History and Background by LarsThe Macchi Castoldi MC202 Folgore was the standard day fighter for the Italian Air Force through late 1941 until the Armistice in September 1943. It was pleasing to fly and was a match for the Bf109F4 apart from a weaker armament. It gained a respectful reputation by the Allies.
Download here:
https://www.mission4today.com/index.php?name=Downloads3&file=details&id=2992By the time of this campaign period, although more modern Allied aircraft were appearing that were faster and tougher, it could still make its presence felt. By May 1943 five Gruppi (3,6,17,151, and 153) and a few individual Squadriglie were fully equipped. Some units would receive more modern aircraft but others would have to soldier on to the end, either fully equipped or flying a mix of types as they were received. The next generation were too few and too late.
Most of the 300 or so MC202s were destroyed on the ground by Allied bombers and fighter-bombers. They fought in Sardinia, Sicily, then lastly the mainland of Italy.
Those simmers used to cannon will note that to get a similar rate of kills with the machine guns they will have to get much closer to the target, especially the heavy bombers. Of course that also means taking more return fire. If you do well with the Re2001 you will do well with the MC202. You will be flying mainly intercepts, but also some escorts and strafing sorties.
Contrary to some sources the MC202 was never used with bombs and only five were given underwing cannon but not used operationally. That duty lay with the MC205V. There was basically no time or factory facility to accommodate these extra uses so the last production machines were very similar to the first. The main difference was the improved engine ratings.
InstallationThis campaign was written and tested using the SAS BAT v4.2 Mod Pack, available here:
BAT Downloads (sas1946.com)
It may work on other modded systems but the campaign uses Command and Control objects and Triggers, so many mission features would be lost or unworkable.
Extract the FOS_Mc202.zip file to a temporary directory.
• Copy the decompressed Missions folder and the decompressed PaintSchemes folder to your IL-2 1946 root folder.
• In the New Pilot Career page, choose Regia Aeronautica in the Air Force selection drop-down. Choose Fire over Fire over Sicily Part 6: the Macchi Castoldi MC202 Folgore in the Career drop-down.
• We recommend turning off No Instant Success for this campaign.
• The campaign is designed to be compatible with any rank selection.
This campaign uses Carmaster’s new grass.
Credits
Many thanks to the BAT team for developing, maintaining, and improving the BAT Modpack. This campaign uses Command and Control and Trigger functions that were recently added to BAT.
We also thank the skinners out there. They bring a lot of life and realism to IL-2 missions everywhere. We could not identify the originators of all the skins we used in this campaign, but these we know:
• G55 - Stefano and Max the Hitman
• MC202 - abraxa and serval
• G50bis - Boelcke and stanislao
• Re2005 - sakai
• Re2001 – Metratron
Author
Topic: Fire Over Sicily Part 6: The Macchi Castoldi MC202 Folgore (Read 575 times)
