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Caproni, also known as ''Società de Agostini e Caproni'' and ''Società Caproni e Comitti'', was an Italian
aircraft manufacturer An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, or spacecraft. Aerospace is a high technology industry. ...
. Its main base of operations was at
Taliedo Taliedo is a peripheral district ("quartiere") of the city Milan, Italy, part of the Zone 4 administrative division, located south-east of the city centre. The informal boundaries of the district are three main city streets, respectively Via Mecen ...
, near
Linate Airport Milan Linate Airport is the third international airport of Milan, the second-largest city and largest urban area of Italy, behind Malpensa Airport and Orio al Serio Airport. It served 9,233,475 passengers in 2018, being the fifth busiest airp ...
, on the outskirts of
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
. Founded by Giovanni Battista "Gianni" Caproni during 1908, the company produced several successful
heavy bomber Heavy bombers are bomber aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually bombs) and longest range (takeoff to landing) of their era. Archetypal heavy bombers have therefore usually been among the larges ...
s during the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Following the acquisition of several other aviation firms throughout the
interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...
, Caproni transformed into a sizable aviation-orientated
syndicate A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest. Etymology The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French language, Frenc ...
, the ''Società Italiana Caproni, Milano''. The majority of its aircraft were bombers and transport aircraft. It played a pioneering role in the development of the Caproni Campini N.1, an experimental aircraft powered by a thermo-jet. It provided large numbers of combat aircraft for the
Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis *Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinate ...
during the
Second World War 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 ...
. The firm did not prosper in the
postwar In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...
era, the Società Italiana Caproni collapsing during 1950. Many of the company's former assets were subsequently acquired by the Italian helicopter specialist
Agusta Agusta was an Italian helicopter manufacturer. It was based in Samarate, Northern Italy. The company was founded by Count Giovanni Agusta in 1923, who flew his first airplane in 1907. The MV Agusta motorcycle manufacturer began as an offshoot o ...
.


