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The Caproni Ca.18 was a military

reconnaissance aircraft A reconnaissance aircraft (colloquially, a spy plane) is a military aircraft designed or adapted to perform aerial reconnaissance with roles including collection of imagery intelligence (including using photography), signals intelligence, as ...

built in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

shortly prior to

World War I 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 ...

. It became the first Italian-designed and -built aircraft to see service with the Italian armed forces. The Ca.18 was a

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 and fixed tailskid

undercarriage Undercarriage is the part of a moving vehicle that is underneath the main body of the vehicle. The term originally applied to this part of a horse-drawn carriage, and usage has since broadened to include: *The landing gear of an aircraft. *The ch ...

. The wings were mounted to the fuselage with a bayonet fitting, to facilitate the rapid erection and dismantling of the aircraft. Originally designed for a government competition in early 1913, no production order for the aircraft was forthcoming until the nationalisation of the Caproni company later in the year, whereupon a small batch was built for the 15th Squadron.

Operators

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Corpo Aeronautico Militare The Italian Corpo Aeronautico Militare (Military Aviation Corps) was formed as part of the Regio Esercito (Royal Army) on 7 January 1915, incorporating the Aviators Flights Battalion (airplanes), the Specialists Battalion (airships) and the Ballo ...

Specifications

References

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External links

{{Portal bar, Italy, Companies, Aviation Ca.018 1910s Italian military reconnaissance aircraft Military aircraft of World War I Shoulder-wing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1913 Rotary-engined aircraft