The Caproni Sauro-1 ( en, Sorrel), or Caproni Tricap, was a light, single-engine cantilever monoplane, seating two in tandem, built in Italy in the early 1930s for touring. Despite good performance and favourable test reports, only one was built.

Design and development

The Caproni Sauro-1 was not a Caproni design, but was built by them to a design from Emmanuele Trigona, leading to the alternative name Tricap (''Tri''gone ''Cap''roni). It was an aerodynamically clean cantilever monoplane with a

low Low or LOW or lows, may refer to: People * Low (surname), listing people surnamed Low Places * Low, Quebec, Canada * Low, Utah, United States * Lo Wu station (MTR code LOW), Hong Kong; a rail station * Salzburg Airport (ICAO airport code: LO ...

inverted gull wing The gull wing is an aircraft wing configuration, known also as ''Pulaski wings'', with a prominent bend in the wing inner section towards the wing root. Its name is derived from the seabirds which it resembles. Numerous aircraft have incorporat ...

. The wing was thick with a wide

chord Chord may refer to: * Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously ** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning * Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve * Chord ( ...

at the root, tapering both in plan and in thickness along the span to rounded wing tips. Structurally the Sauro was a mixture of wood and chrome steel frames, covered with

plywood Plywood is a material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured ...

and fabric. On the wings the plywood was stress bearing. Camber changing gear linked the neutral position of the ailerons and the

angle of incidence Angle of incidence is a measure of deviation of something from "straight on" and may refer to: * Angle of incidence (aerodynamics), angle between a wing chord and the longitudinal axis, as distinct from angle of attack In fluid dynamics, ang ...

of the tailplane; the ailerons maintained their normal opposing deflections for lateral control. The fixed,

conventional undercarriage Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...

took advantage of the inverted gull wing by placing the main legs at the lowest points of the wings, keeping the legs short and the track wide. Shallow, full chord fairings enclosed the legs and part of the mainwheels, which had rubber shock absorbers and brakes. The Sauro was powered by a 97 kW (130 hp) Farina T-58 radial engine within a domed cowling that left its five cylinders individually exposed. Behind the engine the fuselage was ovoidal in cross-section and tapered only slowly to the tail. It had a chrome steel frame, covered with plywood and fabric. The two tandem cockpits, the forward one over the wing and the other just behind its trailing edge, had long headrest deckings behind them that extended to the tail. The cockpits were equipped with dual controls; those of the forward position could be disconnected in flight. Both seats had room for a

parachute A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...

. The tail surfaces were conventional, steel-framed and covered with a mixture of aluminium and fabric, with the tapered tailplane set at mid-fuselage with an angular fin and rudder above. The rudder ended above the fuselage, angled to allow for elevator movement. A steel shod, rubber-sprung tailskid was mounted at the end of the fuselage. The Sauro was built at Caproni's main Taliedo works, then tested at Guidonia Montecelio under military markings. The aircraft was judged a success, with good performance and handling, but there was no development or production. Trigona carried over some features of the Sauro into a fighter design but this was abandoned in 1943.

Specifications

References

{{Portal bar, Italy, Companies, Aviation Sauro-1 1930s Italian sport aircraft Inverted gull-wing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1933 Low-wing aircraft