Re.2005 - Italy's Beautiful Late War Fighter

Widely considered one of the most beautiful aircraft of the Second World War, the Re.2005 was part of the Series 5 fighters, some of the most advanced aircraft created by Italy during the conflict. However, it had a very short operational life due to Italy's armistice, and as such, it has been many times overlooked.
Game footage
War Thunder - / warthunder .
Disclaimer - This channel is apolitical. We do not endorse any kind of political view.
00:01 Development
06:26 Operational History
Corrections
- None
Music
- Beautiful Oblivion by Scott Buckley ssoundcloud.comscottbuckley
Music promoted by httpswww.free-stock-music.com
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
screativecommons.orglicensesby4.0
- William Tell Overture (by Rossini) | KZbin Audio Library
- Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492, Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492, Act I: Non più andrai (the Marriage of Figaro)
Artist
Tito Gobbi, Philharmonia Orchestra, James Robertson
Album
Puccini, G.: Tabarro (Il) (Gobbi, Mas, Prandelli) (1955)
Licensed to KZbin by
WMG (on behalf of Naxos); UMPG Publishing, Memory Lane Music (Publishing), and 1 Music Rights Societies
Sources
Written:
- Dal Re 2002 al Re 2005 - Storia degli aerei Reggiane Gruppo Caproni - Sergio Govi
- A History of the Mediterranean Air War Vol 3 and 4 - Christopher Shores and Giovanni Massimello
- Reggiane Re 2005 Sagittario - Maurizio Di Terlizzi
- Aircraft Profile 244 - Caproni Reggiane Re 2001 Falco II, Re 2002 Ariete & Re 2005 Sagittario - John F. Brindley
- Dimensione Cielo Vol. 3 Caccia Assalto
- Ali D'Italia Reggiane Re.2005 - Gregory Alegi
- Several other sources like aircraft manuals and tests
I do not own any of the images used in this video. The owners of such images are identified in the video itself.

[@messyjessem.3108]

Man, the Re 2005 is so underrated and forgotten

[@Cuccos19]

Less than 50 were built. Not much impact on aerial warfare's outcome, not even a technical marvel, but it was a decent fighter. Only enthusiasts know about it. Even the most produced Italian fighter, the Macchi M.C.202 did not reach the production number 2000 pieces.

[@1joshjosh1]

I'm not enthusiastic and I know about it.

[@raulduke6105]

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@MangoTroubles-007]

It's not underrated at all. Lol It's called the most beautiful airplane of WW2. People who use the word underrated need to be fined for stupidity

[@Scrat335]

I have a 1/32 scale model of one. It's a beautiful airplane.

[@DotepenecPL]

You can see wreckage of a Re.2005 in the Gianni Caproni museum in Trento.

[@folgore1]

I actually went to that museum some 20 years ago when I was studying in Italy. I don't remember seeing the wreckage but obviously, my focus was going to be on all the complete aircraft in that museum. I do remember seeing the S.79 there even though I don't think that was a Caproni plane. Ironically, I don't think they had any Caproni bombers on display. I did see one of their WW I bombers on display at the US Air Force museum in Dayton.

[@guaporeturns9472]

It is indeed gorgeous

[@ThreenaddiesRexMegistus]

Looked like it was fast even standing still. Typical Italian beauty in design. 👍🏻

[@Riccardo_Silva]

What an incredibly beautiful aircraft!

[@richardjakobek7477]

Yes. It looks more like a pure racing plane than a fighter.

[@josh656]

Italy had some great overlooked planes.

[@FireDragon16180]

Thank you, the italian aviation in ww2 had very successful models but did not have the numbers to fight a world war

[@Antares-vj7su]

yes macchi 205 and Fiat G55 were fighting P51 in the skies. Even today we make some of the best ships and aircrafts, we always lacked money and the will to make things that kill people, nevermind the roman empire *cough cough

[@Nellis202]

No , they didn’t

[@GAMER123GAMING]

@@Nellis202 false

[@Nellis202]

@@GAMER123GAMING Italy produced some outstanding fighters just before they capitulated. I don’t think anyone would deny that the 5 series fighter panes with the German DB inline engine were formidable opponents. Having said that , they ONLY produced a total of 283 of them. Compare that to roughly 34,000 Me 109’s and 20,000 Spitfires. It’s clear that despite their engineering capabilities, they lacked the industrial base to support it. And even then , they were reliant on German engine technology. To their credit , they were able to produce these engine under cross licensing, but again , the industrial capacity simply could not support it. The other thing they lacked was the “will” to wage war. Italy never had a warrior mentality and would have been better off remaining neutral as Spain did.

