Caproni Ca.331
Encyclopedia
The Caproni Ca.331 Raffica was an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
aircraft built by Caproni
Caproni
thumb|right|300px|[[Caproni Ca.316]] seaplane at its moorings.Caproni was an Italian aircraft manufacturer founded in 1908 by Giovanni Battista "Gianni" Caproni....
in the early 1940s. The three examples built served as prototype
Prototype
A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
s for two versions of the aircraft, the Ca.331 O.A. (or Ca.331A) tactical reconnaissance aircraft
Reconnaissance aircraft
A reconnaissance aircraft is a manned military aircraft designed, or adapted, to carry out aerial reconnaissance.-History:The majority of World War I aircraft were reconnaissance designs...
/light bomber
Bomber
A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...
and the Ca.331 C.N. (or Ca.331B) night fighter
Night fighter
A night fighter is a fighter aircraft adapted for use at night or in other times of bad visibility...
.
Raffica is Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
for "Gust of Wind" and for "Fire Burst."
Ca.331 O.A. (Ca.331A)
In response to a 1938 Italian Air Ministry requirement for a new tactical reconnaissance aircraft with combat capability, IngEngineer's degree
An engineer's degree is an advanced academic degree in engineering that is conferred in Europe, some countries of Latin America, and a few institutions in the United States....
Cesare Pallavacino of the Caproni companys Caproni Bergamaschi subsidiary began design of the Ca.331 O.A. (O.A. standing for Osservazione Area, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
for "Area Observation"), also designated Ca.331A, in October 1938. It was innovative for Caproni in being of all-metal construction. The Ca.331 O.A. prototype, a twin-engine low-wing monoplane
Monoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. Since the late 1930s it has been the most common form for a fixed wing aircraft.-Types of monoplane:...
with an unstepped cockpit and glazed nose, had duralumin
Duralumin
Duralumin is the trade name of one of the earliest types of age-hardenable aluminium alloys. The main alloying constituents are copper, manganese, and magnesium. A commonly used modern equivalent of this alloy type is AA2024, which contains 4.4% copper, 1.5% magnesium, 0.6% manganese and 93.5%...
stressed skin on both its fuselage and wings, and its wings were of an inverted gull-wing configuration. It had two Isotta-Fraschini
Isotta-Fraschini
Isotta Fraschini represents two Italian manufacturing companies which produce, respectively, marine engines and luxury goods. In the early 20th century it was famous worldwide as a luxury car manufacturer.-History:...
Delta RC.40 engines rated at 574 kilowatts (770 horsepower
Horsepower
Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...
) each. The aircraft employed a three-man crew of pilot, observer/gunner, and radioman/gunner, and was armed with four 12.7-millimeter (0.5-inch) Breda-SAFAT machine gun
Breda-SAFAT machine gun
Breda-SAFAT was a series of machine-guns mounted on Italian aircraft during World War II. The weapon came in 7.7mm and 12.7mm variants. The 7.7mm model was similar to the M1919 Browning machine gun and could use some types of .303 British ammunition. The 12.7mm version could fire a...
s -- two of them in fixed mounts in the wing roots firing forward, one in a dorsal turret, and one in a ventral mount. The Ca.331 O.A. also had a bomb bay
Bomb bay
The bomb bay or weapons bay on some military aircraft is a compartment to carry bombs, usually in the aircraft's fuselage, with "bomb bay doors" which open at the bottom. The bomb bay doors are opened and the bombs are dropped when over the target or at a specified launching point.Large-sized...
capable of carrying up to 1,000 kilograms (2,205 pounds) of bombs and four external bomb racks under its wings.
The Ca.331 O.A. prototype first flew on 31 August 1940, at Ponte San Pietro
Ponte San Pietro
Ponte San Pietro is a comune in the province of Bergamo, Lombardy, northern Italy. It is about 40 km northeast of Milan and about 8 km west of Bergamo....
with Caproni test pilot Ettore Wengi at the controls. Its original Piaggio
Piaggio
Piaggio based in Pontedera, Italy encompasses seven brands of scooters, motorcycles and compact commercial vehicles. As the fourth largest producer of scooters and motorcycles in the world, Piaggio produces more than 600,000 vehicles annually, with five research and development centers, more than...
propeller
Propeller (aircraft)
Aircraft propellers or airscrews convert rotary motion from piston engines or turboprops to provide propulsive force. They may be fixed or variable pitch. Early aircraft propellers were carved by hand from solid or laminated wood with later propellers being constructed from metal...
s proved inadequate, but their replacement with Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of cars. Founded as A.L.F.A. on June 24, 1910, in Milan, the company has been involved in car racing since 1911, and has a reputation for building expensive sports cars...
