Alfa Romeo A.R.100 Series II Ariete

[comrade harps]

Alfa Romeo A.R.100 Series II Ariete II
a/c 239-5, 239 Squadriglia, 102 Gruppo Tuffatori
Late 1942, Sabha, Libya

Alfa Romeo's A.R.100 series were licence produced Heinkel He 112Bs. The first 10 delivered to the Regia Aeronautica were He 112B-1s assembled by Alfa Romeo from parts manufactured by Heinkel in 1939, but powered by the Alfa Romeo RA 900C, an Italian development of the German Junkers Jumo 210. These Series I aircraft were followed by an order for 70 Series II, which featured numerous Italian developed improvements. These were powered by the supercharged RA 900S, had extra internal fuel, could carry external fuel or bombs and were could be armed with up to three 20mm MG FF cannon (although the weapon firing through the propeller hub was prone to jamming and rarely installed). As with the Series I, the 20mm cannon were supplemented by a pair of fuselage 7.7 mm Breda machine guns.



The small number of A.R.100s ordered reflected the low level of respect given to the type by the Regia Aeronautica's senior commanders. Most of the 80 built were retained for air defence and convoy escort duties from bases in Italy, although 239 Squadriglia of 102 Gruppo was equipped with the type in mid-1940 and sent to North Africa late in the year. Those Ariete units who stayed behind effectively came a reserve for 239 Squadriglia, training crews, preparing attrition replacements and providing spares from cannibalized airframes.






102 Gruppo's brief was to operate on the southern flank of Italy's North African possessions, flying from bases deep in the Libyan Sahara. From their primary base at Sabha, the unit sent deployments to remote locations like Ghat, Kufra and Murzuq. Because its operational area was south of the 28th parallel, the Gruppo operated independently of the Regia Aeronautica's broader North African and Mediterranean campaigns, hence this aircraft's lack of theatre bands.




In January, 1941, A.R.100s aided in the defence of Kufra from a Free French attack, but 5 aircraft were lost there when the town was captured by the Allies in March. Prior to Kufra's capture, the A.R.100s had flown missions in support of Italy's East African colonies into Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. Further action was seen, and additional aircraft lost, during Allied desert commando raids against Murzuq, Qatrun and Tejerri in 1941.



The threat posed by the Long Range Desert Group and the Chadi-based Free French Régiment de Tirailleurs Sénégalais du Tchad raiders lead by Leclerc saw the A.R.100s used on long-range armed reconnaissnce patrols over large strectches of the Sahara, including overflights of French Algeria, Niger and Chad. In December 1942, Leclerc resumed his offense from the south, drawing the A.R.100s into the losing battles to defend towns such as Ghat, Murzuq and thier main base, Sabha, forcing their retreat north to Gadamis in Libya and then to Sfaz in Tunisia during January, 1943 . With few A.R.100s still airworthy, and with Italian-based reserves running low, 239 Squadriglia was withdrawn from the field to re-euip with the A.R.102 late in the month.

[MiB]

Bellissimo!!!

[McColm]

Great build, cool colours.

[Dizzyfugu]

Great build, cool colours.

Second that. the paint scheme is cool! 

[NARSES2]

Love it. Looks so right 

[Tophe]

Interesting!
I had no Alfa-Romeo airplane in my collection of zwillings, so I think I am going to photoshop a twin-plane from your model pictures, thanks!

EDIT: done at http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,20326.1875.html ! Thanks again!

[ChernayaAkula]

Lovely camo scheme! 

[comrade harps]

I had no Alfa-Romeo airplane in my collection of zwillings, so I think I am going to photoshop a twin-plane from your model pictures, thanks!

Now, that would be useful on long desert flights. 

[rickshaw]

Lovely.  Looks plausible too!   

[Captain Canada]

Lots of shape to that bird eh ? Cool ! Love the camo and colours too.

[comrade harps]

Lots of shape to that bird eh ?

I didn't realise until I came to build it just how bizarrely shaped the He 112 is.

The mainplanes are elliptical, but the tailplanes are rectangular and squared off. They look like a whiffed-up kitbash.