The CR 42 may have been outdated as a fighter already when the war began, but it still had its uses. The good visibility offered by the open cockpit of the CR 42 may have made it a better night fighter than closed-cockpit types, considering Italy's shortcomings in radar technology.luigi wrote:Indeed hard to believe that the CR42 was still in production by 1943... this fact alone is a witness of the inability of Italy as a Country to deal with a war: this all at the expenses of the common soldier who later had to endure insult over pain by being painted as a coward...
Also, the CR 42 was the escort plane par excellence on the North African convoy routes - the relatively slow speed and fair visibility of the CR 42's cockpit may have made it a suitable aircraft for this task. It's probably easier to spot a torpedo's wake in the water from a CR 42 than it is from a high-speed enclosed cockpit fighter flying at higher altitude. Given the presence of more modern fighter planes the Italian biplanes could also concentrate on engaging Swordfish torpedo bombers and leave enemy fighters to be engaged by Macchis and Messerschmitts.