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The A.38 saga is a still unknown one. Relevant docs are almost all gone (expecially the internal FIAT ones, locked away in remote storage with no access for researchers). Main problems seems two: too little time to develop and lack of suitable alloys. The Regia itself wasn't so skeptics on the A.38 itself as much as its timing. The H-architecture A.44 was based on the cylinder banks of the A.38, and it was funded by the Regia in a lavish manner. Moreover, same problem was suffered by other contemporary Italian in-lines (the IF ones). All-in-all, lack of alloys (and skill in machining them) meant that HP-for-HP Italian in-lines were heavier. The RA-1050, meant to be a copy of the DB-605, was 12-15 per cent heavier due the alloy substitution, and FIAT had German technicians assistance and actual original engines to copy.The AS.8 comparison isn't actually fit. First, it never flew, second, it was using very-high grade gasoline that was impossible for an operational military engine. Don't forget the immediate predecessor of the AS.8, the AS.6, was a dead end (two engine bolted together) devised for the Schneider (and there are doubts that the MC-72, when flown in a Schneider-type course, would have ever succeded, just look at the very laaaaaaaaaaaaarge turns Agello used in the record run and compare with the tight Schneider turn, and imagine the torsion forces of the very long and fragile engine and shaft). The AS.8 was a new start, FIAT could not build on previous recent developments.
The A.38 saga is a still unknown one. Relevant docs are almost all gone (expecially the internal FIAT ones, locked away in remote storage with no access for researchers). Main problems seems two: too little time to develop and lack of suitable alloys. The Regia itself wasn't so skeptics on the A.38 itself as much as its timing. The H-architecture A.44 was based on the cylinder banks of the A.38, and it was funded by the Regia in a lavish manner. Moreover, same problem was suffered by other contemporary Italian in-lines (the IF ones). All-in-all, lack of alloys (and skill in machining them) meant that HP-for-HP Italian in-lines were heavier. The RA-1050, meant to be a copy of the DB-605, was 12-15 per cent heavier due the alloy substitution, and FIAT had German technicians assistance and actual original engines to copy.
The AS.8 comparison isn't actually fit. First, it never flew, second, it was using very-high grade gasoline that was impossible for an operational military engine. Don't forget the immediate predecessor of the AS.8, the AS.6, was a dead end (two engine bolted together) devised for the Schneider (and there are doubts that the MC-72, when flown in a Schneider-type course, would have ever succeded, just look at the very laaaaaaaaaaaaarge turns Agello used in the record run and compare with the tight Schneider turn, and imagine the torsion forces of the very long and fragile engine and shaft). The AS.8 was a new start, FIAT could not build on previous recent developments.