History

The company was founded during 1908 by the Italian
aviation pioneer Aviation pioneers are people directly and indirectly responsible for the advancement of flight, including people who worked to achieve manned flight before the invention of aircraft, as well as others who achieved significant "firsts" in aviation a ...
and
aeronautical engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is si ...
Giovanni Battista "Gianni" Caproni. It was initially named, from 1911, ''Società de Agostini e Caproni'', then ''Società Caproni e Comitti''. Caproni was responsible for completing the first aircraft of Italian construction in 1911. Its principal manufacturing facilities were based in
Taliedo Taliedo is a peripheral district ("quartiere") of the city Milan, Italy, part of the Zone 4 administrative division, located south-east of the city centre. The informal boundaries of the district are three main city streets, respectively Via Mecen ...
, a peripheral district of
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
, close to
Linate Airport Milan Linate Airport is the third international airport of Milan, the second-largest city and largest urban area of Italy, behind Malpensa Airport and Orio al Serio Airport. It served 9,233,475 passengers in 2018, being the fifth busiest airp ...
, while the firm's Caproni Vizzola division was based in
Vizzola Ticino Vizzola Ticino is a village and ''comune'' of the province of Varese in Lombardy, Italy. It is on the banks of the Ticino River, immediately to the west of Strada Provinciale 52 on the western perimeter of Malpensa Airport. In the late 19th cent ...
, close to
Milan–Malpensa Airport Milan Malpensa Airport is the largest international airport in northern Italy, serving Lombardy, Piedmont and Liguria, as well as the Swiss Canton of Ticino. The airport is northwest of Milan, next to the Ticino river dividing Lombardy and ...
. The firm initially produced a series of small single-engine aircraft, including the Caproni Ca.1, Ca.6 and Ca.12; these became important milestones in the early development of Italian aviation. As such, Caproni became one of the most important
Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
aircraft manufacturers during the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, being responsible for the design and manufacture of large, multi-engine long-range
bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...
s, such as the three-engined
Caproni Ca.32 The Caproni Ca.1 was an Italian heavy bomber of the World War I era. Development and design The Ca.1 was a three-engine biplane of fabric-covered wooden construction. It had four crew members in an open central nacelle: two pilots, a fron ...
, Ca.33, Ca.36 and Ca.40. These aircraft were adopted not only by the Italian military, but by the French as well. Caproni's bombers were a significant contribution in the development of heavy aircraft. Following the end of the conflict, the
strategic bombing Strategic bombing is a military strategy used in total war with the goal of defeating the enemy by destroying its morale, its economic ability to produce and transport materiel to the theatres of military operations, or both. It is a systematica ...
theories of
Giulio Douhet General Giulio Douhet (30 May 1869 – 15 February 1930) was an Italian general and air power theorist. He was a key proponent of strategic bombing in aerial warfare. He was a contemporary of the 1920s air warfare advocates Walther Wever, Billy ...
were reputedly shaped by the operational use of Caproni bombers, and thus have been was seen as an important landmark in the history of aviation. The
Interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...
was a busy one for Caproni. While the end of the First World War had led to a rapid decrease in demand for bombers, impacting orders for much of Caproni's traditional product line, Caproni elected to redirect the bulk of the company's resources towards the growing civil aviation market. It was also during this period that the company was reorganised into a large
syndicate A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest. Etymology The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French language, Frenc ...
, which was named the ''Società Italiana Caproni, Milano'', as a result of having acquired several smaller Italian manufacturers. By the 1930s, the company's main subdivisions comprised Caproni Bergamasca, Caproni Vizzola,
Reggiane Officine Meccaniche Reggiane SpA (commonly referred to as ''Reggiane'') was an Italian industrial manufacturer and aviation company. Reggiane was founded during 1904 by its parent company Caproni, which was in turn owned by the aeronautical eng ...
and the engine manufacturer
Isotta Fraschini Isotta Fraschini () was an Italian luxury car manufacturer, also producing trucks, as well as engines for marine and aviation use. Founded in Milan, Italy, in 1900 by Cesare Isotta and the brothers Vincenzo, Antonio, and Oreste Fraschini, in 19 ...
. Caproni's aircraft activity largely orientated towards the production of bombers and light transport aircraft. Perhaps the most distinctive of Caproni's aircraft was the Caproni Ca.60 Transaereo, an experimental large
flying boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...
designed for the civil sector. At the time, the concept of a large multi-engined flying boat to serve long-distance passenger routes was considered to be radical. However, Caproni believed that such an aircraft could allow the travel to remote areas more quickly than ground or water transport, and that the investment required to develop and manufacturer such an aircraft would be less expensive than pursuing alternative means. During 1919, Caproni filed to
patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...
his work on the concept. His large seaplane design, designated Caproni Ca.60, was highly unorthodox, featuring eight engines and three sets of triple wings. On 12 February or 2 March 1921, the aircraft took off for the first time, proving to be both stable and maneuverable during its brief flight, in spite of a persisting tendency to climb. However, on March 4, the sole completed aircraft was lost while attempting its second flight. During 1927, the Caproni Museum (Italian: ''Museo Caproni'') was established in Taliedo by Giovanni Caproni and his wife, Timina Caproni. It is both the oldest aviation museum in Italy, as well as the country's oldest corporate museum. The Caproni Museum has long outlived the Caproni company itself. Caproni continued to maintain its interest in innovative aircraft. One such example was the