[@Nellis202]

@@Antares-vj7su Interesting comment , especially as regards not having the will to kill people. Would that all nations decided a path of diplomacy based on mutual trust and respect. And I whole heartedly agree with your views about the Roman Empire , cough, cough 😷 . Here’s an interesting article on the Italian mentality during W2 . It’s not too long and , if you are so inclined, have a “read” at it. pictureshistory.blogspot.com/2014/09/italian-soldiers-in-second-world-war.html

[@smigoltime]

Ayy :D Perhaps something like Cr.32 or Avia B.534 next?

[@Basedpilledandtradmaxxed]

Dang even Smigol up in here

[@brendonbewersdorf986]

Avia B.534 I second this!! It's my favorite biplane!

[@AllthingsWW2]

The Avia is likely in the near future :)

[@MarcoMenozziPro]

The airfoils are almost identical to those of the p-47 thunderbolt.

[@robertspeicher5047]

Thank you. Nice seeing and hearing about the air force of Italy.

[@TonyTorius]

Nice video, as always. The Italians had some beautiful planes, despite a considerable number of them being outclassed and outdated to face modern Allied planes. My favorites are the G.55, the Re.2005, the C.202 and C.205. For the planes at the end of the video, some I remember by pictures. 1) Caproni Ca.310 Libeccio 2) Fiat BR.20 Cicogna 3) Piaggio P.108B - Italian's main four-engine bomber 4) Breda Ba.88 Lince - described as the top world speed record-breaker, but a failure as a military plane 5) Piaggio P.119 and 6) CANT Z.1007B Airone.

[@AllthingsWW2]

Great job! You got the hardest one, the P.119. However you got turned around with the number 6. Thank you.

[@massimopozzoli8145]

Number 6 Is a Cant.Z.506 floatplane.

[@masterofreality.o0o.535]

One of my absolute favourite aircraft. Simply exquisite and I understand to have had a very acceptable performance. I await part two with interest.

[@cassandraskanen6362]

The Reggiane Re.2001 Falco II was an excellent fighter, superior to Macchi MC.202 Folgore with the same engine DB601. The Macchi was faster 50 km/h than the Falco II, but it was less maneuverable. The WWII Ace Screwball Beurling was hit twenty times in his Spitfire by a flight of Falco II, while he was usually storming the Folgore. If the Falco II was not produced on a mass scale, it was by a politic reason. Also Re.2005 Sagittario it was a very great fighter, superior to MC.205 Veltro but inferior than Fiat G.55 Centauro in manouverability, and faster than both. It was a real "Ferrari in the sky" because the Reggiane works were not far from Modena and Maranello, headquarter of Ferrari works. I had the good fortune to meet when I was young a real very old pilot of the Sagittario and he claimed to have exceeded the Sound Barrier during a nosedive. I don’t think it was possible, but my Grandpa, partisan of the Garibaldi Brigade operating in Emilia, told me he have heard many sonic boom "like a jet fighter" by "a full green Italian fighter" operating from Bresso Airport, near Milan. Italian Civil War was between 1943 and 1945, MC.205 and G.55 had a grey camouflage and also the BF-106 G and K of Italian ANR (National Republican Aviation, the Air Force of Repubblica di Salò) had a olive green and braunviolet camouflage. A single Re.2005 with full green camouflage was stationed to Bresso Airport and captured in 1945 by US Army, later was trasferried in the United States and shown after the end of the war inan Air Show. But these are rumors and legends, I think this is a mystery that will never be solved!

[@giorgiopolloni7936]

By far the most beautiful aircraft of World War Two, someone should build a full scale model. Bellissimo!

[@MikyILdecre]

Casually seeing this video, here in my home in Reggio Emilia were Reggiani factory was... cool!

[@djordjejelic5891]

Glad to see a new video from you

[@user-ki9be5ol5c]

Hello. Glad to watch yet another wonderful video from you. Can't wait for part two. :-)

[@theodoreolson8529]

I enjoy your videos. The information is comprehensive and you deliver a sense of context to the events discussed. Thank you for your hard work.

