Fiat Aviazione was an Italian

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or by using the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in ...

manufacturer, at one time part of the

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiar ...

group, focused mainly on military aviation. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, Fiat consolidated several Italian small aircraft manufacturers, like

Pomilio Fabbrica Aeroplani Ing. O. Pomilio was an Italian World War I biplane aircraft manufacturer. The Pomilio series of aircraft ( PC, PD, PE and PY) were two-seater scout aircraft. When first introduced in spring 1917, the type was faster than mo ...

and

Ansaldo Ansaldo Energia S.p.A. is an Italian power engineering company. It is based in Genoa, Italy. The absorbed parent company, Gio. Ansaldo & C., started in 1853. It was taken over by Leonardo S.p.A. In 2011, Leonardo S.p.A. sold 45% stake in A ...

. Most famous were the Fiat biplane

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

of the 1930s, the

Fiat CR.32 The Fiat CR.32 was an Italian biplane fighter used in the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War. Designed by the aeronautical engineer Celestino Rosatelli, it was a compact, robust and highly manoeuvrable aircraft for its era, leading to ...

and the

Fiat CR.42 The Fiat CR.42 ''Falco'' ("Falcon", plural: ''Falchi'') is a single-seat sesquiplane fighter developed and produced by Italian aircraft manufacturer Fiat Aviazione. It served primarily in the Italian in the 1930s and during the Second World Wa ...

. Other notable designs were the fighters CR.20, G.50, G.55 and a bomber, the

Fiat BR.20 The Fiat BR.20 ''Cicogna'' (Italian: "stork") was a low-wing twin-engine medium bomber that was developed and manufactured by Italian aircraft company Fiat. It holds the distinction of being the first all-metal Italian bomber to enter service;Big ...

. In the 1950s, the company designed the G.91 light ground attack plane. In 1969, Fiat Aviazione merged with Aerfer to create Aeritalia, which would become

Alenia Aeronautica Alenia Aeronautica was an Italian aerospace company. Its subsidiaries included Alenia Aermacchi and Alenia Aeronavali. Alenia Aeronautica was also the part-owner of ATR, a joint venture with European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS). ...

in 1990.

History

The beginning

In 1908, aeronautical production started taking its first steps in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, by Fiat, with the decision to design and produce an engine, the SA 8/75, derived from racing cars. It was the beginning of a centennial story whose heritage is today linked directly to Avio. The first mass-produced engine produced by Fiat was the A10, created in 1,070 units between 1914 and 1915: at this point the pioneer age had come to an end and the company decided to design and construct complete aircraft (1969). Thus in 1916 the Società Italiana Aviazione was founded, changing its name in 1918 to Fiat. In Turin, besides aircraft engines, and always along the lines of the internal-combustion engine, Fiat diversified production with the constitution in 1909 of

Fiat San Giorgio Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...

for marine diesel engines, the area from which activities in the field of industrial engines for electric power generation later ensued. In Colleferro (

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

), the Bombrini Parodi-Delfino-BPD Company, established in

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

in 1912, started manufacturing explosives and chemical products, from which the space segment originated. In the aeronautical field, roots grew in

Brindisi Brindisi ( , ) ; la, Brundisium; grc, Βρεντέσιον, translit=Brentésion; cms, Brunda), group=pron is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Histo ...

with the SACA Company. Gradually, many other realities began such as the CMASA di Marina Company in

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the ci ...

, founded in 1921 by German design engineer

Claude Dornier Claude (Claudius) Honoré Désiré Dornier (born in Kempten im Allgäu on 14 May 1884 – 5 December 1969) was a German-French airplane designer and founder of Dornier GmbH. His notable designs include the 12-engine Dornier Do X flying boa ...

, in collaboration with Rinaldo Piaggio and

Attilio Odero Saint Attilio, one of the legendary martyrs of the Theban Legion, is venerated as a saint in the area of Trino Vercellese, in Piedmont, north-west Italy and commemorated on 28 June. However his cult is no longer officially recognized by the Ro ...

. Finally, interactions and exchanges, accumulation of skills and experience, and multi-faceted stimuli have come from the many varied forms of international collaboration that have taken place with major companies like

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable ene ...

, Rolls-Royce, Pratt & Whitney and Eurocopter, just to mention a few of the most important names with whom current partnerships go back over half a century. a Storia futura - Stefano Musso Professor of History of Political Movements and Parties at the Faculty of Political Science, Turin University - 2008- ©AVIO S.p.A./ref>

From biplanes to jet aircraft

After the first pioneering design of aircraft engines at the beginning of the twentieth century, against the opinion of over-cautious directors towards new technologies and areas of activity,

Giovanni Agnelli Giovanni Agnelli (13 August 1866 – 16 December 1945) was an Italian businessman, who founded Fiat car manufacturing in 1899. Early life The son of Edoardo Agnelli and Aniceta Frisetti, he was born in 1866 in Villar Perosa, a small town near ...