-built propellers in 1941 resulted in the aircraft having improved performance which, in fact, exceeded expectations. In 1941, Caproni Bergamaschi delivered the prototype to the Regia Aeronautica
Regia Aeronautica
The Italian Royal Air Force was the name of the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946...
(Italian Royal Air Force), which began official tests at Guidonia Montecelio
Guidonia Montecelio
Guidonia Montecelio is a town and comune in the province of Rome, Lazio, central Italy.- Geography :The community of Guidonia Montecelio lies to the north-east of Rome, some kilometres from the Grande Raccordo Anulare - a ring-shaped motorway which forms a circle around the capital...
with good results. However, the Regia Aeronautica handed the aircraft back to Caproni Bergamaschi without a production order. The German Air Force (Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
) then requested control of the aircraft for trials at its test center at Rechlin
Rechlin
Rechlin is a municipality in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. The town's airport has a long history and was the Luftwaffe's main testing ground for new aircraft designs during the Third Reich....
in Germany. Although the Luftwaffe was impressed with the aircraft—probably more so than the Italians—no German order for it resulted.
The Ca.331 O.A. won widespread praise from both the Italian and German pilots—including German fighter ace
Fighter Ace
Fighter Ace was a massively multiplayer online computer game in which one flies World War II fighter and bomber planes in combat against other players and virtual pilots...
Werner Mölders
Werner Mölders
Werner Mölders was a World War II German Luftwaffe pilot and the leading German fighter ace in the Spanish Civil War. Mölders became the first pilot in aviation history to claim 100 aerial victories—that is, 100 aerial combat encounters resulting in the destruction of the enemy aircraft, and was...
(1913–1941) -- who tested it, and the chief of the German Luftwaffe, Hermann Göring
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"...
(1893–1946), was given a demonstration of its capabilities at Guidonia Montecelio in January 1942. The reasons for the lack of a production order by either Italy or Germany remain obscure and a matter of debate. Reasons given by various sources include a supposed overreliance on the use of materials in the Ca.331s construction that may have been in scarce supply (although this itself is controversial) in wartime Italy and Germany; the use of too many parts in the Ca.331 uncommon with other Italian aircraft (although it is not clear what specifically these may have been); political problems that Caproni company founder Gianni Caproni (1886–1957) may have had with the Italian Fascist
Italian Fascism
Italian Fascism also known as Fascism with a capital "F" refers to the original fascist ideology in Italy. This ideology is associated with the National Fascist Party which under Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, the Republican Fascist Party which ruled the Italian...
government (which have not been identified clearly); an unwillingness of the Italian military to cooperate too closely with their German counterparts for fear of being dominated by Germany in the event of a German victory in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
; or simply that the Ca.331 was under development for so long that the requirement for it disappeared before it could enter production, a common problem in the Italian aircraft industry during the World War II years.
Regardless of the reason, no additional Ca.331 O.A. aircraft were built. The Ca.331 O.A. prototype was at the Caproni company airfield at Taliedo when the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Italian armistice with the Allies
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
took effect on 8 September 1943. The Germans seized it there, disassembled it, shipped it to Germany, and later scrapped it.
Ca.331 C.N. (Ca.331B)
By 1942, the war situation had changed to the point where Italy perceived a greater need for air defense capabilities. Accordingly, in May 1942 the Italian Air Ministry ordered the second Ca.331 prototype, originally planned as a second Ca.331 O.A., to be completed instead as the first prototype of a night fighter version of the aircraft. The night fighter prototype was designated Ca.331 C.N., with "C.N." standing for Caccia Notturno, Italian for "Night Fighter:" it also was known as the Ca.331B.The Ca.331 C.N., which first flew in the summer of 1942, differed from the Ca.331 O.A. in having a stepped cockpit and less nose glazing. Its armament was installed in the spring of 1943 and consisted of four fixed forward-firing 20-millimeter Mauser
Mauser
Mauser was a German arms manufacturer of a line of bolt-action rifles and pistols from the 1870s to 1995. Mauser designs were built for the German armed forces...