[@angriff69]

Thank you for this video, greetings from Italy

[@kelpeyehelp]

I enjoyed the video, thank you kindly for publishing - I look forward to understanding the armaments on the aircraft and if it had any air to ground capabilities!

[@capoamaral]

Glad you're back! Hope everything is ok! Very good video as always. Cheers

[@paktahn]

with out a doubt italy had a few very beautiful aircraft in my opinion the c202 is the epitome of beauty among the italian aircraft from ww2 it looks like an open wheel race car with wings

[@UltorCXXVIII]

Great documentary thank you so much Sir!

[@itifonhom]

Wonderful video again, thank you!!

[@AllthingsWW2]

Thank you

[@garethjones9371]

Very informative and interesting indeed. Brilliant.

[@McRocket]

I think all of the series 5 fighters were gorgeous. A lack of bubble canopies was all they needed for near-visual perfection in this area (to me). Thank you for this interesting/informative video. I like these relatively obscure aircraft/air forces you cover. ☮

[@brendonbewersdorf986]

I love this plane hoping we also get the fiat g55/56 soon to!!

[@smigoltime]

Aight, 1) Caproni Ca.310 2) Fiat BR20 3) Piaggio P.108B 4) Breda Ba88 Lince 5)no clue tbh 6) CANT Z.1007B Airone

[@TonyTorius]

Piaggio P.119. At first I thought of the Ambrosini SAI.207 and SAI.403, but the air intake is different from these two planes with the P.119.

[@smigoltime]

@@TonyTorius I see, thanks for that one

[@paktahn]

besides being born with a ballistics computer in your brain was there an aircraft compendium also?

[@smigoltime]

@@paktahn I mean, aircraft are my passion, hence why I play flight sims xD

[@AllthingsWW2]

You got 4 out of 6! @TonyTorius got the number 5 right; it is the P.119. The number 6 is almost correct, but you got turned around with the number! Great job.

[@marcelogeka]

Señor: Sus videos son mucho mejores, más descriptivos y abundantemente gráficos que los de muchos otros canales de contenido similar. Mis felicitaciones a usted!!

[@AllthingsWW2]

Muchas gracias! :)

[@paulcateiii]

great to see you have returned - beautiful aircraft too bad more weren't manufactured

[@AllthingsWW2]

Thank you! It's sad none survived the war. There is only part of a fuselage in exposition at the Museo dell'aeronautica Gianni Caproni in Trento, Italy.

[@r.guerreiro140]

É belíssimo!

[@ChrisSmith-lo2kp]

Luftwaffe preferred Daimler-engined Italian fighter aircraft to their own Me109s ~ superior Italian styling, cockpit layout, controls design surrounding German powerplant

[@Simon-hd6dc]

Indeed! They considered it the best Axis combat plane in terms of overall flight performance. ... obviously! The Bf109 was a pre-war design and was already used in the Spanish civil war. The Spitfire was developed around a year later. And that was plenty enough for the Spitfire to be the plane with the higher long term development potential. Aircraft technology saw extremely quick progress. The Re. 2005 being a late prop design and being designed around one of the best German engines with a streamlined engine had to be a recipe for success.

[@dude126]

Very good video

[@philalcoceli6328]

Just a hypothesis and nothing else: just like the original P-51Mustang went from good to extraordinary with the Rolls Royce engine, the Re. 2005 could have done the same thing with a much more dependable, more powerful engine, among other improvements. Attack aircraft don't bother with beauty, but this flying beauty masterpiece, with beauty common in fighters, could have achieved so much more. Some also-rans do not need to be despised. Regardless of anything, those who acknowledge real merit grow in it. Thanks for the video!!

[@greenthing99100]

thank you.

[@EmanueleValeriani-sn7vf]

My grandfather made those! I still have a knife he made from sheet aluminum he stole from the plant (they were dirt poor)

[@DarkAlex1978]

Aside for the very well made video, I must commend your effort to pronunce the names correctly (with good results).

[@AllthingsWW2]

Grazie mille!

