CR.42 - Revision history

U38088265: /* Description */

2024-09-30T10:00:40Z

‎Description

U120313908: /* Description */ New Description Project

2024-09-28T20:14:14Z

‎Description: New Description Project

U114543994: Changed a spelling error "Claibre" to "Calibre"

2024-07-05T13:09:29Z

Changed a spelling error "Claibre" to "Calibre"

U9202753: Specs-Card ArtImage Added.

2023-04-06T00:07:00Z

Specs-Card ArtImage Added.

U44629479: Edits

2022-05-12T19:25:02Z

Edits

U122946199 at 07:48, 17 January 2022

2022-01-17T07:48:43Z

U44629479: Edits

2021-09-29T20:50:52Z

Edits

U31139476: added a historical video

2021-09-29T20:27:37Z

added a historical video

U44629479: Undo revision 106508 by U43191476 (talk)

2021-07-07T06:40:56Z

Undo revision 106508 by U43191476 (talk)

U43191476: Trivia

2021-07-07T06:33:53Z

Trivia

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 == Description ==
 <!-- ''In the description, the first part should be about the history of and the creation and combat usage of the aircraft, as well as its key features. In the second part, tell the reader about the aircraft in the game. Insert a screenshot of the vehicle, so that if the novice player does not remember the vehicle by name, he will immediately understand what kind of vehicle the article is talking about.'' -->
-The '''{{Specs|name}}''' was known as the pinnacle of biplane design. Developed to replace the CR.32 with a design that shared the same spirit while being more capable and modern. The aircraft was already outdated for the start of WWII but saw great success in the Spanish Civil War, even against Soviet monoplanes like the I-16. At the start of WWII the CR.42 was used with some success in escort missions, night raids and interception. The aircraft fared well against early Hurricanes and Spitfires thanks to its magnificent agility but it was soon phased out with the introduction of faster, more armoured and overall more advanced fighters.
+The '''{{Specs|name}}''' was known as the pinnacle of biplane design. Developed to replace the CR.32 with a design that shared the same spirit while being more capable and modern, the aircraft was already outdated by the start of WWII but saw great success in the Spanish Civil War, even against Soviet monoplanes like the I-16. At the start of WWII, the CR.42 was used with some success in escort missions, night raids, and interception. The aircraft fared well against early Hurricanes and Spitfires thanks to its agility, but it was soon phased out with the introduction of faster, more armoured, and overall more advanced fighters.
-It was introduced in [[Update 1.69 "Regia Aeronautica"]] along with the initial Italian aviation tree, though a variant existed in the German aircraft tech tree prior to the update. The CR.42 possesses exceptional manoeuvrability, speed, and durability, especially for a biplane. Its armament, which is two Breda-SAFAT .50 calibre machine guns, is quite good as well. However, due to its BR, the majority of aircraft the CR.42 will engage will be faster and more heavily armed. The best bet for survival, and getting scores, is to climb to medium altitude and lure fighters into turn fighting. An overwhelming majority of pilots are unwilling to run from a lowly biplane, allowing you to score critical damage before they realize that they have expended all their energy and must extend away from you. By that time, the damage is usually severe enough that they will not be able to accelerate away from you quickly enough to escape further damage. As a CR.42 pilot, you depend on the enemy committing to the turn fight, if they try to run away or make the fight an energy fight, there is almost nothing you can do, so use your opportunities when you have them.
+The CR.42 was introduced in [[Update 1.69 "Regia Aeronautica"]] along with the initial Italian aviation tree, though an [[CR.42 (Germany)|identical version]] existed in the German aircraft tech tree prior to the update. The CR.42 possesses exceptional manoeuvrability, speed, and durability, especially for a biplane. Its armament, two Breda-SAFAT .50 cal machine guns, is also quite good. However, due to its BR, the majority of aircraft the CR.42 will engage will be faster and more heavily armed. The best bet for survival, and getting scores, is to climb to medium altitude and lure fighters into turn fighting. An overwhelming majority of pilots are unwilling to run from a lowly biplane, allowing you to score critical damage before they realise that they have expended all their energy and must extend away from you. By then, the damage is usually severe enough that they will not be able to accelerate away quickly enough to escape further damage. As a CR.42 pilot, you depend on the enemy committing to the turn fight; if they try to run away or make the fight an energy fight, there is almost nothing you can do, so use your opportunities when you have them.
 == General info ==