Stipa-Caproni The Stipa-Caproni, also known as the Caproni Stipa, was an experimental Italian aircraft designed in 1932 by Luigi Stipa (1900–1992) and built by Caproni. It featured a hollow, barrel-shaped fuselage with the engine and propeller completely e ...
, also known as the Caproni Stipa, which was designed by
Luigi Stipa Luigi Stipa (30 November 1900 – 9 January 1992) was an Italian aeronautical, hydraulic, and civil engineer and aircraft designer who invented the "intubed propeller" for aircraft, a concept that some aviation historians view as the predecesso ...
and built by Caproni during the early 1930s. The aircraft featured a hollow, barrel-shaped
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 ...
with the
engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...
and
propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...
completely enclosed by the fuselage, effectively forming a single
ducted fan In aeronautics, a ducted fan is a thrust-generating mechanical fan or propeller mounted within a cylindrical duct or shroud. Other terms include ducted propeller or shrouded propeller. When used in vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) applicatio ...
. While unconventional, flight testing found that the approach induced significant
aerodynamic drag In fluid dynamics, drag (sometimes called air resistance, a type of friction, or fluid resistance, another type of friction or fluid friction) is a force acting opposite to the relative motion of any object moving with respect to a surrounding fl ...
, cancelling out much of the gains in engine efficiency and reducing the aircraft's top speed to only . Some authors have claimed that its design had influenced the development of
jet propulsion Jet propulsion is the propulsion of an object in one direction, produced by ejecting a jet of fluid in the opposite direction. By Newton's third law, the moving body is propelled in the opposite direction to the jet. Reaction engines operating o ...
. During the 1930s, Caproni became involved with the Italian
aeronautics engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: Aeronautics, aeronautical engineering and Astronautics, astronautical engineering. A ...
Secondo Campini Secondo Campini (August 28, 1904 – February 7, 1980) was an Italian engineer and one of the pioneers of the jet engine. Campini was born at Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. In 1931 he wrote a proposal for the Italian Air Ministry on the value of jet pr ...
, who was engaged in pioneering research in the then-unexplored field of
jet propulsion Jet propulsion is the propulsion of an object in one direction, produced by ejecting a jet of fluid in the opposite direction. By Newton's third law, the moving body is propelled in the opposite direction to the jet. Reaction engines operating o ...
, having proposed adopting a so-called '' thermo-jet'' to power an aircraft. Campini had been issued with an initial contract from the Italian government to develop and manufacture his envisioned engine. During 1934, 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 ...
'' (the Italian Air Force) granted its approval to proceed with the production of a pair of jet-powered
prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...
aircraft; Caproni was engaged to manufacture this aircraft, which was thus designated as the Caproni Campini N.1, with Campini providing technical guidance while specialising in the engine's design.Pavelec 2007, p. 5. On 27 August 1940, the
maiden flight The maiden flight, also known as first flight, of an aircraft is the first occasion on which it leaves the ground under its own power. The same term is also used for the first launch of rockets. The maiden flight of a new aircraft type is alwa ...
of the experimental N.1 occurred at Caproni's
Taliedo Taliedo is a peripheral district ("quartiere") of the city Milan, Italy, part of the Zone 4 administrative division, located south-east of the city centre. The informal boundaries of the district are three main city streets, respectively Via Mecen ...
facility. On 30 November 1941, the second prototype was flown from Milan's
Linate Airport Milan Linate Airport is the third international airport of Milan, the second-largest city and largest urban area of Italy, behind Malpensa Airport and Orio al Serio Airport. It served 9,233,475 passengers in 2018, being the fifth busiest airp ...
to Rome's
Guidonia Airport Guidonia Air Base ( it, Aeroporto di Guidonia, ICAO: LIRG) is a military airport in Guidonia Montecelio, Province of Rome, near Rome. It is home to the Italian Air Force's main logistic center. History The airport was built between 1915 and 1 ...
, in a highly publicised event that included a fly-past over Rome and a reception with Italian Prime Minister
Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
. According to the historian Nathanial Edwards, the practicality of the N.1 design had been undermined by political pressure to speed the programme along so that Italy would be more likely to be the first country in the world to perform a jet-powered flight.Edwards, Nathanial. "Flight as Propaganda in Fascist Italy." ''World At War Magazine'', Late 2010. According to economics author Harrison Mark,
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
aircraft design bureau
TsAGI The Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (also (Zhukovsky) Central Institute of Aerodynamics, russian: Центра́льный аэрогидродинами́ческий институ́т, ЦАГИ, Tsentral'nyy Aerogidrodinamicheskiy Institut, ...
obtained details on the N.1 programme and were encouraged to pursue work on a similar design; as such, there is a basis for stating that the design of the N.1 influenced subsequent early jet aircraft. The early years of the
postwar In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...
era was one of considerable hardship for Caproni and the wider Italian aviation industry alike. During 1950, the Società Italiana Caproni ceased to exist. However, one of the company's former divisions, ''Caproni Vizzola'', endured until 1983, at which point it was acquired by the Italian helicopter manufacturer
Agusta Agusta was an Italian helicopter manufacturer. It was based in Samarate, Northern Italy. The company was founded by Count Giovanni Agusta in 1923, who flew his first airplane in 1907. The MV Agusta motorcycle manufacturer began as an offshoot o ...
.