, one of Fiat's founder members, and technical director Guido Fornaca, supported aeronautical production, and started up on an industrial basis during the Great War to meet military orders. Therefore, the

Società Italiana Aviazione Fiat Aviazione was an Italian aircraft manufacturer, at one time part of the Fiat group, focused mainly on military aviation. After World War I, Fiat consolidated several Italian small aircraft manufacturers, like Pomilio and Ansaldo. Most famo ...

(Italian Aviation Company) was established in 1916, and later passed to the Aviation Section of Fiat in 1918. The first mass-produced aeronautical engine (over 1,000 units), the Fiat A.10, was installed in several aircraft between 1914 and 1915, such as the Farman, later produced under licence, and the three-engined Caproni bomber aircraft.

After the First World War

At the end of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, the technical and production resources accumulated during the conflict were directed at the emerging sector of the commercial aeroplane. The production of complete aircraft, already started up with the SP series, intensified under the guidance of design engineer

Celestino Rosatelli Celestino Rosatelli (8 April 1885 – 23 September 1945) was an Italian aeronautics engineer. Celestino Rosatelli was born in Belmonte in Sabina, close to Rieti Rieti (; lat, Reate, Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Ita ...

who began his collaboration with Fiat in 1918. For about fifteen years, Rosatelli contributed to the famous CR and BR fighter and bomber aircraft while, thanks to its highly technical and reliable engines, Fiat aircraft had a run of world records: power, with the A14 of 700HP produced between 1917 and 1919; speed, with the 300 km/h achieved by the R700 in 1921; speed and airworthiness, with the AS2 engine that, installed on the Idromacchi M20, established the speed record for seaplanes and won the prestigious Schneider Cup in America in 1926; and speed again, with the new record attained by Francesco Agello in 1934 in an aeroplane powered by the Fiat AS6 engine of 3,100HP.

Merger with the Società Aeronautica d’Italia

In 1926, with the acquisition of the

factory in Corso Francia, Turin, Fiat Aviazione merged with the Società Aeronautica d’Italia (Italian Aeronautical Company). In 1931, Vittorio Valletta, the then General Manager of Fiat, employed a young design engineer, Giuseppe Gabrielli, to head the Aviation Technical Office. In 1934, the acquisition of the CMASA Company marked the entry of Fiat into the production of seaplanes. A great many of the targets achieved in the subsequent thirty-year period were linked to the genius of Gabrielli who quickly made a name for himself, beginning with the G2, a commercial plane with six seats besides the pilot, destined to be used by the Società Aviolinee Italiane (Italian Airline Company), with Fiat as majority shareholder, which boasted original innovations and developments under six patents. While investments in the passenger and cargo transport sector continued with the opening up of European routes by civil airlines which used G18 and APR2 twin-engine monoplanes, the G50 was produced in 1937, in the CMASA factory in Marina di Pisa, the first single-seater fighter plane employed by the

Italian Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = (Ordinance March of the Air Force) by Alberto Di Miniello , mascot = , anniversaries = 28 March ...

After the Second World War

In 1949, having overcome the uncertainties and difficulties of the Second World War, the Fiat aeronautical activities were reorganised in the Aviation area. Delays in the production typologies accumulated in the years of autarchy were soon overcome thanks to the technical competences of Gabrielli and the new climate of Atlantic and inter-European collaboration. Already in 1951, Gabrielli had designed the G.80, the first Italian jet aircraft powered by a De Havilland “Goblin” turbojet engine. In the early 1950s, Fiat Aviazione started a production revival by means of American orders and, in particular, was the only company in Europe to obtain the licence from

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

for the construction of the F86 K. It entered into an agreement with

and Pratt & Whitney for the production of jet engine components. The experience acquired through this work allowed the Company to participate in the international call for tenders by NATO in 1954 for a light tactical fighter aircraft. The following year, the Italian project, named G.91, obtained the order for three prototypes, in the same way as the English and French competitors, and then emerged as the winner, with the final decision being made in 1958. The G91 was affirmed as NATO's standard light fighter aircraft in the European zone, becoming the most important Italian postwar aircraft with over 700 planes produced, for the most part exported. . G. Gabrielli – Una vita per l’aviazione – 1982 Edizioni Bompiani/ref> In 1961, Fiat Aviazione took on the role of Italian prime contractor for the NATO F-104G aircraft and, under these circumstances, established collaboration relations with the

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." "A ...