MG 151 cannon
MG 151 cannon
The MG 151 was a 15 mm autocannon produced by Waffenfabrik Mauser starting in 1940. It was in 1941 developed into the 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon which was widely used on many types of German Luftwaffe fighters, fighter bombers, night fighters, ground attack and even bombers as part of or as...
and four 12.7-millimeter (0.5-inch) Breda-SAFAT machine guns—two of them forward-firing and fixed, one in a dorsal turret, and one in a ventral mount. Its original 596-kilowatt (800-horsepower
Horsepower
Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...
) 12-cylinder air-cooled Isotta-Fraschini
Isotta-Fraschini
Isotta Fraschini represents two Italian manufacturing companies which produce, respectively, marine engines and luxury goods. In the early 20th century it was famous worldwide as a luxury car manufacturer.-History:...
Delta IV engines were replaced by the spring of 1943 with 633-kilowatt (850-horsepower) versions of the Delta IV with two-stage supercharger
Supercharger
A supercharger is an air compressor used for forced induction of an internal combustion engine.The greater mass flow-rate provides more oxygen to support combustion than would be available in a naturally aspirated engine, which allows more fuel to be burned and more work to be done per cycle,...
s. Like the Ca.331 O.A. prototype, it was at the Caproni company airfield at Taliedo when the Italian armistice with the Allies took effect on 8 September 1943, and it suffered the same fate: The Germans seized it there, disassembled it, shipped it to Germany, and later scrapped it.
A second Ca.331 C.N. prototype was constructed, differing from the first in having an armament of two 20-millimeter Ikaria cannon and four 12.7-millimeter Breda-SAFAT machine guns, all mounted in the nose. It was still being assembled when Italy surrendered to the Allies on 8 September 1943, was seized by the Germans and shipped to Germany. It never flew, instead being cannibalized for spare parts.
Various modifications were proposed for production models of the Ca.331 C.N. Engines proposed for production models included the German 1,099-kilowatt (1,475-horsepower) Daimler-Benz DB 605
Daimler-Benz DB 605
|-See also:-Bibliography:* Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9* Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II. London. Studio Editions Ltd, 1989. ISBN 0-517-67964-7...
, the Italian 931-kilowatt (1,250-horsepower) Isotta-Fraschini
Isotta-Fraschini
Isotta Fraschini represents two Italian manufacturing companies which produce, respectively, marine engines and luxury goods. In the early 20th century it was famous worldwide as a luxury car manufacturer.-History:...
Zeta R.C.42, and the Fiat
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
RA-1050 RC.58 Tifone (Italian for "Typhoon"), an Italian copy of the DB 605 expected to give the Ca.331 C.N. a top speed of 644 kilometres (400.2 mi) per hour. Italian authorities also made various aggressive plans for production of Ca.331 C.N. aircraft, with as many as 100 built by May 1942 toward an eventual total production run of 1,000 aircraft. However, all production plans were cancelled in January 1943, and, in the end, only three Ca.331 aircraft (the lone O.A. prototype and the two C.N. prototypes) were built.
Other variants
Germany considered building a dual-control assault trainerTrainer (aircraft)
A trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate in-flight training of pilots and aircrews. The use of a dedicated trainer aircraft with additional safety features—such as tandem flight controls, forgiving flight characteristics and a simplified cockpit arrangement—allows...
version of the Ca.331 to be designated the Ca.331G. Nothing came of the proposal. An anti-tank
Anti-tank warfare
Anti-tank warfare was created by the need to seek technology and tactics to destroy tanks and their supporting infantry during the First World War...
version mounting a 37-millimeter cannon also was proposed, but none were built.
Operators
Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic)
- Regia AeronauticaRegia AeronauticaThe Italian Royal Air Force was the name of the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946...
Nazi Germany
- LuftwaffeLuftwaffeLuftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
Variants
Ca.331 O.A. (or Ca.331A)- Tactical reconnaissance aircraft/light bomber prototype (one built)
Ca.331 C.N. (or Ca.331B)
- Night fighter prototype (two built)
Ca.331G
- Proposed German dual-control assault trainer (none built)
Ca.331 O.A.
Ca.331 C.N.
Note: Specifications other than armament are for the proposed Isotta-FraschiniIsotta-Fraschini
Isotta Fraschini represents two Italian manufacturing companies which produce, respectively, marine engines and luxury goods. In the early 20th century it was famous worldwide as a luxury car manufacturer.-History:...
Delta IV -powered production version.
Notes: Maximum speed is at 5,300 m (17,390 ft). Range is at 320 km/h (199 mph). Time to 4,000 m (13,123 ft): 9 min 36 sec .