This is not a perfect skin as the Dragonfly 42a has some weird texture mapping issues but here it is. I figured that since other people have used the plane as a stand-in for a 1946 Italian fighter, I figured I would make it one. Despite its issues, I hope you enjoy it.
Background (Apologies if it's a bit incoherent, I was somewhat distracted when I wrote it)
The year is 1946. The tide of the war is now decisively against the Allies. The Soviet Union has fallen, and Britain is now once again in flames. The Germans have commenced Operation Sea Lion and the situation just keeps getting worse as Germany's old ally, Fascist Italy is now back in the picture following a rather long and bumpy recovery. Following Mussolini's long exile in the Italian alps and the breaking of most of the Western army's strength in mid-1945, the National Fascist Party decided to come back out into the spotlight, while simultaneously being secretly strengthened by the Germans (granted to a smaller degree than hoped due to the German's own war effort). With the backing of the Germans and with some new found nationalism beginning to flower again in Italy, the Fascists decided to attempt to overthrow the government as most the American and British forces in mainland Italy had been pulled north in order to try to bolster the Allied defenses. Despite the small contingency of the Italian Co-belligerent army who fought bravely to try and prevent the overthrow of this new Democratic Italy, there efforts were ultimately in vain, and in August, 1945, Mussolini once again took his place as leader of the new Fascist Italy. The Italian people cried out for help, but there cry fell on deaf ears, as the Allies simply couldn't or didn't want to help them as they felt there problems were much more important. This decision would ultimately work against the Allies, as many Italians felt betrayed and some began to seek revenge. One of the many Italians who wanted revenge was a humble young man named Galdino Saldutti. Saldutti had been working on his family's vineyard before the war and was an avid aviation buff with dreams of flight and seeing the world. Following the breakout of the war he decided to enlist in the Regia Aeronautica and found himself being sent to the Eastern Front as part of the Italian Expeditionary Corps acting in support of the Germans. His career in the 356 Squadriglia in the skies over Russia would not last very long following the destruction of the Italian army outside Stalingrad, but in this time he had proven himself an exceptional pilot, racking up 12 kills in 2 weeks. However, after the bloodbath in the East, he was sent back to defend the mainland but following the capitulation of Italy, Saldutti found himself without a plane and a cause. Saldutti would not come back into the spotlight until the Allied desertion of Italy, where he would proceed to reenlist in the relatively new Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana. He was assigned to the 1st Gruppo Caccia as his excellent service record pointed that he would be better suited to serve in this unit. For a while he flew a Fiat G.55 which he was very successful with, racking up 83 confirmed kills over the desert, and the Mediterranean by early 1946. Once Operation Sea Lion commenced, Saldutti was assigned to the new Italian Expeditionary Corps which would help back the Germans in the invasion. However, long before deployment, the planes being used by the ANR were now already being predicted to be obsolete and new aircraft had be developed, so they turned to the Germans. Italy had requested the assistance of Heinkel to help develop pre-existing aircraft into much better versions. Heinkel decided that the G.55 would be one of the best for further development and the redesign began immediately. Heinkel used the knowledge they had acquired from the P. 1076 and channeled it into the G.55 to create the G.60. The original designs for the program suggested the use of the DB 609 engine but these engines were prioritized for German production so the Fiat AS.6 was selected instead. Despite the setback, the first prototype flew in March, 1946, and the plane was an instant success. By May, the ANR was being reequipped with the new G.60 and Saldutti found himself in a new beast. Saldutti would first see combat over Britain on May 25, 1946, where would engage a squadron of new spitfires with his 9 G.60s. The dogfight was fierce but by the end of it, the G.60 had proven itself superior and Saldutti had mastered the plane, earning 10 kills in one day. His successes would continue to pile up, and the confirmed kills would continue to increase, and he would soon earn the nickname "The Green Baron". However, unlike "The Red Baron", Saldutti would survive the war and by the time the war had ended, he had achieved 118 confirmed kills, making him the most successful Italian fighter ace in history. After the war, Saldutti went back to his old ways and went to his family's vineyard, where he would continue to live with his wife until his death in 2004. Today, Saldutti's success and heroism has been honored in Rome, where his Fiat G.60 stands on display in the Hall Of Italian Patriots.DownloadPack contains "The Green Baron", a generic, and a non-marking version -
https://www.mediafire.com/file/bg2y7kgabitih45/Dragonfly42a_As_Fiat_G60_Green_Baron_Mid_1946.rar/fileCreditsThanks to Hayate for the awesome G.55 template, Paulus for his awesome planes, and max_thehitman for his information of which skins the planes use
Author
Topic: Fiat G.60, Flown By Galdino Saldutti "The Green Baron", Over Britain, Mid-1946 (Read 1655 times)