[@Leptospirosi]

A great plane, but not a great war machine: the main flaw was in the tail area which was prone to catastrophic breakdown at high speed: it would probably have needed a whole redesign of the tail section to enter mass production. Another problem was the lack of proper harmonization between the strength required to manoeuvre in all axis, and the worst thing was that the plane was never thought for mass production, requiring too many man hour for delivery. The reason why the Veltro (Mc205) won the competition was the availability of many Mc202 ready for conversion on the more powerful engine. the N was never considered for production. The best War Machine of the serie 5 by far unanimously deemed the fiat G55, requiring just 9000 Man hour against the 15000 required by the Macchi prototype. It was the superior airframe at high altitude and had superb control harmonization, plus an easy conversion for an engine mounted cannon. Despite being not so nimble as the other 2 planes below 6000m the fiat also was the cell with more growing potential. The Macchi for example, was too small to install a DB603 engine.

[@unwokeneuropean3590]

Italians also had the best cockpits and gauges.

[@ukulelemikeleii]

The float plane, number 6, I read or heard somewhere was a very good aircraft and one of the best floatplanes of WWII. Perhaps you'll do a video on her, soon?

[@mariorossi7343]

Float Plane number 6?

[@ukulelemikeleii]

@@mariorossi7343 at the end of the video, 6 Italian aircraft are shown and a question asked, can we identify them? No, but I recognized the sixth one, i.e. number 6, to be a float plane that was very good, one of the best of WWII.

[@mariorossi7343]

@@ukulelemikeleii sure, it's a CANT Z 1007 bis. You can see ore of that at the "Italian Air Force Museum" located in "Vigna di Valle", Italy.

[@donttreadonmetal5073]

@@mariorossi7343 those planes are Caproni Ca.310, Fiat BR.20M, Piaggio P.108A, Breda Ba.88, Piaggio P.119, and CANT Z.506.

[@donttreadonmetal5073]

CANT Z.506

[@Nivola1953]

Without being an historian, I don’t think that the 5 at the end refers to the DB 605, because the same 3 companies used a 0 for the first series G 50, MC 200 and Re 2000, followed by series 2, MC 202 and Re 2002, the 5 is just the distinguishing number for the homonymous Serie of fighters in the Regia Aeronautica. The Macchi fighter name is officially MC (Macchi Castoldi), not Cxxx like in your images. IMHO the FIAT G55 deserves the title of most beautiful Italian fighter, the Reggiane fighters all resemble the P47, with which they share the Seversky original design..

[@user-je5do6jn2f]

The Egyptian Air Force liked the 2nd hand 5th Gen Italian fighters after WW2.

[@simtalkayak]

I'm not particularly keen on the rudder shape but it is a good looking plane.

[@bombfog1]

If this question isn’t too personal, may I ask where comes your accent? It’s pleasant and thus I enjoy listening to your videos.

[@capoamaral]

He's Portuguese

[@AllthingsWW2]

Yes, I'm indeed Portuguese. Thank you.

[@bombfog1]

@@capoamaral Much Appreciated.

[@bombfog1]

@@AllthingsWW2 Thank you.

[@joerosa2532]

Nulla da dire....bellissimo esempio di macchina aerea.

[@dariocafiero1179]

the same Luftwaffe in 1942 rated the Fiat G55 as excellent in fighters, the Macchi 205 as good and the Reggiane 2005 as average and the possibility of producing the Fiat G55 under license in Germany was evaluated

[@TBornes]

❤ beauteful🎉

[@nick24488]

Love it on WT, it can reliably fight late spitfires

[@folgore1]

It's one of the bizarre aspects of World War II history that Italy, the weakest of the great power combatants, had such an insane number of aircraft models given the limitations of Italian industry and its ability to produce the various designs in significant numbers. They really needed to concentrate on one or two models.

[@zoltantelepoczki6185]

1 Caproni 310 Libeccio 2 Fiat br.20 Cicogna 3 Piaggio 108 4 Breda 88 Lince 5 Piaggio P.119 - non ho conosciuto il numero - l'ho cercato sul net 6 CANT. Z 506 B Airone 1,2,3,4,6 ho gia costruiti in scala 1/72 Tutti sono BELLISSIMI

[@kronosmambrini9227]

you pronounced "Minguzzi" very well

[@lw3918]

I wondered where you've been.

[@AllthingsWW2]

Slowly getting back into it :)

[@lippold79]

what is no5? its look very interesting

[@Justin-rv7oy]

Can you cover the Ki-84?