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 == Description ==
 <!-- ''In the description, the first part should be about the history of and the creation and combat usage of the aircraft, as well as its key features. In the second part, tell the reader about the aircraft in the game. Insert a screenshot of the vehicle, so that if the novice player does not remember the vehicle by name, he will immediately understand what kind of vehicle the article is talking about.'' -->
-The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} Italian fighter {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in [[Update 1.69 "Regia Aeronautica"]] along with the initial Italian aviation tree, though a variant existed in the German aircraft tech tree prior to the update.
+The '''{{Specs|name}}''' was known as the pinnacle of biplane design. Developed to replace the CR.32 with a design that shared the same spirit while being more capable and modern. The aircraft was already outdated for the start of WWII but saw great success in the Spanish Civil War, even against Soviet monoplanes like the I-16. At the start of WWII the CR.42 was used with some success in escort missions, night raids and interception. The aircraft fared well against early Hurricanes and Spitfires thanks to its magnificent agility but it was soon phased out with the introduction of faster, more armoured and overall more advanced fighters.
-The CR.42 possesses exceptional manoeuvrability, speed, and durability, especially for a biplane. Its armament, which is two Breda-SAFAT .50 calibre machine guns, is quite good as well. However, due to its BR, the majority of aircraft the CR.42 will engage will be faster and more heavily armed. The best bet for survival, and getting scores, is to climb to medium altitude and lure fighters into turn fighting. An overwhelming majority of pilots are unwilling to run from a lowly biplane, allowing you to score critical damage before they realize that they have expended all their energy and must extend away from you. By that time, the damage is usually severe enough that they will not be able to accelerate away from you quickly enough to escape further damage.
+It was introduced in [[Update 1.69 "Regia Aeronautica"]] along with the initial Italian aviation tree, though a variant existed in the German aircraft tech tree prior to the update. The CR.42 possesses exceptional manoeuvrability, speed, and durability, especially for a biplane. Its armament, which is two Breda-SAFAT .50 calibre machine guns, is quite good as well. However, due to its BR, the majority of aircraft the CR.42 will engage will be faster and more heavily armed. The best bet for survival, and getting scores, is to climb to medium altitude and lure fighters into turn fighting. An overwhelming majority of pilots are unwilling to run from a lowly biplane, allowing you to score critical damage before they realize that they have expended all their energy and must extend away from you. By that time, the damage is usually severe enough that they will not be able to accelerate away from you quickly enough to escape further damage. As a CR.42 pilot, you depend on the enemy committing to the turn fight, if they try to run away or make the fight an energy fight, there is almost nothing you can do, so use your opportunities when you have them.
 == General info ==

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 The two machine guns are both mounted on the upper fuselage just in front of the pilot and fire through the propeller arc. Each is armed with the same amount of ammunition, which means that all guns will fire together until empty.
-The center lined armament is always a great advantage. However compared to other nation's fighter crafts with their fast firing 7.7 mm machine guns, the BREDA's slower rate of fire offsets the gained advantage in claibre size and explosive ammunition (IAI).
+The center lined armament is always a great advantage. However compared to other nation's fighter crafts with their fast firing 7.7 mm machine guns, the BREDA's slower rate of fire offsets the gained advantage in calibre size and explosive ammunition (IAI).
 == Usage in battles ==

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 {{Specs-Card
 |code=fiat_cr42_italy
-|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
+|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg|ArtImage_{{PAGENAME}}.png}}
 |cockpit=cockpit_fiat_cr42_italy.jpg
 }}