Avio Company in Pomigliano d’Arco, near Naples, directly controlled by the Finmeccanica State Company. From the middle of the 1950s, under the guidance of the engineer Stefanutti, Alfa Romeo Avio had also intensified collaboration relations with Rolls-Royce and

for aeronautical engines. In the second half of the 1960s, following consistent orders of the DC-9 for the national flagship airline Alitalia, controlled by the IRI State Company, the collaboration began between

McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturing corporation and defense contractor, formed by the merger of McDonnell Aircraft and the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. Between then and its own merger with Boeing in 1997, it ...

and Aerfer, an aeronautical and railway Construction Company established by Finmeccanica in 1950 on part of the Aeronautical Centre in

Pomigliano d’Arco Pomigliano d'Arco is a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Naples in Italy, located north of Mount Vesuvius. It is known for its industrial pole among the largest and most influential in southern Italy. In the industrial area there is, amo ...

Setting up of the Aeritalia Company

In 1969, Fiat and Finmeccanica set up the Aeritalia Company, who Fiat entrusted with the aircraft activities. Subsequently, through different international collaborations, Pomigliano d’Arco specialised in the development and production of components for the “hot parts” of jet engines and the overhaul of civil aero engines. Fiat concentrated instead on aero engines and transmissions for helicopters, assembled by Fiat Aviazione in 1976, with 3,700 employees, with production centres in

and

. This choice was consistent with the transformation of the aeronautical industry's worldwide scenario, characterised by the formation of just a few large groups and growing specialisation and internationalisation. A twofold necessity ensued, on the one side, to put into the field collaborations crucial to bringing together the financial resources and technological competences required by an increasingly sophisticated production in the area of materials, electronics and safety systems and, on the other, to identify areas of specialisation in which to play a leading role at a worldwide level. The programme of refinement and improvement of quality control was a strategic factor that gave rise to Fiat Aviazione's success during those years.

Changing the name to Fiat Avio

With the change of the company name to Fiat Avio in 1989, the Turin Company collaborated on the design and manufacturer of propulsion systems for the

Panavia Tornado The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing multirole combat aircraft, jointly developed and manufactured by Italy, the United Kingdom and West Germany. There are three primary Tornado variants: the Tornado IDS (inte ...

and Harrier jump jet (vertical/short takeoff and landing) in the military sector, and

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and ...

and

Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: '' ...

in the commercial one, to mention the most important examples in both military and commercial fields. In 1997, the acquisition of the controlling stake in

Avio from Finmeccanica was key to a national strategic project aimed at reducing the excessive fragmentation of the Italian companies and at increasing competitiveness through more systematic synergies.

Products

Aircraft

Fiat AN.1 The Fiat AN.1 was an experimental Italian water-cooled diesel straight six cylinder aircraft engine from the late 1920s. Design and development Fiat's interest in Diesel engines dated from 1907, initially focused on slow turning factory engi ...

* Fiat APR.2 * Fiat AS.1 ;

Giuseppe Gabrielli Giuseppe Gabrielli (26 February 1903 – 29 November 1987) was an Italian aeronautics engineer. He is famous as the designer of numerous Italian military aircraft, including the Fiat G.50 Freccia and G.55 World War II fighters. He was born in C ...

series * Fiat G.2 * Fiat G.5 * Fiat G.8 *

Fiat G.12 The Fiat G.12 was an Italian transport aircraft of World War II. Design and development The G.12 was an all-metal low-wing cantilever personnel transport aircraft. It had three radial engines, one mounted on the nose and the other two in wing-m ...

* Fiat G.18 *

Fiat G.46 The Fiat G.46 was a military Trainer (aircraft), trainer developed in Italy shortly after World War II. Design and development The G.46 was a conventional, low-wing monoplane with Conventional landing gear, tailwheel undercarriage, the main u ...

* Fiat G.49 *

Fiat G.50 The Fiat G.50 ''Freccia'' ("Arrow") was a World War II Italian fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by aviation company Fiat. Upon entering service, the type became Italy’s first single-seat, all-metal monoplane that had an enclosed co ...

Fiat G.55 The Fiat G.55 ''Centauro'' ( Italian: "Centaur") was a single-engine single-seat World War II fighter aircraft used by the ''Regia Aeronautica'' and the ''Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana'' in 1943–1945. It was designed and built in Turin by ...

* Fiat G.61 *

Fiat G.80 The Fiat G.80 was a military jet trainer developed in Italy in the 1950s, and was that country's first true jet-powered aircraft. It was a conventional low-wing monoplane with retractable tricycle undercarriage and engine air intakes on the fus ...

