The Caproni Ca.97 was a civil utility aircraft produced in Italy in the late 1920s and early 1930s. As originally designed, it was a high-wing braced

trimotor A trimotor is an aircraft powered by three engines and represents a compromise between complexity and safety and was often a result of the limited power of the engines available to the designer. Many trimotors were designed and built in the 1920s ...

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 ...

of conventional configuration with one engine mounted on the nose and the other two carried on strut-mounted nacelles at the

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

sides. Examples were also produced with only the nose engine or only the two nacelle-mounted engines.

Operational history

Some aircraft were used by airlines in small numbers. Military versions were used by the

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 ...

in colonial policing roles, particularly 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 ...

from November 1929. Caproni Ca

Variants

;Ca.97: Prototype 3-engined powered by 3x Lorraine-Dietrich 5P 5-cylinder radial engines; one built. ;Ca.97 C.Tr.: (C.Tr. - ''coloniale trasporto '' - colonial transport), colonial transports similar to the Ca.97, powered by 3x Walter Mars radial engines;two built. ;Ca.97 C.Mo: Powered by a single Alfa Romeo Jupiter VIII Ri. ;Ca.97 M:Powered by a single Alfa Romeo Jupiter IV. ;Ca.97 Co:Colonial reconnaissance-bomber, powered by a single Alfa Romeo Jupiter IV; five aircraft built. ;Ca.97 Ri:Armed reconnaissance aircraft, powered by a single Alfa Romeo Jupiter VIII Ri; four built for the

. ;Ca.97 ''Idro'': Twin-float

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tec ...

version, powered by a single Alfa Romeo Jupiter VIII Ri; one aircraft built.

Operators

Civil

; * Salvatore Castelli *

Società Aerea Mediterranea Società Aerea Mediterranea (SAM) was an Italian cargo and passenger airline based in Rome, Italy, which operated between 1928 and 1939 as subsidiary of Ala Littoria and between 1959 and 1981 as subsidiary of Alitalia. It was founded on 26 March 1 ...

Ala Littoria Ala Littoria S.A. was the Italian national airline that operated during the fascist regime in the 1930s and 1940s. History ''Ala Littoria'' was formed by a merger of Società Aerea Mediterranea (SAM), Società Anonima Navigazione Aerea (SANA) ...

; * Malért (Magyar Légiforgalmi R.T.)

Military

; *

; * Magyar Légierő (Hungarian Air Force)

Specifications (Ca.97 Ri)

References

* * * {{Portal bar, Italy, Companies, Aviation Ca.097 1920s Italian civil utility aircraft 1920s Italian bomber aircraft Trimotors Single-engined tractor aircraft High-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1927