Aircraft

FromAA.VV., Caproni Ca.90 , in ''Grande Enciclopedia Aeronautica'' , Milan, Edizioni Aeronautica L. Mancini, 1936, p. 154,


Pre-World War I

* Caproni Ca.1 of 1910 – Experimental biplane


World War I

* Caproni Ca.1 of 1914 – Heavy bomber *
Caproni Ca.2 __NOTOC__ 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 (1914), Caproni Ca.1 twin-boom bomber of 1914. It had become evident early in the Ca.1's service lif ...
– Heavy bomber * Caproni Ca.3 – Heavy bomber *
Caproni Ca.4 The Caproni Ca.4 was an Italian heavy bomber of the World War I era. Development After designing the successful Ca.3, Gianni Caproni of the Caproni works designed a much bigger aircraft. It shared the unusual layout of the Caproni Ca.3, being a ...
– Heavy bomber * Caproni Ca.5 – Heavy bomber * Caproni Ca.14 - biplane *
Caproni Ca.15 Caproni, also known as ''Società de Agostini e Caproni'' and ''Società Caproni e Comitti'', was an Italian aircraft manufacturer. Its main base of operations was at Taliedo, near Linate Airport, on the outskirts of Milan. Founded by Giovann ...
- monoplane *
Caproni Ca.17 Caproni, also known as ''Società de Agostini e Caproni'' and ''Società Caproni e Comitti'', was an Italian aircraft manufacturer. Its main base of operations was at Taliedo, near Linate Airport, on the outskirts of Milan. Founded by Giovann ...
- monoplane * Caproni Ca.18 – Observation plane * Caproni Ca.19 - monoplane *
Caproni Ca.20 The Caproni Ca.20 was an early monoplane fighter. Developed by Giovanni Battista Caproni in 1914. The only prototype made is today on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington, United States. History of the design The Ca.20 was der ...
– Monoplane fighter * Caproni Ca.21 - reconnaissance aircraft *
Caproni Ca.22 The Caproni Ca.22 was a single-engine monoplane made by the Italian company Aeronautica Caproni in 1913. Design Developed on the initiative of Giovanni Battista "Gianni" Caproni was made in a single sample for research purposes to study the cha ...
– Variable incidence research
parasol 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 con ...
* Caproni Ca.26 - project * Caproni Ca.27 - project * Caproni Ca.28 - project * Caproni Ca.29 - project *
Caproni Ca.31 The Caproni Ca.1 was an Italian heavy bomber of the World War I era. Development and design The Ca.1 was a three-engine biplane of fabric-covered wooden construction. It had four crew members in an open central nacelle: two pilots, a fro ...
– Modified Ca.1 *
Caproni Ca.32 The Caproni Ca.1 was an Italian heavy bomber of the World War I era. Development and design The Ca.1 was a three-engine biplane of fabric-covered wooden construction. It had four crew members in an open central nacelle: two pilots, a fron ...
– Modified Italian Army version of Ca.1


