Reggiane Re.2000 Recovery in Italy

[Wilson]

The Italian Air Force recovered a Reggiane Re.2000 fighter today. The operation was done free of charge by the same company who recently righted the cruse ship Concordia. The plane was found one year ago by Italian military divers conducting mine countermeasure training. The aircraft is currently in a desalination tank. It will ultimately be restored and placed in the Italian Air Force Museum.

[Steve Nelson]

What an incredible find..kudos to the recovery crew! It looks pretty rough, but there have been restorations that started with less. Was any of the tail recovered as well?

I've always heard that the design was heavily influenced/inspired by the Seversky P-35. Is this the only surviving example? It seems like I recall seeing a pic of one in a Swedish musuem.

SN

[Chris Brame]

Is this the only surviving example? It seems like I recall seeing a pic of one in a Swedish museum.

Preservedaxisaircraft.com shows a complete one in Sweden and a fuselage with engine mount in Italy.

[JFS61]

Maybe the Swedes will let them have their extra tail section:

[Mark Allen M]

Always liked the looks of this machine

[Obergrafeter]

The airplane is OK, but that trailer is amazing!!! You would be the only kid on the block to have one if that was yours!

[soko121]

Hey Ober,
thats funny, i just scrolled down and was admiring the trailer too, then read your post........
wonder if you can back the trailer up to the front of the plane, extend the arm and rotate the plane up to the vertical position. That is a very cool design!!

Simon

[Jesse C.]

Is it just me or does it look like a Thunderbolt all wrapped up and on that trailer.

That trailer and bird would make a very cool modeling subject!

[Kyleb]

Is it just me or does it look like a Thunderbolt all wrapped up and on that trailer.

That trailer and bird would make a very cool modeling subject!

If you compare the planforms of the P-35, P-43, and P-47, you'll see a huge amount of family resemblance. Alexander Kartveli was the designer for both Seversky and Republic, and designed all 3. Republic was the company that resulted with Alexander Seversky was booted from his company, so there is a direct lineage.

[Rick65]

Could the trailer be connected with the following?
Wiki
The Regia Marina (Italian Navy), however, experimented with a carrier version (Serie II) which was successfully launched by catapult. Lacking a carrier, Italy used a similar system to the British CAM ships equipped with Hurricanes. The first proposal was made in late December 1940, although the program officially began with an order issued in April 1943. The first modified Re.2000 Cat. (taken from the Swedish orders) flew on 27 June 1941, the last on 18 January 1942 (MM.8282-8288), but crashed on 10 September. There was another navalized Re.2000, the MM.471. It flew initially with a lower powered A.74 RC.38 engine, but it was lost too, during the travel from Reggio Emilia to Taranto (12 May 1941). The first launch was performed on 9 May 1942 with test pilot Giulio Reiner.[11] The work to make suitable the Re.2000 Cat., nicknamed Ochetta (little goose) took considerable time and only at the beginning of 1943 were they used aboard the Littorio class, but not more than one for every ship (although capable of holding three aircraft). Initially the Re.2000 Cat. aircraft were issued to Littorio and Vittorio Veneto, while Roma followed only in the summer, after testing had taken place aboard the RN Miraglia.
[11] Harrauer, Franco. "Re.2000 Catapultabile." Aerei nella Storia, W.Ward editions, Parma ago-September 2008, pp. 49–50

What does it do to a radial to be tipped like that?

[N77657]

Where was the Reggiane Re.2000? If it was in salt water, then I hope they put in a bath of fresh water ala the Do-17 recovery. It would be a shame to see it dry out to aluminum oxide dust!

Bill K

[tom d. friedman]

wow!! talk about a diamond in the rough!! probably rarer or as rare as any Japanese recovery!! i'll be watching the status on this 1!! I have a cruver bakelite model of the type & an ultra rare sperry licensed directional gyro w/ the italian tags still on it in cherry condition. I will consider selling it for the right price.

[tom d. friedman]

wow!! talk about a diamond in the rough!! as rare or rarer than any Japanese recovery!! I have a cruver bakelite i.d. model of the type & an ultra rare sperry licensed directional gyro that still has the Italian air force tags on it & in near cherry condition. will consider selling it for the rarity it commands re: price.



double post.... sorry

[PbyCat-Guy]

Where was the Reggiane Re.2000? If it was in salt water, then I hope they put in a bath of fresh water ala the Do-17 recovery. It would be a shame to see it dry out to aluminum oxide dust!

Bill K

Yes, the article said the airplane will go through a desalination process prior to being put on display.

[Wilson]

... Was any of the tail recovered as well? ...SN

It ditched on April 16, 1943. The pilot got out safely. I'm hoping the rest of the plane was close by and recovered, but I don't know the answer.

If you compare the planforms of the P-35, P-43, and P-47, you'll see a huge amount of family resemblance. Alexander Kartveli was the designer for both Seversky and Republic, and designed all 3

Reggiane's head designer, Roberto Longhi, worked for Seversky in the 1930's. His final wartime prop design was the Re.2005, which was powered by a license built copy of the DB 605. The Re.2005 gives a good sense of what the P-47 would have looked like if Republic had decided to use an in-line engine:



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