The Ba. 65 performed well in the Spanish Civil war. As did the Cr. 32. This is what helped lull Italy into thinking its planes were good enough, and not much was designed between the Spanish Civil War and WW2.
The Ba. 88 was useless. On paper it was an all star, but in reality, not even close. Fully loaded, the Ba. 88 was not even capable of take-off. Even by reducing the ammunition carried, getting rid of the rear crewman, and reducing bomb loads did very little to help. So the Regia Aeronautica was forced to use the Ba. 65 (not a bad plane, just past its time- like the TBD Devastator) and Cr-32 in the ground attack role. Until Ju-87s arrived.
According to Mr. Sores (A History of the Mediterranean Air War) The Ba. 88s of 7 Gruppo arrived in North Africa on August 1940. Two days later only 1/3 of those that arrived were considered serviceable. Last combat mission of Ba. 88 was October 15th of the same year. But.... If someone wants to add it, go for it.
Last edited by Marabekm; 04-01-2016 at 11:30 PM.
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