Inter-war period

* Caproni Ca.30 – Postwar redesignation of 1914 Ca.1 *
Caproni Ca.33 The Caproni Ca.3 is an Italian heavy bomber of World War I and the postwar era. It was the most produced version of the series of aircraft that began with the 1914 Caproni Ca.1 and continued until the more powerful 1917 Caproni Ca.5 variant. ...
– Postwar redesignation of Ca.3 * Caproni Ca.34 – Postwar redesignation of proposed modified Ca.3 * Caproni Ca.35 – Postwar redesignation of proposed modified Ca.3 *
Caproni Ca.36 The Caproni Ca.3 is an Italian heavy bomber of World War I and the postwar era. It was the most produced version of the series of aircraft that began with the 1914 Caproni Ca.1 (1914), Caproni Ca.1 and continued until the more powerful 1917 Cap ...
– Postwar redesignation of modified Ca.3 * Caproni Ca.37 – Postwar redesignation of prototype ground-attack version of Ca.3 * Caproni Ca.39 – Postwar redesignation of proposed seaplane version of Ca.3 * Caproni Ca.40 – Postwar redesignation of Ca.4 prototype *
Caproni Ca.41 The Caproni Ca.4 was an Italian heavy bomber of the World War I era. Development After designing the successful Ca.3, Gianni Caproni of the Caproni works designed a much bigger aircraft. It shared the unusual layout of the Caproni Ca.3, being a ...
– Postwar redesignation of Ca.4 variant * Caproni Ca.42 – Postwar redesignation of Ca.4 variant *
Caproni Ca.43 The Caproni Ca.4 was an Italian heavy bomber of the World War I era. Development After designing the successful Ca.3, Gianni Caproni of the Caproni works designed a much bigger aircraft. It shared the unusual layout of the Caproni Ca.3, being a ...
– Postwar redesignation of floatplane variant of Ca.4 * Caproni Ca.44 – Postwar redesignation of Ca.5 heavy bomber *
Caproni Ca.45 The Caproni Ca.5 was an Italian heavy bomber of World War I and the postwar era. It was the final version of the series of aircraft that began with the Caproni Ca.1 (1914), Caproni Ca.1 in 1914. Development By late World War I, developments in ...
– Postwar redesignation of Ca.5 aircraft built for France * Caproni Ca.46 – Postwar redesignation of Ca.5 variant *
Caproni Ca.47 The Caproni Ca.5 was an Italian heavy bomber of World War I and the postwar era. It was the final version of the series of aircraft that began with the Caproni Ca.1 in 1914. Development By late World War I, developments in aircraft technology ...
– Postwar redesignation of seaplane version of Ca.5 *
Caproni Ca.48 The Caproni Ca.4 was an Italian heavy bomber of the World War I era. Development After designing the successful Ca.3, Gianni Caproni of the Caproni works designed a much bigger aircraft. It shared the unusual layout of the Caproni Ca.3, being ...
– Airliner version of Ca.4 * Caproni Ca.49 – Proposed seaplane airliner of 1919 * Caproni Ca.50 – Air ambulance version of Ca.44 * Caproni Ca.51 – Postwar redesignation of prototype of enlarged Ca.4 * Caproni Ca.52 – Postwar redesignation for Ca.4 aircraft built for
Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...
* Caproni Ca.56 – Airliner version of Ca.1 * Caproni Ca.57 – Airliner version of Ca.44 * Caproni Ca.58 – Postwar redesignation for re-engined Ca.4s * Caproni Ca.59 – Postwar redesignation for exported Ca.58s *
Caproni Ca.60 The Caproni Ca.60 Transaereo, often referred to as the Noviplano (nine-wing) or Capronissimo, was the prototype of a large nine-wing flying boat intended to become a 100-passenger transatlantic airliner. It featured eight engines and three sets ...
''Noviplano'' – Flying boat airliner prototype *
Caproni Ca.64 Caproni, also known as ''Società de Agostini e Caproni'' and ''Società Caproni e Comitti'', was an Italian aircraft manufacturer An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, ...
- fighter project * Caproni Ca.65 - fighter project *
Caproni Ca.66 The Caproni Ca.66 was an Italian night bomber aircraft, bomber designed to reequip the post-World War I Italian Air Force. Only two examples of the four-engined biplane were built. Design and development From 1914 Caproni had produced a series ...
- Four-engine, single-
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 ...
bomber of 1922 * Caproni Ca.68 - reconnaissance flying boat project * Caproni Ca.69 - reconnaissance flying boat project * Caproni Ca.70 – Prototype night fighter of 1925 *
Caproni Ca.71 The Caproni Ca.71, originally Ca.70L, was a two-seat biplane night fighter produced in Italy in 1927. It was derived from the Caproni Ca.70 of 1925. Design Undaunted by the lack of interest the ''Regia Aeronautica'' (Italian Royal Air Force) h ...
– Ca.70 variant of 1927 * Caproni Ca.73 – Airliner and light bomber * Caproni Ca.74 – Re-engined Ca.73 light bomber * Caproni Ca.75 - biplane bomber project *
Caproni Ca.76 Caproni, also known as ''Società de Agostini e Caproni'' and ''Società Caproni e Comitti'', was an Italian aircraft manufacturer. Its main base of operations was at Taliedo, near Linate Airport, on the outskirts of Milan. Founded by Giovanni ...
