The Caproni Ca.309 ''Ghibli'' was an Italian aircraft used in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Its nickname 'Ghibli' refers to a desert wind that later served as the inspiration for animation Studio Ghibli's name.

Development

The Caproni Ca.309 was designed by

Cesare Pallavicino Cesare Pallavicino (Rome, 1893 - Bergamo, 1976) was an Italian aeronautical engineer, heading the design department at Caproni from 1935 to 1941. He designed several important Italian aircraft, including the Breda Ba.15, Breda Ba.18, Breda Ba.1 ...

, based on the Ca.308 Borea transport. It was intended to replace the obsolete

IMAM Ro.1 The Fokker C.V was a Dutch light reconnaissance and bomber biplane aircraft manufactured by Fokker. It was designed by Anthony Fokker and the series manufacture began in 1924 at Fokker in Amsterdam. Development The C.V was constructed in the earl ...

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

, and to serve as a

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

and

ground-attack aircraft An attack aircraft, strike aircraft, or attack bomber is a tactical military aircraft that has a primary role of carrying out airstrikes with greater precision than bombers, and is prepared to encounter strong low-level air defenses while pres ...

. The Ca.309 was a low-wing

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a canti ...

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

with a

piston engine A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is typically a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert high temperature and high pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common featu ...

fitted to each wing. The aircraft was also produced in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

. That variant, 24 of which were built, was known as the Kaproni-Bulgarski KB 6/KB 309 Papagal.

Operations

The Ca. 309 served in

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

during the first part of World War II with the Auto-Saharan Company, with good operational results. After the loss of the

African colonies The history of external colonisation of Africa can be dated back from ancient, medieval, or modern history, depending on how the term colonisation is defined. Ancient Greeks, Romans, Arabs and Malays all established colonies on the African c ...

the surviving planes were returned to Italy, where they were used as transports. Two ''Ghiblis'' were bought by the Paraguayan government for its Military Air Arm. They were used as transport planes from 1939 to 1945 and in that year they were transferred to '' Líneas Aéreas de Transporte Nacional'' (LATN), the Paraguayan first airline which was run by the Military Aviation. They were in active service until the early 1950s and later sold to a private Argentine owner.

Operators

; *

Regia Aeronautica The Italian Royal Air Force (''Regia Aeronautica Italiana'') 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. In 1946, the monarchy was abolis ...

, operated 243 Caproni Ca.309 ; *

Italian Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = (Ordinance March of the Air Force) by Alberto Di Miniello , mascot = , anniversaries = 28 March ...

; *

Bulgarian Air Force The Bulgarian Air Force ( bg, Военновъздушни сили, Voennovazdushni sili) is one of the three branches of the Military of Bulgaria, the other two being the Bulgarian Navy and Bulgarian land forces. Its mission is to guard and p ...

; *

Paraguayan Air Arm The Armed forces of Paraguay ( es, Fuerzas Armadas de Paraguay) consist of the Paraguayan army, navy (including naval aviation and marine corps) and air force. The constitution of Paraguay establishes the president of Paraguay as the commander- ...

(two Ca.309) * ''Líneas Aéreas de Transporte Nacional'' (LATN) used two ex-Paraguayan Air Arm Ca.309s * Norwegian army flying corps

Specifications (Ca.309 production)

References

Bibliography