Скачать или смотреть Gli Aviatori Sovietici Ridevano del CR.32 Italiano, Finché Franco Lucchini Iniziò ad Abbatterli...

Franco Lucchini, born in Rome on December 24, 1914, was one of the finest aces of Italy’s Regia Aeronautica. In July 1937, when the Spanish Civil War broke out, Lucchini volunteered to fight with the Italian Aviazione Legionaria, equipped with the Fiat CR.32—a biplane considered obsolete compared to the modern Soviet I-16 “Rata” monoplanes sent to the Republicans. Over 122 missions in Spain, Lucchini tallied five confirmed aerial victories and proved that pilot skill could offset technical inferiority.

From 1940 to 1942, he fought in the North African desert against the British RAF flying the Macchi M.C.200, adding fourteen more victories. In 1942–1943, he piloted the modern Macchi M.C.202 Folgore over Malta and Sicily. On July 5, 1943, Captain Lucchini led twenty-seven Macchis on a desperate mission against fifty-two B-17 bombers escorted by more than twenty Spitfires. He shot down one Spitfire—his twenty-sixth victory—before being hit himself. He died in the skies over Catania, resisting to his last breath. In 1952, he was posthumously awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valor for his exceptional courage.