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 The CR.42 possesses exceptional manoeuvrability, speed, and durability, especially for a biplane. Its armament, which is two Breda-SAFAT .50 calibre machine guns, is quite good as well. However, due to its BR, the majority of aircraft the CR.42 will engage will be faster and more heavily armed. The best bet for survival, and getting scores, is to climb to medium altitude and lure fighters into turn fighting. An overwhelming majority of pilots are unwilling to run from a lowly biplane, allowing you to score critical damage before they realize that they have expended all their energy and must extend away from you. By that time, the damage is usually severe enough that they will not be able to accelerate away from you quickly enough to escape further damage.
-Fighting other biplanes is a whole other issue. Being lighter and thusly having lower stall speeds, they initially perform better in tight turns. Yet all is not lost as the hostile (lower tier) biplane will lose speed (and thusly energy) doing so. Here the CR.42 can find its figthing edge. Being slightly more aerodynamic and heavier which fortunately offset by a stronger engine, the CR.42 can either power through the early turns taking a few hits in the process, ''or'' perform advanced aerobatic manoeuvres. Such include a combination of high and low Yo-Yos to abuse the superior energy retention, or a Split-S to gain speed for altitude, hoping that the enemy biplane either reaches terminal speeds (RB and SB only), has their controls locked up, or yourself can run away safely to initiate a new attack. Due to the excellent stall characteristics of many biplanes, Boom and Zoom tactics can quite literally 'back' fire.
+Fighting other biplanes is a whole other issue. Being lighter and therefore having lower stall speeds, they initially perform better in tight turns. Yet all is not lost as the hostile (lower tier) biplane will lose speed (and thusly energy) doing so. Here the CR.42 can find its fighting edge. Being slightly more aerodynamic and heavier which fortunately offset by a stronger engine, the CR.42 can either power through the early turns taking a few hits in the process, or perform advanced aerobatic manoeuvres. Such include a combination of high and low Yo-Yos to abuse the superior energy retention, or a Split-S to gain speed for altitude, hoping that the enemy biplane either reaches terminal speeds (RB and SB only), has their controls locked up, or yourself can run away safely to initiate a new attack. Due to the excellent stall characteristics of many biplanes, Boom and Zoom tactics can quite literally 'back' fire.
-For the armament belts, the same applies to all other Italian aircraft; generally, you want to use ''Tracers'', ''Anti-air'', or ''Stealth'' since these are the belts that deal the most damage. Shell velocity is low, hence your shots will be increasingly difficult to aim over 300m from the enemy. Only fire at enemies at or below this distance to ensure that your shots will consistently hit. Furthermore, much like the other Italian fighters, the armament is woefully inadequate to deal with bombers, hence it is best to avoid them entirely. If you find yourself the situation where you are attacking bombers, focus on taking out the engines. The only exception to this rule is the very early biplane bombers, such as the [[Swordfish Mk I|Swordfish]] and [[Po-2]].
+For the armament belts, the same applies to all other Italian aircraft; generally, you want to use Tracers, Anti-air, or Stealth since these are the belts that deal the most damage. Shell velocity is low, hence your shots will be increasingly difficult to aim over 300 m from the enemy. Only fire at enemies at or below this distance to ensure that your shots will consistently hit. Furthermore, much like the other Italian fighters, the armament is woefully inadequate to deal with bombers, hence it is best to avoid them entirely. If you find yourself the situation where you are attacking bombers, focus on taking out the engines. The only exception to this rule is the very early biplane bombers, such as the [[Swordfish Mk I|Swordfish]] and [[Po-2]].
 == General info ==
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 {{Specs-Avia-Flight}}
 <!-- ''Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.'' -->
-As one of the last generation of biplane fighters, the CR.42 incorporates many advantages , but also disadvantages of said built. Notably a low stall speed, predicating it for Turn Fights. Climb speed is good to great, but cannot compare to many later fighters ([[:Category:Second_rank_aircraft|Rank II]]). Another advantage gained is the ''relatively'' high break speeds of ~570 km/h IAS and the late lock up speed of 450 km/h IAS for the elevator. The top speed is good for [[:Category:First_rank_aircraft|Rank I]], but only reached after a short dive and quickly dwindles with damage received.
+As one of the last generation of biplane fighters, the CR.42 incorporates many advantages , but also disadvantages of said built. Notably a low stall speed, predicating it for Turn Fights. Climb speed is good to great, but cannot compare to many later fighters ([[:Category:Second_rank_aircraft|Rank II]]). Another advantage gained is the relatively high break speeds of ~570 km/h IAS and the late lock up speed of 450 km/h IAS for the elevator. The top speed is good for [[:Category:First_rank_aircraft|Rank I]], but only reached after a short dive and quickly dwindles with damage received.
 {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="70%"
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 {{Specs-Avia-Armour}}
 <!-- ''Examine the survivability of the aircraft. Note how vulnerable the structure is and how secure the pilot is, whether the fuel tanks are armoured, etc. Describe the armour, if there is any, and also mention the vulnerability of other critical aircraft systems.'' -->
-Biplanes by design have a lot of surface and consequently have plenty of aircraft to be shot at. This makes them feel more vulnerable than they really are, although again: They are fairly big, hard to miss targets, so the feeling ''is'' justified. Even more so as the fabric skin is easily damaged by small arms fire. The change to a aluminium monocoque fuselage design was linked with an increase in armament size for a reason. However, here lies a great advantage: Many explosive triggers and fuses have their detonation sensitivies set to metall skins, not fabric ones, so they may just whizzle through your craft, leaving only two 20 mm sized holes.
