something about the CR42 that is both brutal but classic at the same time.

Looking forward to the video on the business between Paraguay and Bolivia.

i can't wait for when we get to the G.55 arc :)

I am familiar with the CR 32 and 42 from the old IL-2 game. Nice to learn something about their predecessors!

Love those interwar biplanes! Prewar Italian aircraft are either intentionally beautiful or so weird they have a rustic charm.

Great coverage...love these early FIATs. Thanks Rex

Chaco war? Never even heard of it. Once again digging up surprises.

A rainy English Saturday in November . . . & thanks to Rex . . . a strange & sudden urge to watch 'Porco Rosso' again! : )

the picture of Cr 42 looks glamorous

Thank you for moving to a longer format with less adverts. Loved you on Drach's channel. I do hope someday your video's will make it to a half an hour in length. Love your work. Thank you for putting out great content.

Thanks for making the video at a length that is close to my attention span. Long videos require a commitment that I don't always have time for.

Great work Sir thank you

Looking forward to your video on the use of airpower in the Chaco War.

Great clip as usual, very informative. Did anyone else get a shudder when the electrical system was mentioned..?

Very nice, great video about the fairly forgotten italian biplanes preceding the mainstream cr32 and 42. Btw alta quota stands for high altitude in italian

Great video, just a note, the leaflet says 1000 frames a minute not a second 👍

Just got done with your f4f feature on Drachs channel. Glad to get more airplane ear candy haha 👍

Nicely done. Keep up the good work

Brilliant. . Looking forward viewing the next chapter, Fiat made elegant aircraft. . Being Italian. . 👍🇮🇹😁

Thanks Rex. Your timing couldn't be better. I was just watching a vid about The Gloster Gladiator and The Cr32 came up. Then I saw your upload for this mini series immediately after. Have a great break. Looking forward to your next vid.

I’m really impresses by your work!

We start to see the measure of the man, it's impressive! What a good job!! Very happy with what I have discovered in this too short episode! Thank you very much!

And here i am, doing a research work on inter-war and ww2 italian aviation. How convenient

I always look forward to your videos, Rex!

Great to see the Italian aircraft covered. Would also love to see the Schnieder Cup aircraft covered in the future. Some of the most beautiful and sexy aircraft built, especially the Italian entries. Thanks for a wonderful vid, Rex.

Well done. Can't wait for Pt.2

Thanks for another great video. Nice to see the fine Italian planes from the interwar period. When it comes to Italian aircraft from this period, it is often the more gawky "exotic" aircraft that are the focus. (A small correction: The “Fotomitragliatrice” Photo machine gun in the CR 20 shoots “1000 photogrammi al minuto” 500-1000 frame per -minute, and not seconds, but still it is a lot of pictures, a standard roll of 30 m. is more than 1500 pictures (in 35mm format). The frame rate is the same as in silent movies).

I read that Bob Hoover flew the CR 42 and found it a true joy to fly.

The odd-looking biplane at 1:33 is an English model, the Parnall Panther. It was designed by my grandfather. It has the dubious distinction of being the first - or one of the first - carrier aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Navy ....

Very interesting, I like the presentation style of your vids, definitely one of the best aircraft channels on YT

The CR42 Falco would rock you thats for sure

The Chaco War was also the first large engagement in which the submachine gun was employed widely.

I am looking forward to the future installments. Your work is terrific and I enjoy every video. Thank you for your fine work. Roger

Very interesting, would also enjoy more on the progression of engines throughout this time. I have not been able to find much of what you are discussing!

Although it's not in the same weightclass as the monplane inlines, I'll bet those Italian biplanes were awesome to fly.

I always found it fascinating that instead of just trying to figure out some structural way to support guns on other parts of the body, they just engineered guns to fire in timing with the movement of the propellers. You would think the other way would have been easier, LOL

This is a fascinating era of Italian design. The Germanic design schools of the Vienna Secession and Bauhaus get the press coverage but Italian modernism seems to have had more success integrating technology and design. Good looking and technologically advanced designs from airplanes to consumer products. Check out the airplane related hangars designed by P. L. Nervi.

Excellent as usual. Looking forward to the continuation...

Good video, I look forward to the next!

Thank you.

An interesting report about largely unknown aircraft. Thanks.

It would've been interesting to see combat with the Cr.42 vs the F3F

What I really like most about this aircraft is the front of the engine behind the propeller. That is so cool looking 👍🏻

Thanks!

@Rex's Hangar >>> 👍👍

Life is all about choices. A few lung fulls of iffy chemical, or plummeting to earth in a trail of flaming hydrocarbons. Even if I knew the implications of the fire suppressant, I'd still choose the chemical.

16:02 - the main problem with carbon tetrachloride as a fire suppressor isn't the compound itself. When subjected to high temperatures in the presence of oxygen it produces phosgene which is highly toxic and was used as a poison gas in WW1. Even at concentrations too low for a person to be able to detect it can cause pulmonary oedema which, unless treated immediately, can kill them several hours after they have been exposed.

