Nardi FN.305
Two-seat FN.305
Role Fighter trainer and liaison monoplane
Manufacturer Fratelli Nardi
First flight 19 February 1935[1]
Retired 1948[2]
Primary users Italian Air Force
Hungarian Air Force
Romanian Air Force
Produced 1937-1943
Number built 208 + 3 prototypes
Variants Nardi FN.315
Nardi FN.316

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.70S inline piston engine.[3] 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 engine as the FN.305A which then entered production by Piaggio 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.[4] The largest export order came from France, which ordered 300 but only 41 had been delivered when Italy declared war on France in June 1940. They were used as liaison aircraft and fighter trainers.[5] The final export customer was Hungary which ordered 50.

An improved version was developed as the Nardi FN.315.

Variants

Nardi FN.305 photo from L'Aerophile March 1939
Nardi FN.305D with Walter Bora (1938)
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

 Bulgaria
 France
 Hungary
 Kingdom of Italy
 Italy
 Romania
 Chile

Specifications (FN.305A)

Data from The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing. p. 2594.

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

See also

Related lists

References

  1. ^ "Nardi FN.35" Aerei Italiani
  2. ^ aeroflight
  3. ^ Thompson, Jonathan (1963). Italian Civil and Military Aircraft, 1930-1945. Los Angeles: Aero Publishers. p. 214. ISBN 978-1-2584-4296-5.
  4. ^ Axworthy, Mark (1995). Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945. London: Arms and Armour. p. 274. ISBN 978-0-9776-1553-7.
  5. ^ Domange Avions February 1999, p. 24
  6. ^ "Italian Air Force". aeroflight. Retrieved 30 May 2019.

Bibliography

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nardi FN.305.
Categories