Caproni Ca.2

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The Caproni Ca.2 was an Italian heavy bomber of the World War I era.

Contents 1 Development 2 Description 3 Operators 4 Specifications (Ca.2) 5 References 6 See also

[edit] Development

The Ca.2 was a minor development of the Caproni Ca.1. It had become evident early in the Ca.1's service life that the design could benefit from more power. Caproni therefore replaced the central, pusher engine of the aircraft with a more powerful one. Caproni referred to this as the Caproni 350 hp at the time, and the Italian Army dubbed it the Ca.2. No separate number seems to have been allocated to it in Caproni's post-war redesignation scheme.

Only nine aircraft were built, supplied to the Italian Army alongside deliveries of Ca.1s between August 1915 and December 1916.

The benefits of increased power encouraged Caproni to continue in this direction, leading to the definitive Caproni Ca.3.

[edit] Description

Three-engine biplane of a wooden construction, covered with fabric. Crew: 4 in an open central nacelle (front gunner, two pilots and rear gunner-mechanic). The rear gunner manned upper machine guns, standing upon the central engine in a protective "cage", just before a propeller. Tricycle landing gear.

Armament: 2 to 4 Revelli 6.5mm or 7.7mm machine guns: 1 in front ring mounting and 1, 2 or sometimes even 3 in an upper ring mounting. Bombs suspended under the hull.

[edit] Operators

•  Italy : Corpo Aeronautico Militare

[edit] Specifications (Ca.2)

General characteristics

• Crew: Four (pilot, co-pilot, front gunner, and rear gunner/mechanic)
• Length: 11.05 m (36 ft 3 in)
• Wingspan: 22.74 m (74 ft 7 in)
• Height: 3.70 m (12 ft 2 in)
• Wing area: 95.6 m² (1,029 ft²)
• Empty weight: 3,302 kg (7,264 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 4,000 kg (8,800 lb)
• Powerplant:
  • 2× Fiat A.10 inline engines, 746 kW (100 hp) each
  • 1× Isotta-Fraschini V.4B, 112 kW (150 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 133 km/h (72 knots, 83 mph)

Armament

• 2 × 6.5 mm FIAT-Revelli machine guns
• Bombs mounted under the hull

[edit] References

• Aerei Italiani (Italian)

[edit] See also

• Push-pull configuration

v • d • e Aviation in World War I Aces · Aircraft of the Entente Powers · Aircraft of the Central Powers · Zeppelins · World War I aircraft

Related development Ca.1 - Ca.3 - Ca.5

Related lists

• List of military aircraft of Entente Powers in WWI
• List of bomber aircraft
  

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