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 References
4 Specifications (Ca.2)

4.1 General characteristics
4.2 Performance
4.3 Armament

5 Related content

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. 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.

References

[Aerei Italiani] (Italian)

Specifications (Ca.2)

General characteristics

Crew: four, two pilots, 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: 3,302 kg (7,264 lb)
Loaded: kg ( lb)
Maximum takeoff: 4,000 kg (8,800 lb)
Powerplant: 2x Fiat A.10, 746 kW (100 hp) each, 1x Isotta Fraschini V.4B, 112 kW (150 hp).

Performance

Maximum speed: 133 km/h (83 mph)
Range: km ( miles)
Service ceiling: m ( ft)
Rate of climb: m/min ( ft/min)
Wing loading: kg/m² ( lb/ft²)
Power/Mass: kW/kg ( hp/lb)

Armament

2x 6.5 Revelli machine guns
bombs