The Nardi FN.305 was an Italian fighter trainer and liaison monoplane developed by the Fratelli Nardi company.

Development

The FN.305 was designed as a trainer and liaison aircraft and the prototype first flew on 19 January 1935. The FN.305 was a low-wing cantilever monoplane of mixed construction. It had tailskid landing gear, with the main gear retracting inwards. It was powered by a nose-mounted 200 hp (149 kW)

Fiat A.70 The Fiat A.70 was an air cooled radial engine with seven cylinders developed by the Italian engineering company Fiat Aviazione in the 1930s. The engine powered a number of Italian light competition and prototype aircraft. Design and development ...

S inline piston engine. The prototype was a tandem two-seater with an enclosed cockpit. It was intended to produce both single-seat and two-seat variants and the next prototype was a single-seat fighter trainer followed by a two-seat basic trainer prototype which both had open cockpits. Two long-range FN.305D variants were then produced powered by a 200 hp (149 kW) Walter Bora radial engine. The first FN.305D was a two-seater which was used on a record-breaking flight between Rome and Addis Ababa in March 1939 gaining a class record for covering the 4463.8 km (2,773,68 miles) at an average speed of 240 km/h (149 mph). The second FN.305D was a single-seater bought by Yugoslavia for an aborted attempt at a nonstop North Atlantic flight. The prototype was re-engined with an

Alfa Romeo 115 The Alfa Romeo 115 was an Italian six-cylinder air-cooled inverted inline engine for aircraft use, mainly for training and light planes, based on the de Havilland Gipsy Six engine. Production totalled approximately 1,600 units. Derivatives of th ...

engine as the FN.305A which then entered production by

Piaggio Piaggio & C. SpA (Piaggio ) is an Italian motor vehicle manufacturer, which produces a range of two-wheeled motor vehicles and compact commercial vehicles under seven brands: Piaggio, Vespa, Gilera, Aprilia, Moto Guzzi, Derbi, and Scarabeo. Its ...

as the Nardi works were not large enough. The Italian Air Force had ordered 258 aircraft, most of them two-seat FN.305A fighter trainers and liaison aircraft. A few of the aircraft were completed as single-seat open-cockpit FN.305Cs and enclosed-cockpit FN.305Ds. Following the Italian order in 1938 nine aircraft were sold to Chile and 31 to Romania. Romania then built 124 aircraft under licence by

SET Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics *Set (mathematics), a collection of elements *Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively Electro ...

. The largest export order came from France but only 41 had been delivered when Italy declared war on France in June 1940. The final export customer was Hungary which ordered 50. An improved version was developed as the Nardi FN.315.

Variants

;FN.305 :Prototype ;FN.305A :Two-seater and main production variant. ;FN.305B :Single-seat open cockpit variant. ;FN.305C :Single-seat enclosed cockpit variant ;FN.305D :Long-range variant with a 200hp (149kW) Walter Bora radial engine, two built, one single-seater and one two-seater.

Operators

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Bulgarian Air Force The Bulgarian Air Force ( bg, Военновъздушни сили, Voennovazdushni sili) is one of the three branches of the Military of Bulgaria, the other two being the Bulgarian Navy and Bulgarian land forces. Its mission is to guard and p ...

- one aircraft ; *

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Army; ...

- 41 aircraft ; *

Royal Hungarian Air Force The Hungarian Air Force ( hu, Magyar Légierő), is the air force branch of the Hungarian Defence Forces. The task of the current Hungarian Air Force is primarily defensive purposes. The flying units of the air force are organised into a single ...

- 50 aircraft ; *''

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 ...

'' - 285 aircraft * Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force ; *

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

operated 10 aircraft until 1948 ; *

Royal Romanian Air Force The Air Force branch of the Royal Romanian forces in World War II was officially named the (ARR), or the Romanian Royal Aeronautics, though it is more commonly referred to in English histories as the (Royal Romanian Air Force, FARR), or simply ( ...

- 31 aircraft ; *

Chilean Air Force "With full speed to the stars" , colours = Indigo White , colours_label = , march = Alte Kameraden , mascot = , anniversaries = 21 March ...

- 9 aircraft

Specifications (FN.305A)

References

Bibliography