+Biplanes by design have a lot of surface and consequently have plenty of aircraft to be shot at. This makes them feel more vulnerable than they really are, although again: They are fairly big, hard to miss targets, so the feeling is justified. Even more so as the fabric skin is easily damaged by small arms fire. The change to a aluminium monocoque fuselage design was linked with an increase in armament size for a reason. However, here lies a great advantage: Many explosive triggers and fuses have their detonation sensitivities set to metal skins, not fabric ones, so they may just whizzle through your craft, leaving only two 20 mm sized holes.
 The CR.42 in itself features no armour. Only the air cooled rotary engines is rather durable due to lacking any water-cooling and by design.
 === Modifications and economy ===
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 Something that applies to this plane in all battle modes is its engine. Unlike most other biplanes and the CR.32 before it, this aircraft has a radial engine. This offers several advantages. First, it is able to offer moderate performance at all altitudes. Second, hits to the cooling system are not as damaging as they are to aircraft that have in-line engines. In-line engines will suffer from hits to their water (fluid) cooling systems - even the slightest of hits at all tiers and BRs will either outright disable the engine or make it overheat very fast, and leading to the engine's death. The engine is well-cooled and has no WEP limit, so beginner pilots will not have to worry about cooling issues or rationing Manual Engine Control.
-Monoplane opponents are faster and have a superior armament. You will not be able to face these planes in head-ons, nor will you be able to disengage using a high-speed dash. Once you have engaged or been engaged by a monoplane, you '''must''' bring the engagement to an end yourself. The aircraft you have is highly agile, and can easily out-manoeuvre any monoplane it will meet- these primarily being the [[Hurricane (Family)|Hurricane family]], [[LaGG-3-11]]<nowiki/>s, the [[P-36 (Family)|P-36 family]], and the [[M.S.405C1]]. This plane can effectively rope-a-dope these aircraft by remaining outside their reach, while continually staying in a sustained, slow, spiral climb that allows it to preserve its speed while forcing the enemy to constantly lose it. Eventually, the enemy will stall, and you will be able to easily pick it off. Stall-fighting is one of this plane's best tactics.
+Monoplane opponents are faster and have a superior armament. You will not be able to face these planes in head-ons, nor will you be able to disengage using a high-speed dash. Once you have engaged or been engaged by a monoplane, you must bring the engagement to an end yourself. The aircraft you have is highly agile, and can easily out-manoeuvre any monoplane it will meet- these primarily being the [[Hurricane (Family)|Hurricane family]], [[LaGG-3-11]]s, the [[P-36 (Family)|P-36 family]], and the [[M.S.405C1]]. This plane can effectively rope-a-dope these aircraft by remaining outside their reach, while continually staying in a sustained, slow, spiral climb that allows it to preserve its speed while forcing the enemy to constantly lose it. Eventually, the enemy will stall, and you will be able to easily pick it off. Stall-fighting is one of this plane's best tactics.
 Even Boom & Zoom is feasible, as altitude can be gained quickly; however, the lack of cannon armament forces the pilot to use significant trigger control as well as aiming when diving and attacking opponents at a lower level.
-If booming and zooming, watch your speed in a dive. The CR.42 has a speed limit of around 440 - 480 km/h (274 - 300 mph) before the wings begin shaking (i.e. you begin to hear rattling noises, and flashing red text appears on your screen) and eventually completely rip off.
+If booming and zooming, watch your speed in a dive. The CR.42 has a speed limit of around 440-480 km/h (274-300 mph) before the wings begin shaking (i.e. you begin to hear rattling noises, and flashing red text appears on your screen) and eventually completely rip off.
-The [[Breda-SAFAT (12.7 mm)]] is actually very effective for their battle rating. Tracers are by far the best belt at this BR for fighter-on-fighter combat, due to the presence of only API-T rounds, which easily set fire to enemy biplanes and provide good penetration + damage capability. Due to the machine guns being placed in the centre cowl, they provide heavy damage when the fire is focused on your opponent's wings or engine. However, when taking on bigger game such as monoplanes or bombers, it is better to take the Air Targets belt, since it has a belt composition of API-T-API-IAI that allows it to do large amounts of damage when, again, focused on critical modules such as the engines or wings. Thanks to the relatively high rate of climb and ammo pool, this aircraft is good at intercepting twin-engine bombers that begin appearing. However, it is not recommended to attempt this as a beginner pilot. The 12.7 mms will require some experience to aim at the engines of enemy bombers, and in addition, the lack of armour leaves a good possibility for pilot-snipes and critical hits by enemy bombers.
+The [[Breda-SAFAT (12.7 mm)]] is actually very effective for their battle rating. Tracers are by far the best belt at this BR for fighter-on-fighter combat, due to the presence of only API-T rounds, which easily set fire to enemy biplanes and provide good penetration + damage capability. Due to the machine guns being placed in the centre cowl, they provide heavy damage when the fire is focused on your opponent's wings or engine. However, when taking on bigger game such as monoplanes or bombers, it is better to take the Air Targets belt, since it has a belt composition of API-T-API-IAI that allows it to do large amounts of damage when, again, focused on critical modules such as the engines or wings. Thanks to the relatively high rate of climb and ammo pool, this aircraft is good at intercepting twin-engine bombers that begin appearing. However, it is not recommended to attempt this as a beginner pilot. The 12.7 mm MGs will require some experience to aim at the engines of enemy bombers, and in addition, the lack of armour leaves a good possibility for pilot-snipes and critical hits by enemy bombers.
 In summary, the CR.42 Falco is a good introduction to the situational hybrid fighting style of later aircraft. It is a severely underappreciated aircraft that deserves more love and usage by pilots and is a forgiving aircraft for beginners to fly.

