Caproni Ca.114

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The Caproni Ca.114 was a fighter biplane produced in Italy in the early 1930s which was flown operationally in Peru in the 1930s and 1940s.

Design

The Caproni company designed the Ca.114 in 1933 to compete against other designs to provide the Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force) with a new single-seat fighter. Its airframe was derived from the Caproni Ca.113 trainer, and it was a single-bay biplane with staggered wings of equal span. The fuselage was made of steel tubing covered by detachable metal panels in the forward part of the aircraft and by fabric in the after portion, and the two-spar wooden wings were fabric-covered. The Bristol Mercury IV radial engine was geared, supercharged, rated at 395 kilowatts at 4,000 meters (530 horsepower at 13,125 feet), and drove an adjustable-pitch three-bladed propeller. Armament consisted of two fixed forward-firing 7.7-millimeter machine guns.[1]

Operational history

After official trials, the Regia Aeronautica rejected the Ca.114 in favour of the Fiat CR.32. Nevertheless, Caproni found a buyer in the Peruvian Aviation Corps, which ordered 12 examples in late 1933. These arrived in Peru in April 1934. Peru ordered 24 more Ca.114s, and these arrived in two more batches, the last batch arriving in Peru in January 1935. The Peruvian Ca.114s took part in the Ecuadorian–Peruvian War of 1941-1942 and were still in service as late as 1944.[2]

Operators

 Peru

Peruvian Air Force Ca.114 order of battle

1934-1935

1 Escuadrón de Caza, 2nd. Aviation Squadron (12 machines) Las Palmas, Lima

1935-1938

1st. Escuadrón de Caza, 1st. Aviation Squadron (6 machines + 2 reserve a/c) Commander Ruiz Gallo AB, Chiclayo

Escuela de Aviación Militar Jorge Chávez, Las Palmas, Lima (3 Machines)

1939-1942

42 & 43 Escuadrillas, XXI Escuadrón de Caza (8 machines) Commander Ruiz Gallo AB, Chiclayo

28 Escuadrón de Instrucción (3 Machines) Las Palmas, Lima

1942-1944

28 Escuadrón de Instrucción (4 machines) Las Palmas, Lima

Specifications

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1, pilot
  • Length: 7.68 m (25 ft 2 in)
  • Wingspan: 10.50 m (34 ft 5 in)
  • Height: 2.54 m (8 ft 4 in)
  • Wing area: 25.7 m2 (276 ft2)
  • Empty weight: 1,310 kg (2,888 lb)
  • Gross weight: 1,660 kg (3,660 lb)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Bristol Mercury IV, 395 (at 4,000 m) kW (530 (at 13,125 ft) hp)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 355 km/h (221 mph)
  • Range: 600 km (373 miles)
  • Service ceiling: 9,500 m (31,170 ft)
  • Rate of climb: 12.5 m/s (2,460 ft/min)
Armament

See also


Related lists

Notes

  1. Green and Swanborough, pp. 107-108.
  2. Green and Swanborough, pp. 107-108.

References

  • Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. p. 235. 
  • World Aircraft Information Files. London: Bright Star Publishing. pp. File 891 Sheet 10. 
  • Green, William, and Gordon Swanborough. The Complete Book of Fighters: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Every Fighter Aircraft Built and Flown. New York: SMITHMARK Publishers, 1994. ISBN 0-8317-3939-8.
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