Breda Ba.27

Monoplane Fighter Prototype

Kingdom of Italy | 1933

"The American Travel Air Type R high-performance racer of the late-1920s served as the basis for this potential Italian fighter, the Breda Ba.27."

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 12/20/2021 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site; No A.I. was used in the generation of this content.

The Breda Ba.27 was an Italian proposal, and eventual modification, of the original American Travel Air "Type R" racer of the late-1920s (the Inter-War years). The first three of five Type R racer aircraft were built under such secrecy that they earned the nickname of "Mystery Ship" from local press in Wichita, Kansas. Capable of reaching speeds of 235 miles-per-hour, the high-performance monoplane design certainly impressed as a record-setter in both speed and range at a time when military designs all but dominated competition racing.

The fifth of the lot was commissioned directly by the Italian government after the Type R was showcased on tour across Europe. The completed form was taken down in Wichita, transported by ship across the Atlantic, and reassembled in Italy, serving to form the basis for the Ba.27 to follow.

The Ba.27 retained the single-seat, open-air cockpit of the original as well as the low-set, braced monoplane wings. Steel tube construction made up the internals while a light corrugated alloy metal was used for skinning the aircraft. Wood was implemented at the wing mainplanes as well as the tailplanes to complete the design resulting in a mixed-construction aircraft consistent with the period. Fixed, spatted wheeled main undercarriage legs provided the "tail-dragger" appearance when ground-running. The local Alfa Romeo "Mercurius" air-cooled radial piston engine was selected to drive power to the two-bladed propeller unit at the nose, the engine outputting 540 horsepower at full throttle.

The Italians constructed a total of fourteen Ba.27 airframes beginning with two Ba.27 aircraft representing prototypes. A further twelve made up the Ba.27 "Metallico" and featured slight improvements to help win critics over as the initial prototypes did not impress Regia Aeronautica authorities. This lead to an extensive reworking of the aircraft that included refined aerodynamic qualities throughout, a relocated (further back) cockpit, and smooth sheet metal skinning. Even so, in this guise, the aircraft was not adopted for serial production and operational-level service for local forces.

In testing, the revised Metallico managed speeds of 236 miles-per-hour, ranged out to 466 miles, and sported a service ceiling of 29,530 feet. Rate-of-climb was 2,180 feet-per-minute. Structurally, it registered a length of 25.1 feet, a wingspan of 35.4 feet, and a height of 11.1 feet. Empty weight was 2,910lb against a gross weight of 4,078lb.

As a fighter, the aircraft was set to carry 2 x 12.7mm Breda-SAFAT air-cooled Heavy Machine Guns (HMGs) in fixed, forward-firing mountings.

After being rebuffed by the Regia Aeronautica, the design was adopted by the Republic of China (Chinese Nationalist Air Force) in its war against invading Japan. Eighteen airframes were eventually ordered through only eleven of the lot made their way to the customer.

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Power & Performance
Those special qualities that separate one aircraft design from another. Performance specifications presented assume optimal operating conditions for the Breda Ba.27 (Metallico) Monoplane Fighter Prototype.

1 x Alfa Romeo Mercurius air-cooled, radial piston engine developing 540 horsepower driving a two-bladed propeller at the nose.
Propulsion

236 mph
380 kph | 205 kts
Max Speed

29,528 ft
9,000 m | 6 miles
Service Ceiling

466 miles
750 km | 405 nm
Operational Range

2,180 ft/min
664 m/min
Rate-of-Climb

Structure
The nose-to-tail, wingtip-to-wingtip physical qualities of the Breda Ba.27 (Metallico) Monoplane Fighter Prototype.

1
(MANNED)
Crew

25.2 ft
7.67 m
O/A Length

35.4 ft
(10.80 m)
O/A Width

11.2 ft
(3.40 m)
O/A Height

2,910 lb
(1,320 kg)
Empty Weight

4,079 lb
(1,850 kg)
MTOW

Armament
Available supported armament and special-mission equipment featured in the design of the Breda Ba.27 Monoplane Fighter Prototype .

2 x 12.7mm Breda-SAFAT air-cooled Heavy Machine Guns (HMGs) in fixed, forward-firing mountings.

Variants
Notable series variants as part of the Breda Ba.27 family line.

Ba.27 - Base Series Designation.

Operators
Global customers who have evaluated and/or operated the Breda Ba.27. Nations are displayed by flag, each linked to their respective national aircraft listing.

Total Production: 14 Units
Contractor(s): Breda (Societa Italiana Ernesto Breda) - Kingdom of Italy

[ Kingdom of Italy; Republic of China (Taiwan) ]

1 / 1

Image from the Public Domain.

Going Further...
The Breda Ba.27 Monoplane Fighter Prototype appears in the following collections:

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