- biplane bomber project * Caproni Ca.77 - biplane bomber project * Caproni Ca.78 - biplane bomber project *
Caproni Ca.80 The Caproni Ca.73 was an Italian airliner produced during the 1920s which went on to serve as a light bomber in the newly independent ''Regia Aeronautica''. Design and development The Ca.73 was an inverted sesquiplane with a biplane tail and tw ...
– Later redesignation of Ca.74 * Caproni Ca.81 - reconnaissance monoplane project * Caproni Ca.82 – Redesignation of Ca.73''ter'' variant * Caproni Ca.83 - monoplane fighter * Caproni Ca.84 - biplane flying boat project * Caproni Ca.85 - biplane flying boat project * Caproni Ca.86 - biplane flying boat project * Caproni Ca.88 – Redesignation of Ca.73''quarter'' variant * Caproni Ca.89 – Redesignation of Ca.73''quarterG'' variant * Caproni Ca.90 – Heavy bomber aircraft * Caproni Ca.92 - reconnaissance biplane project * Caproni Ca.93 - biplane bomber project * Caproni Ca.94 - 4-engine monoplane heavy bomber * Caproni Ca.95 - Heavy bomber aircraft, 1933 * Caproni Ca.96 - 4-engine biplane heavy bomber project * Caproni Ca.97 – Civil utility aircraft * Caproni Ca.98 - monoplane tourer * Caproni Ca.99 - biplane tourer * Caproni Ca.100 – Trainer * Caproni Ca.101 – Airliner, transport, and bomber * Caproni Ca.102 – Re-engined Ca.101 * Caproni Ca.106 - civil biplane project * Caproni Ca.107 - biplane fighter project * Caproni Ca.108 - mailplane project * Caproni Ca.109 - 2-seat biplane sport/trainer * Caproni Ca.110 - biplane fighter project * Caproni Ca.111 – Reconnaissance aircraft and light bomber * Caproni Ca.113 – Advanced trainer * Caproni Ca.114 – Biplane fighter * Caproni Ca.115 - twin-engined sesquiplane bomber project * Caproni Ca.116 - sports biplane project * Caproni Ca.117 - experimental high-altitude monoplane project * Caproni Ca.118 - twin-engine monoplane bomber project * Caproni Ca.119 - reconnaissance biplane project * Caproni Ca.121 - fast monoplane bomber project * Caproni Ca.122 – Prototype bomber and transport * Caproni Ca.123 – Proposed airliner version of Ca.122 * Caproni Ca.124 – Reconnaissance and bomber floatplane * Caproni Ca.125 – Two-seat touring biplane * Caproni Ca.126 - monoplane sports aircraft project * Caproni Ca.128 - low-wing metal monoplane 1+4 feederliner project * Caproni Ca.129 - low-wing metal monoplane 1+4 feederliner project * Caproni Ca.130 - trimotor transport, precursor of Caproni Ca.133 * Caproni Ca.132 – Prototype bomber and airliner * Caproni Ca.134 – Reconnaissance biplane * Caproni Ca.150 - twin-boom attack fighter * Caproni Ca.153 - monoplane heavy fighter project * Caproni Ca.154 - twin-engine monoplane heavy fighter project * Caproni Ca.155 - twin-engine monoplane heavy fighter project * Caproni Ca.156 - twin-engined heavy fighter project * Caproni Ca.161 – High-altitude experimental aircraft * Caproni Ca.162 - recce-fighter project * Caproni Ca.164, Caproni Ca.163 – Prototype of Ca.164 * Caproni Ca.165 – Prototype fighter of 1938 * Caproni Ca.204 - long-range bomber project * Caproni Ca.211 - three-engine long-range bomber project * Caproni Ca.201 - high altitude bomber project * Caproni Ca.205 - long-range bomber project * Caproni Ca.214 - aerobatic trainer project * Caproni Ca.301 – Prototype fighter * Caproni A.P.1 – Attack aircraft derivative of Ca.301 * Caproni Ca.305 – First production version of A.P.1 * Caproni Ca.306 – Airliner prototype (1935) * Caproni Ca.307 – Second production version of A.P.1 * Caproni Ca.308 – Export version of A.P.1 for El Salvador and Paraguay * Caproni Ca.308 Borea, Caproni Ca. 308 ''Borea'' – Airliner * Caproni Ca.309 – military light twin * Caproni Ca.345 – recce floatplane project * Caproni Ca.350 – Fighter-bomber, reconnaissance aircraft * Piaggio P.32#Variants, Caproni-Reggiane Ca.400 – Caproni-
Reggiane Officine Meccaniche Reggiane SpA (commonly referred to as ''Reggiane'') was an Italian industrial manufacturer and aviation company. Reggiane was founded during 1904 by its parent company Caproni, which was in turn owned by the aeronautical eng ...
-built version of Piaggio P.32 medium bomber * Caproni Ca.401 – twin-engine recce-fighter * Piaggio P.32#Variants, Caproni Ca.405 – Caproni-built version of Piaggio P.32 medium bomber * Caproni Ca.410 – twin-engined recce-bomber floatplane project * Caproni CH.1 – Prototype fighter of 1935 * Caproni PS.1 – Sports aircraft * Caproni Bergamaschi PL.3 – Long-distance racer aircraft * Caproni-Pensuti triplane – Sports triplane of 1919 * Caproni Sauro-1 – Two-seat touring aircraft * Caproni Vizzola F.5 – Fighter of 1939 *
Stipa-Caproni The Stipa-Caproni, also known as the Caproni Stipa, was an experimental Italian aircraft designed in 1932 by Luigi Stipa (1900–1992) and built by Caproni. It featured a hollow, barrel-shaped fuselage with the engine and propeller completely e ...
– Experimental ducted-fan powered prototype of 1932