[@AllthingsWW2]

Certainly. I can't promise a date, though.

[@Justin-rv7oy]

@AllthingsWW2 No problem, always love to hear about Italian and Japanese aircraft, just something about their aesthetics. Great videos btw.

[@AllthingsWW2]

Thank you! @@Justin-rv7oy

[@user-je5do6jn2f]

Too few, too late. Sweet bird, though...

[@N8570E]

You asked, here goes. I am sure of numbers 3, 5 and 6. Numbers 1, 3 and 4 are kind of iffy, but are my best guesses. #1: CANT Z.1018 Leone (Lion) #2: FIAT BR.20 BIS Cicogna (Stork) #3: Piaggio P.108 #4: Breda Ba.88 Lince (Lynx) #5: Piaggio P.119 #6: CANT Z.506B Airone (Heron) That research (without using the internet, just my books) was exhausting, but fun. Later I did use the internet. The books used for the research are as follows: "Italian Civil and Military Aircraft 1930-1945", by Jonathan Thompson, Aero Publishers, Inc., (Fallbrook, California, U.S.A., 1963) And from the ten-volume series "War Planes of the Second World War", by William Green, drawings by Dennis I. Punnett, Doubleday & Company, Inc. (Garden City, New York, U.S.A.). "Fighters / Volume Two / Great Britain and Italy", (1961) "Floatplanes / Volume Six", (1962) Also, Crecy Publishing (Wythenshawe, England) is coming out with a volume at the end of this month, March, 2024, "Italian Fighters Volume 1". It is subtitled Macchi Fighters, covering the C.200 Saetta (Lightning), C.202 Folgore (Thunderbolt) and C.205 Veltro (Greyhound). Earlier (2022) they published a volume on the Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero (Sparrowhawk). If you wonder if it is S.79 or SM.79, they have a full page titled "S.79 or SM.79? The question of a name". I am really enjoying your series, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered with the research. For World War II, Italian and French aircraft are weak spots in my library. Thank you for your efforts. May you and yours stay well and prosper.

[@AllthingsWW2]

Great job! You got 5 out of 6! The number 1 is incorrect, but I do understand why you chose the 1018; it has a very similar nose. Thank you for the heads-up on the upcoming Crecy book. I love that series of books, although they are mainly focused on Germany. I have indeed read the SM.79 book. I also have a video on it! Thank you for your compliments; hopefully I'll find the time to publish more often in the near future!

[@N8570E]

@@AllthingsWW2 Make sure to devote adequate time to your family and other loved ones. Thanks for the reply. Stay safe.

[@donttreadonmetal5073]

Caproni Ca.310 is #1

[@MarcoMenozziPro]

It is a pity that after the war, Reggiane had to stop producing aeroplanes for political reasons.

[@Diadema033]

10:50 no, G-55 produced until Armistice were no more than 38, totally no more than 180 until 1944 if not even less (164?). Also the C.205 were less than 200 as the Serie III was not totally made until 1944, totalizing about 260, included 9 Sr IV.

[@Ralphieboy]

Italy never had the industrial base to turn out any of these fine aircraft in any numbers large enough to have an influence.

[@stefano986]

and they were not easy to build planes!

[@viper2148]

@9:31 Magnifico!

[@puppetguy8726]

Wasn't the Re 2000 somewhat popular? They got orders from Britain, Sweden and Hungary and Hungary produced it under license.

[@MiG-31893]

Britain never ordered any Italian planes, they had Spitfires. Also they were on opposite sides of

[@puppetguy8726]

@@MiG-31893 Yes they did, before Italy entered the war, but Italy entering the war stopped any purchase from being finalised.

[@puppetguy8726]

@@MiG-31893 They ordered 300 Re.2000 in 1939

[@MiG-31893]

@@puppetguy8726 according to all 7 sources (3 online and 4 books) I only found the exact same users: Sweden Germany Hungry and Italy

[@ralphe5842]

Of course it’s beautiful it’s Italian but the fiat g55 was a better aircraft

[@Haydn109]

So this is the airplane that has been shooting me down in WT 😂😤

[@yz450f7]

Genio Italiano

[@eddies6977]

Props to the the artist, great work! Pun intended.😏