Caproni Ca.2

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

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.

Description

Three-engine biplane of a wooden construction, covered with fabric. The crew of four was placed 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 consisted of two to four Revelli 6.5 mm or 7.7 mm machine guns, one in front ring mounting and one, two or sometimes even three in an upper ring mounting. Bombs were suspended under the hull.

Operators

•  Italy : Corpo Aeronautico Militare

Specifications (Ca.2)

Data from ^{[citation needed]}

General characteristics

• Crew: 4 (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: 3.7 m (12 ft 2 in)
• Wing area: 95.6 m² (1,029 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 3,302 kg (7,280 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 4,000 kg (8,818 lb)
• Powerplant: 2 × Fiat A.10 six-cylinder, water-cooled, in-line piston aero engine, 75 kW (101 hp) each
• Powerplant: 1 × Isotta-Fraschini V.4B six-cylinder, water-cooled, in-line piston aero engine, 112 kW (150 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 133 km/h (83 mph; 72 kn)

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

See also

• Push-pull configuration

Related development

Ca.1 - Ca.3 - Ca.5

Related lists

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

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Caproni aircraft.

• Aerei Italiani (Italian)