Nieuport 17 Italian Air Force Capt Francesco Baracca v1.0

Nieuport 17 Italian Air Force Capt Francesco Baracca v1.0

This folder contains a repaint for the Nieuport 17 by BigRadials in MSFS2020. It shows Nieuport 17 as flown by Captain Count Francesco Baracca of 50 squadriglia, Italian Air Force, summer 1917. The son of wealthy landowners, Baracca served with the cavalry before the war, but an interest in aviation led to his obtaining his pilots license in Reims in 1912. When Italy joined the war, he went to France to train on Nieuports. He scored his first (and Italy’s first) aerial victory on 7 April 1916. It was around this time that he applied the symbol of a prancing horse to his aircraft, which came from his family’s coat of arms and which was applied to reflect his time with the cavalry. He continued scoring victories, with 34 being his final score. He was killed while on a strafing mission near Montello on 19 June 1918.
Several airfields, including Bolzano airport are named after Baracca, and the symbol of the prancing horse was later presented to Enzo Ferrari to use as the symbol of his racing team Scuderia Ferrari since 1929, and later of the Ferrari automobile company.

Repaint by Jan Kees Blom, based on the paintkit supplied by Big Radials.