Thanks Rex, yeah I'll wait to hear about Fiat CR42 as the last Biplane victory. Maybe you can clear up what P-38s of the 14th Fighter Group went down or got in hits? Seems like they were flying them bipes in every country during WWII.

Please don't hesitate to make longer videos if you can. I'm sure your audience is much like me and will gladly watch extended presentations. It works well for Drachinifel and Greg's Airplanes. Well, maybe not Drach's six hour marathons, lol.

Great job on Drach on the wonderful Wildcat.!!!!! Love the channel and I am happy to subscribe. 🥰

Another excellent aviation history lesson.👍👍

Thanks for another interesting video.

Brilliant 👍

Subscribed ! Thanks.

Thanks

I had never heard of the Chaco War. I can't wait for your video on the air war.

All in you time good man

As always, another very enjoyable video ! Ever amazed at what designers proposed to put pilots through -- lethal fire suppression systems, for instance...!!😅

I want to build a Sopwith Camel simulator. I can’t believe anyone actually flew that.

At 11.00 : 1000 frames a minute ... not a seconde " 1000 fotogrammi al minuto "

Great job... ❤️❤️❤️❤️Tq

Carbon tetrachloride was widely used in fire extinguishers and as a cleaning agent until the 1980s, because its toxicity was not obvious. It was phased out of production because of it's ozone-depleting potential. If we are free to apply hindsight to the chemical hazards pilots were exposed to, I'd rate the chronic exposure to the lead in high-octane fuels as a higher health risk than the brief exposure to carbon tetrachloride in the unlikely case of an engine fire.

Loved it! Just a small note: the acronym SIAI is pronounced as a single word which sounds like “see eye”. No Italian aviation enthusiast will pronounce it spelling the single letters.

Comming to you after your drach visit? Glad to see you doing well

Hi Rex. I watched your video. My grandfather was an Italian aviator WWI to WWII. He flew the Fiat CR20 AQ which you say you do not have much info on. I have many pics.

Another great video, thank you! Please take care that A.Q. is correctly pronounced but the meaning is high altitude not power. Also the camera was rated for 1000 frames per minute,not seconds. Anyway thanks for the Italian content =]

Hi Rex! Great video as always! Thank you! Just one thing: AQ, alta quota, means high ceiling, not high output.

Luar Biasa, semoga sukses selalu untuk anda

Bold of you to assume I wouldn’t watch a giant, 2 hour video.

Rex this is Vintage Pristine content!

I would have liked the two hour video.

Excellent video, as always, but it seems the closed captions stop functioning at about 13:58. Looking forward to the next one!

I would watch your giant 2 hour video!

"Alta Quota" in the CR.20AQ means "High altitude", not " High output"

Carbon tet, ie CCl4, when exposed to high temperatures actually produces phosgene gas, well known for its use in trench warfare. It was superseded as an aircraft fire extinguishant by bromochlorodifluoromethane (BCF) which is slightly less lethal but still unwise to use on really hot fires, such as those involving magnesium.

_An elegant weapon for a more civilized time._ 🧐

love u

Always happy you note where pictures are not available or sone other such caveats. And THANK YOU for not taking the Drachinefal path of 2, 3 or 5 hour videos. I’d much rather see and have time for a series of 10-20 min video. Honestly, I just skip watching a giant video I may have every intention of going back someday but rarely do so. Stick to the shorter videos I think your channel will be much better off.

10:19 alta quota actually stands for high altitude

Great video, little nitpick though: I think at 10:55 you actually meant 1000 frames a minute, as the picture caption says. 1000 frames a second on a 30m length of film would not probably last the length of a single burst.

Possible topic suggestion... On the Wikipedia home page, in the 'Did You Know', was the Supermarine Stanraer, with a note. Did you know it had the nickname 'Whistling Shithouse"? That begs for explanation!

Hey, do you plan to cover the Macchi. C.20x series? Especially the C.205 Veltro.

12:30 - you overlooked the fact that when subjected to extreme heat in the presence of oxygen, carbon tetrachloride produces carbonyl chloride, AKA phosgene

Which plane's engine sound is at the outro? It sounds very good

Hi, i really enjoy your videos but in this one you made a fault. At 11 min you explain that the gun camera was able to do up to 1000 pictures a second and came with 13 meters of film. In the Document you show while explaining that, tells that the camera is in fact capable of up to 1000 (500-1000) pictures, but in a minute instead of a second and it came with 25-30 meters of film. Thanks for bringing all these beautifull planes to our screens.

Those Italian interwar fighters had a certaIn elan.

Italy, a country that was at the forefront of aerial warfare ever since language was invented.*

Alta Quota=>>High Ceiling. As some other stated.

I had a FIAT in Europe...would trust that company to make a flying machine....Fix It Again Tony!

Great 👍 video, please visit texas in the USA SALUDOS