* Fiat G.82 * Fiat G.91 *

Fiat G.91Y The Fiat (later Aeritalia) G.91Y is an Italian ground-attack and reconnaissance aircraft which first flew in 1966. Although resembling its predecessor, the Fiat G.91, the aircraft was in fact a complete redesign, a major difference with it bein ...

Fiat G.212 The Fiat G.212 was an Italian three-engine airliner of the 1940s. An enlarged development of Fiat's earlier G.12 transport, it was used in small numbers in commercial service and by the Italian Air Force. Development and design The first prot ...

* Fiat G.222 ; Aldo Guglielmetti series * Fiat BGA ;

series * Fiat B.R. * Fiat B.R.1 * Fiat B.R.2 *

Fiat BRG The Fiat BRG was an Italian heavy bomber prototype built in the 1930s by Fiat for the Italian Air Force. Design and development The BRG (''Bombardiere Rosatelli Gigante'', "Giant Rosatelli Bomber") was a three-engine strut-braced high-wing mono ...

* Fiat C.29 * Fiat CR.1 * Fiat CR.20 * Fiat CR.25 *

Fiat CR.30 The Fiat CR.30 was a 1930s Italian single-seat biplane fighter aircraft designed by Celestino Rosatelli and built by Fiat. Design and development The Fiat CR.30 was a new design by Celestino Rosatelli for a single-seat fighter. Four prototyp ...

* Fiat C.R.33 * Fiat C.R.40 * Fiat C.R.41 *

* Fiat R.2 * Fiat R.22 * Fiat-Ansaldo A.120 * Fiat-Ansaldo A.S.1 * Fiat CANSA F.C. 12 * Fiat CANSA F.C.20 *

Fiat RS.14 The Fiat RS.14 was an Italian long-range maritime strategic reconnaissance floatplane. The RS.14 was a four/five seat all-metal cantilever low/mid-wing monoplane powered by two wing-mounted 626 kW (840 hp) Fiat A.74 R.C.38 engines. It ...

* Fiat M.F.4 ; Helicopters * Fiat 7002

Aircraft engines

* Fiat SA8/75 * Fiat S.55 * Fiat A.10 * Fiat A.12 *

Fiat A.14 The Fiat A.14 was an Italian 12-cylinder, liquid-cooled, V aero engine of World War I. The A.14 held the distinction at the end of World War I of being the largest and most powerful aircraft engine in the world. First produced in 1917, 500 wer ...

* Fiat A.15 *

Fiat A.20 The Fiat A.20 was an Italian aero-engine of the 1920s. It was a water-cooled V12 engine that was used by early versions of the Fiat CR.20 fighter and the Macchi M.41 seaplane. In 1923, FIAT built the A.15, a 430 hp (320 kW) wate ...

* Fiat A.22 *

Fiat A.24 The Fiat A.24 was an Italian water-cooled aircraft engine from the 1920s. Design and development During the second half of the 1920s Fiat introduced several water-cooled aircraft engines, including the A.20, A.22, A24, A.25 and A.30. They wer ...

* Fiat A.25 * Fiat A.30 *

Fiat A.50 The Fiat A.50 was a seven-cylinder, air-cooled radial engine for aircraft use built in Italy in the 1930s. It was first run in 1928, it had a bore and stroke of 100 mm × 120 mm (3.94 in × 4.72 in)(6.6 L / 402.6 cuin) and was rated at ...

* Fiat A.53 * Fiat A.54 *

Fiat A.55 The Fiat A.55 was a seven-cylinder, air-cooled radial engine developed in Italy in the 1930s as a powerplant for aircraft.Angle, G.D., 1940. ''Aerosphere: Including World's Aircraft Engines with Aircraft Directory.'' New York: Aircraft Publishers ...

Grey 1972 pp.68d-71d * Fiat A.58 * Fiat A.59 * Fiat A.60 * Fiat A.74 * Fiat A.76 * Fiat A.78 * Fiat A.80 * Fiat A.82 * Fiat AS.2 Schneider Trophy 1926 * Fiat AS.3 * Fiat AS.5 Schneider Trophy 1929 *

Fiat AS.6 The Fiat AS.6 was an unusual Italian 24-cylinder, liquid-cooled V configured aircraft racing engine designed and built in the late-1920s by Fiat especially for the Schneider Trophy air races, but development and running problems meant that it ...

Schneider Trophy 1931 *

Diesel * Fiat 4002 * Fiat 4004 * Fiat 4301 * Fiat 4700

References

{{Authority control Defunct aircraft manufacturers of Italy Defunct helicopter manufacturers Manufacturing companies based in Turin Aeritalia