Do you say this in every thread? It's completely inaccurate and I've already corrected you on it. The Cr.32 and Cr.42 made up over 70% of the operational Regia Aeronautica at the out break of the Battle of France, and they were the only fighter aircraft to serve in the Battle of Britain from the RA. Furthermore, there was no monoplane unit of the RA in North Africa until 1941! The Cr.42 was nothing short of a workhorse of the RA early in the war, not an 'also ran' minority as you insist on making it sound.
You are incorrect. The Cr.42 was one of the most produced planes in Italian history, but the majority of these planes were leftover trainers and basically binned as soon as anything better came along. They were used as strafing platforms because they couldn't compete with "real" planes.
Just because they're on the lists doesn't make them frontline fighters, nor does it make them a major presence in the war.
The Germans had more Ju52 transports than fighters at times, and LOST more than fighters, but overall it doesn't mean that the Ju52 was a frontline fighter, nor that it had a major impact on the air war in any theater.
The same applies to the Cr.42.
For your Oh-So-Beloved Cr.32, the first flight was 1932, and the LAST delivered date is 1939. August 1939. Before the war started. These only "served" into 1940 or so.
For your much-yelled-about Cr.42, the production was terminated in EARLY 1942. Most of these were exports at this time of the war. 1700 or so were made, but almost all were not in use as frontline planes. They soldiered on in the MTO and N. Africa but were used in any other role where they wouldn't be wiped from the skies. They even proved ineffective as night bombers (no payload) and night fighters (no performance to catch their prey), so basically Italy made a large stockpile of what it knew was a useless plane. The U.S. had biplane trainers well into WW2. Doesn't mean they were a frontline fighter, even if they WERE on the roster as assigned to units. About 50 of these Cr.42s flew in Belgium at the time of the BOB but with little to no success. Elsewhere their results were the same.
On the other hand, the Macchi C.200 was first flown in Dec 24 1937, first delivered October 1939, and was made until (final delivery date) December 1944. Granted it wasn't a frontline fighter the entire time, and most likely played a trainer role after more powerful planes arrived. From late 1940 until Italy surrendered in 1943, no other type saw more combat than the C.200, including all the MTO, N.African, and Eastern fronts.
The G.50 on the other hand, first flew Feb 26 1937, arrivals showing up in (late, I assume) 1939, where deliveries (and I quote) "replacing the C.R.32 in Regia Aeronautica figher squadrons."
No monoplane in 1941 in N.Africa, maybe, but the G.50 proved itself in the Spanish Civil War, where it was decided to use an open cockpit to increase visibility (initially having a sliding cockpit). The main war-time version (g.50bis) becan production in 1940. By the time Italy entered the war in 1940 it was self-evident that even this monoplane design was woefully inadequate, leading to the 5-series development which would show up later. The G.50 was obsolete, let alone your precious much-loved Cr.42s (pushed to the back burner across all front lines by this time).
