Fictional history

When Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary in 1915, the many fine designers of its indigenous aircraft industry were given a unique opportunity.
The war effort resulted in designs such as the Barozzi BZ.3 "Mallardo"; the engines of the era were not always reliable, and pilots disliked patrolling the coastline and the Mediterranean in land-based aircraft. The single-seat BZ.3 could safely land on water, and with its boat-like, streamlined hull designed by Ernesto Riva it was more aerodynamic than some of the box-like aircraft of the time. For a seaplane, it could give quite a good account of itself against land-based fighters -thanks in part to the two Vickers 7.7 mm machine guns in the nose.
Some 150 BZ.3's were built in 3 years time; many of the planes, equipped with new engines, survived the war and were only retired in the late 1920's.

The build

The entry is, of course, as a light fighter for Italy. The challenge required a fictional plane, so I cooked something up... but it's quite obviously based on Macchi's M3/M5, with a somewhat more streamlined hull reminiscent of a Riva speedboat -seemed like a fun idea, and definitely something an Italian aircraft manufacturer could have come up with.
Nothing special about the build, otherwise... I kept it low-part and simple. The only thing worth mentioning is, perhaps, that I used cannons to simulate the machine guns; seemed like the easiest way to get the right caliber and muzzle velocity. Just means you'll have to press a different button to fire.

Flying it / Controls

In terms of speed, the plane's on a par with some of the better single-seat fighters of the war; nowhere near the 190 mph allowed in the challenge, since the fastest plane of WW1 (the SE5) only managed to squeeze out 140 mph on a good day.
As for the flight characteristics; I admit it's a shot in the dark. It's a typical WW1 biplane I guess; slow as hell, but it can do a 360 on a poststamp if you know how. It's easy to get into trouble, but just as easy to get out of it. The plane has no flaps of course; it doesn't need them, anyway. Takeoff and landing are easy enough; in flight, you can play quite a few tricks if you use the rudder together with the ailerons and elevators.
Note: it does have elevator trim...

Enjoy!