__NOTOC__ The Caproni Vizzola Calif was a family of Italian

sailplane A glider or sailplane is a type of glider aircraft used in the leisure activity and sport of gliding (also called soaring). This unpowered aircraft can use naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to gain altitude. Sailpla ...

s , the first example flew in 1969, with production continuing into the 1970s and 1980s. Of typical sailplane configuration with

T-tail A T-tail is an empennage configuration in which the tailplane is mounted to the top of the fin. The arrangement looks like the capital letter T, hence the name. The T-tail differs from the standard configuration in which the tailplane ...

s, they featured distinctive wings with centre sections of constant chord and trapezoidal outer panels. The forward

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 aircraf ...

was constructed of

fibreglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

over an alloy frame, while the rear fuselage, wings, and

empennage The empennage ( or ), also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third e ...

were metal-covered. The most significant member of the family, and the only one produced in quantity (around 150 by the early 1980s) was the A-21S, a two-seat version that accommodated the pilot and passenger side by side. At one time this aircraft concurrently held four world records for two-seat sailplanes, including: * the women's closed-circuit speed record set by

Adele Orsi Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a reco ...

and

Franca Bellengeri Franca is a municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The city is located in the northeastern portion of the state, distant 401 km (249 mi) from the state capital (São Paulo), and 676 km (420 mi) from Brasilia. It covers a total area of ...

in August 1974 * straight distance of 970.4 km by

Ingo Renner Ingo Renner OAM (1 June 1940 – 26 February 2022) was an Australian glider pilot. He won the World Gliding Championships four times.

and Hilmer Geissler in Australia in 1975

Variants

*A-10 (one built) *A-12 (two built) *A-14 (one built) *A-15 (one built) *A-20 **A-20S - two-seat version of A-20 *A-21 - two-seat development of A-14 **A-21S - refined production version of A-21 **A-21SJ - jet-powered version of A-21 using either a thrust engine, having a ceiling. A trailing edge flap-airbrake is unique to this model. Marketed in America by AVIA America Corporation.

Specifications (A-21S)

References

External links

tschager-gold.it
{{US glider aircraft 1960s Italian sailplanes Glider aircraft Vizzola Calif Aircraft first flown in 1969 T-tail aircraft Shoulder-wing aircraft

Variants

Specifications (A-21S)

References

Further reading

External links