The great Winkle Brown flew the CR42 and noted it was extremely agile but hopelessly outclassed in terms of armament and speed. Nevertheless the Regia Aeronautica mounted a number of daylight bombing raids along the Thames estuary using CR42s to escort BR20s, each time pounced on by the defending Hurricanes of 11Group. Despite these Italian aviators being the aggressors I've got to admire their bravery in "having a go" with such outdated equipment.