World War II

* Caproni Ca.133 – Transport and bomber * Caproni Ca.135 – Medium bomber * Caproni Ca.148 – Civil-military transport version of Ca.133 * Caproni Ca.164 – Trainer and liaison and reconnaissance aircraft * Caproni Ca.309 ''Ghibli'' – Reconnaissance, ground-attack, and transport aircraft * Caproni Ca.310 ''Libeccio'' – Reconnaissance aircraft and light bomber * Caproni Ca.311 – Light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft * Caproni Ca.312 – Re-engined version of Ca.310 sold to Norway * Caproni Ca.313 – Reconnaissance bomber, trainer, and transport * Caproni Ca.314 – Ground-attack aircraft and torpedo bomber * Caproni Ca.316 – Seaplane * Caproni Ca.320 - three-engine bomber * Caproni Ca.325 – Proposed version of Ca.135 medium bomber with more powerful engines, built in mock-up form only * Caproni Ca.330 - Project * Caproni Ca.331 – Prototype tactical reconnaissance aircraft/light bomber (Caproni Ca.331 O.A., Ca.331 O.A./Ca.331A) of 1940 and prototype night fighter (Caproni Ca.331 C.N., Ca.331 C.N./Ca.331B) of 1942 * Caproni Ca.332 - Project; derived from Ca.330 * Caproni Ca.335 – Fighter-bomber, reconnaissance aircraft for the Belgian Air Force. * Caproni Ca.360 - Twin engine dive bomber project * Caproni Ca.365 - Twin engine bomber project * Caproni Ca.370 - twin engine combat plane project * Caproni Ca.375 - twin engine combat plane project * Caproni Ca.380 - twin-boom fighter project * Caproni Ca.381 - twin-boom fighter project * Caproni Campini N.1 – Experimental motorjet-powered aircraft of 1940 * Caproni Campini Ca.183bis – Proposed high-altitude fighter aircraft * Caproni Vizzola F.4 – Fighter prototype of 1940 with German-made engine * Caproni Vizzola F.5bis – Proposed version of F.4 with Italian-made engine * Caproni Vizzola F.6 – Fighter prototype of 1941 (Caproni Vizzola F.6M, F.6M) and 1943 (Caproni Vizzola F.6Z, F.6Z)


Post-World War II

* Caproni Ca.193 – Twin-engined six-seat monoplane * Caproni Ca.195 - jet trainer project * Caproni Trento F-5 – Lightweight two-seat jet trainer * Caproni Vizzola Calif – Family of gliders (sailplanes) (A-10, A-12, A-14, A-15, A-20, A-21) * Caproni Vizzola Ventura, Caproni Vizzola C22 Ventura – Light jet trainer


See also

* Compagnia Nazionale Aeronautica * Gianni Caproni Museum of Aeronautics *
Isotta Fraschini Isotta Fraschini () was an Italian luxury car manufacturer, also producing trucks, as well as engines for marine and aviation use. Founded in Milan, Italy, in 1900 by Cesare Isotta and the brothers Vincenzo, Antonio, and Oreste Fraschini, in 19 ...
*
Reggiane Officine Meccaniche Reggiane SpA (commonly referred to as ''Reggiane'') was an Italian industrial manufacturer and aviation company. Reggiane was founded during 1904 by its parent company Caproni, which was in turn owned by the aeronautical eng ...


References


Notes


Citations


Bibliography

* * * * Golly, John. ''Jet: Frank Whittle and the Invention of the Jet Engine.'' Datum Publishing, 1996. . * * Mark, Harrison. ''The Economics Of Coercion And Conflict.'' World Scientific, 2014. . * * Pavelec, Sterling Michael. ''The jet race and the Second World War.'' Praeger Security International: Westport, Connecticut. 2007. .


External links


{{Authority control Caproni, Defunct aircraft manufacturers of Italy Manufacturing companies based in Milan Companies based in Reggio Emilia Conglomerate companies of Italy Companies based in Lombardy Companies based in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1908 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1950 Italian companies established in 1908 1950 disestablishments in Italy Agusta Italian brands