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 * Manoeuvrability is sufficient to out turn nearly all non-biplane opponents
 * Well armed for a biplane
-* Ammo belts use heavy amounts of incendiary ammo
+* Ammo belts use heavy amounts of incendiary and high-explosive ammo
 '''Cons:'''
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 ;Skins
 * [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicle=fiat_cr42_italy Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]
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 == See also ==
 ''Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:''
 * ''reference to the series of the aircraft;''
 * ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''

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 {{About
 | about = Italian fighter '''{{PAGENAME}}'''
-| other
+| usage = other versions
-| usage-1 = the German version
+| link = C.R.42 (Family)
 }}
 {{Specs-Card
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 ;Skins
 * [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicle=fiat_cr42_italy Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]
 ;Videos
-{{Youtube-gallery|rpp-GqXiaKg|'''The Shooting Range #214''' - ''Air Triathlon'' section at 09:59 discusses the {{PAGENAME}}.|nHj4JNj13bo|'''Fiat CR.42''' - ''silvan500''|ct0W4y6evng|'''History of CR.42 (sub eng)''' - '''Pazzo1972 & Miki''' }}
+{{Youtube-gallery|rpp-GqXiaKg|'''The Shooting Range #214''' - ''Air Triathlon'' section at 09:59 discusses the {{PAGENAME}}.|ct0W4y6evng|'''History of CR.42 (sub eng)''' - ''Pazzo1972 & Miki'' }}
 == See also ==
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 <!-- ''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''
 * ''topic on the official game forum;''
 * ''other literature.'' -->
 * [https://forum.warthunder.com/index.php?/topic/445727-fiat-cr42/ Official data sheet - more details about the performance]
 {{AirManufacturer Fiat}}
 {{Italy fighters}}