After the end of World War I Italy had an Air Force over 1.700 planes strong, using however a large number of foreign planes. Only in the bomber branch a local desing made by Caproni was used. In the following years the local aircraft industries no longer built foreign desings under licence but developed their own. The use of planes was however not as an independent arm but within the Army or Navy, which should be so until 28 March 1923 when the service finally became independent and was named Regia Aeronautica (RA), which means Royal Air Force. In the years to come Italy produced a vast range of aircraft - from fighters to bombers, from transport planes to sea planes, the Italian industries came up with revolutionary designs which were breaking records not only in speed but also in endurance. This created a great deal of pride: to the point that the RA was sometimes even refered to as the aristocracy of the sky. Thus technical progress was limited and other Air Forces should soon be better equipped and prepared for World War II - the RA should however only understand this through harsh lessons in the first months of the war. In the overestimation of its own possibilites the RA was by far not the only Air Force, but what weighted more was the fact that the chosen path of technical progress proved wrong. That, and the limited industrial capabilities caused improvements to happen in slow pace and the output being always low. Key technologies like liquid-cooled engines, onboard radio, heavy armament and radar were not studied or aborted on behalf of doubtfull reasons.

AIRCRAFT :

- Savoia Marchetti SM79 "Sparviero"

The famous " Gobbo Maledetto" (cursed humpbacked), the SM 79 was universally considered as one of the best bombers of the Second World War. Appeared in 1934 as a civil plane, it was the protagonist of famous flies , as the Istres-Damasco-Paris race and the Roma-Rio de Janeiro race, accomplished by the famous "Sorci Verdi" (green mouses). During the war it accomplished some of the most hard missions in the varios theathers.

- Macchi MC202 "Folgore"

The most evoluted fighter the italians made, the MC 202 had a on-line motor that improved the aereodinamics and the velocity in respect of its predecessor , the MC 200. It fought in North Africa, on the Mediterranean sea, in Russia and its apparison in the summer 1941 eventually gave the italians pilots a machine to compare in performance with the enemy fighters as the Spitfire and the Hurricane.

-  Cant Z 1007bis "Alcione"

Terrestrial bombing plane of good performances, the Cant Z 1007 constituted a great part of the bombing force of Regia Areonautica during World War 2. After some exemplars with weak engines, the production passed in 1938 to 1007BIS, model more reliable and powerful. The plane saw his first actions during the bombings of England in 1940 made by the CAI italian force in France. Then it operated in the Mediteranean and in Russia, where it well resisted to cold temperatures due to its wooden infrastructure.

-  Caproni Campini CC.2

The first italian jet plane flew on 28th August 1940, and for some time this date was considered very important in the aviation world, becuase that was considered the first jet flight in the world (In reality the first had been the He.178, that flew secretly on 27th August 1939). Even more , the italian project followed a technical solution that was never further developed , because it obtained a jet thrust without affording the complicate studies of in other countries.

- CRDA CANT Z.506 "Airone"

The CANT Z.506 "Airone" , derivated from the Z.505 (postal services), with many records of ceiling ,range and speed, was firstly employed as a passenger (12-14) transport (Z.506A , Z.506C) with the "Ala Littoria" civilian company; due the good results it was decided the employing in the Regia Aeronautica; the first 32 exemplars (Z.506B) were ordered in 1937 and destinated to naval bombing. The first unit (35°Stormo) recieved them in 1938. But since the end of 1940 , due to limitated performances, the 506B were passed to a recon role , and then as medevacs. After the war some of these planed (Z.506S) remained in service until 1960 with SAR purposes.

-  CRDA CANT Z.501 "Gabbiano"

The Z.501 was the first project designed by Filippo Zappata engineer for the new "Cantieri Riuniti dell Adriatico"(CRDA). It was a long-range seaplane, designed to fullfill bombing and recon tasks. The plane , of wooden structure , had an high-wing with the engine on it. In the engine gondola there was a place for the onboard techician , that had at its disposal one 7.7mm machinegun.

- FIAT CR42 "Falco"

Developed in the wrong convintion that the biplane formula had a future, while other aeronautics were developing monoplane fighters, the CR 42 has many of the previous models (CR 32, 40 , 41) s characteristics, with a powerful radial motor and a metallic structure. After the early testings, Regia Aeronautica ordered 200 exemplars of the plane, and the first arrived in February 1939.

- FIAT BR20 "Cicogna"

Designed as modern bombing plane , the FIAT BR.20 demostrated from the beginning to be a good plane, with adequate velocity and payload. In 1937 and 1939 they were realized 3 special exemplars for civilian purposes, to partecipate to the famous race Istres-Damasco , and to make a record fly from Rome to Addis Abeba. The plane entered in service in autumn 1936 within the 13° Stormo of Regia Aeronautica, while a consistent number of planes partecipated to Spanish Civil War with the Aviazione Lagionaria.

- FIAT G50

Ideated in 1935 by Giuseppe Gabrielli engineer, the G.50 was a monoplane aerodynamically modern, but with bad flying characteristics and of performances light superior from the CR-42. The prototypes and the 45 pre-series exemplars had a closed cockpit, hated by pilots, so in the series production the cockpit was re-projected as the flaps and the tail.

  FIAT G55 "Centauro"

The FIAT "Centauro" was one of the Italian fighters of "Serie 5", as it was equipped with the more advanced inline DB-605A engines in place of the surpassed radial engines. In respect of his predecessor G.50 , the G.55 was more armonious and had good flying performances and qualities. Tough and manouverable , this plane could compete with the best Allied fighters in equal terms, but arrived to late to series production

- Piaggio P108

Unique strategic bomber built in Italy during the WW2, the Piaggio P.108 was derivated from the P.50. At the end of the experimental activity, the first exemplars of P.108 (bomber) entered service from the July 1941.

- Reggiane RE 2000 /2005

In 1939 the Reggiane factory began to study on a new metallic monoplane fighter. The plane , named RE.2000 "Falco" , was inspired to US technics and was similar to Republic-Seversky P-35 plane. The Regia Aeronautica ordered only 30 exemplars for a naval use.The RE.2003 recon plane remained at the prototype stadium, and the RE.2005, that flew on 9 May 1942, was the best plane of this series and probably the best italian fighter in WW2.

- Siai S81

Militar version of the S.73 passenger transport trimotor that had flown in 1934, the S.81 was a low-winged bomber and trycicle-fixed landing gear. Entered rapidly in production - the plane was already in service in spring 1935 - it was largely used in the Abissinia invasion, also in transport and recon roles. Utilized also in Eastern Africa and in Spain, the S.81 remained in production until March 1938 when it was completed the 535° exemplar. During the WW2, due to inadequate performances, the plane was gradually used as transport instead of bombing roles.