RARE
G91
Fiat G.91
The Gina
“NATO's light strike jet, built in Italy.”
Fiat Aviazione · military
NO PHOTO
Length
33 ft 9 in
Wingspan
28 ft 1 in
Max speed
586 kts
Range
1,000 nmi
Ceiling
43,000 ft
Engines
1x Bristol Siddeley Orpheus 803 turbojet (5,000 lbf)
Crew
1
Typical config
Single-seat strike fighter
Built
756
In 1953 NATO asked for a light, cheap strike fighter that could fly from rough fields, and Fiat's G.91 won the competition. Italy, West Germany and Portugal flew it; the Frecce Tricolori display team used the G.91PAN for 18 years, and Portugal flew it in combat in Africa. Over 750 were built. A single example remains airworthy today.
Fun fact
The G.91 was designed to fly from grass and rough strips so it could keep operating after a nuclear strike destroyed NATO's airfields.
How to spot one
Looks like a small F-86 Sabre: nose intake, swept wing, swept tail. The G.91 is shorter and stubbier with a flat-topped canopy.
Crews call it
The Gina
Sounds like
An Orpheus whistle like the Gnat's, from a slightly bigger airframe
One might be overhead right now.
Bogey turns the The Gina from a dot in the sky into a card in your logbook.
