The Gabardini G.8 was an Italian single-seat aircraft produced in both fighter and trainer versions by Gabardini in 1923.

Design and development

G.8

Until 1923, the Gabardini company had produced only instructional aircraft for use by flight training schools, but in 1923 it offered a new aircraft, the G.8, in both advanced trainer and fighter versions. It was the companys first venture into military trainer or fighter production. The G.8 was a metal single-bay

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

with fabric covering, a frontal

radiator Radiators are heat exchangers used to transfer thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling and heating. The majority of radiators are constructed to function in cars, buildings, and electronics. A radiator is always a ...

, and a two-bladed

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

. The wings were of unequal span, with the upper wing of greater span than the lower, and the aircraft had

aileron An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around ...

s only on its upper wing. The trainer version was unarmed and powered by a Hispano-Suiza 8A V8 engine rated at 104

kilowatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

s (140 horsepower), while the fighter was armed with two 7.7-millimeter (0.303-inch) Vickers machine guns synchronized to fire through the propeller and had a 149-kilowatt (200-horsepower) Hispano Suiza V8.

The G.8 was designed in parallel with the

Gabardini G.9 The Gabardini G.9 was an Italian single-seat biplane fighter prototype produced by Gabardini in 1923. Design and development G.9 Gabardini designed the G.9 in parallel with its work on its first fighter design, the Gabardini G.8, which had a ...

and had a similar wing cellule, but differed from the G.9 in having more cabane bracing and a longer-span upper wing.

G.8''bis''

Gabardini further developed the G.8 in the G.8''bis'' model. The G.8''bis'' had a 134-kilowatt (180-horsepower) Hispano-Suiza HS 34 engine driving a two-bladed propeller, and differed from the G.8 in having a longer-span lower wing and radiators attached to the sides of its fuselage over the wing leading edges instead of a frontal radiator.

Operational history

The ''

Regia Aeronautica The Italian Royal Air Force (''Regia Aeronautica Italiana'') was the name of the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946. In 1946, the monarchy was abolis ...

'' (Italian Royal Air Force) did not place a production order for either model of the G.8 or for the G.8''bis''. Gabardini retained all the G.8 aircraft for instructional use at its flight training school at Cameri.Green and Swanborough, p. 236.

Variants

;G.8 trainer :Unarmed version with lower-rated engine ;G.8 fighter :Armed version with more powerful engine ;G.8''bis'' :Modified version with different engine and radiator and lower wing of greater span

Operators

; *

Specifications (G.8 fighter)

Notes

References

* Green, William, and Gordon Swanborough. ''The Complete Book of Fighters: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Every Fighter Aircraft Built and Flown''. New York: SMITHMARK Publishers, 1994. . {{Portal bar, Italy, Companies, Aviation G.008 1920s Italian fighter aircraft 1920s Italian military trainer aircraft 1920s Italian civil trainer aircraft