which drove the Hamiliton-Fiat 3-bladed all-metal constant speed propeller. The pilot sat in an enclosed cockpit under a sliding transparent canopy; the seat was adjustable both in height and angle of inclination to suit the pilot's preferences. Despite the canopy possessing favourable transparency, including a relatively unobstructed rearward view, pilots were unenthusiastic about the enclosed arrangement, leading to various types of open canopies being trialled and eventually a set of hinged transparent side-flaps were standardised upon. A reflector sight was present for the purpose of aiming the fighter's armament, which comprised a pair of 12.7 mm (.5 in) Breda-SAFAT machine guns with 300 rounds of ammunition per gun. The machine guns, fitted directly forward of the cockpit, were fired using synchronisation gear to fire through the propeller arc; both single-shot and salvo-fire modes were available. Operational history Introduction During 1938, the first operational Fiat G.50 fighters were delivered to the Regia Aeronautica. During the Spanish Civil War, about a dozen G.50s were dispatched to Spain to reinforce the Aviazione Legionaria, Italy's contribution to the conflict. The first of these were delivered to the theatre during January 1939. The value of its presence in the Spanish theatre is questionable as none of the fighters sent saw actual combat. At the civil war's end, the G.50s in the region were handed over to Spanish pilots and subsequently saw action in Morocco. Cattaneo summarised of the experience: "Little seems to have been learnt as nothing was done to increase the armament". Upon the G.50's entry to service, it was widely regarded as being an extremely manoeuvrable aircraft and was often considered to be one of Italy's best fighters. However, by the time of the outbreak of the Second World War, rapid advancements in the field of aviation had contributed to the type being considered to be both underpowered and underarmed in comparison to competing frontline fighters then in use by the main powers. In spite of this, in the buildup to the Second World War, further units of the Regia Aeronautica were equipped with newly delivered G.50s; these were heavily used in various exercises and war-games from November 1939 onwards as it became increasingly clear that Italy would likely soon be at war with the Western democracies. Upon Italy's entry into the Second World War in June 1940, the Regia Aeronautica possessed a total of 118 G.50s that were available for operations; of