The CASA III was a 1920s

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

two-seat

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 wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

, designed by Luis Sousa Peco and built by

Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA (CASA) was a Spanish aircraft manufacturer that was founded in 1923 and began manufacturing aircraft the following year. In 1999 it became a subsidiary of the EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company) u ...

(CASA) at

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near Madrid.

Design and development

In 1929 using experience from the production of licence-built aircraft the company built the CASA III. It was originally designed as a

light bomber A light bomber is a relatively small and fast type of military bomber aircraft that was primarily employed before the 1950s. Such aircraft would typically not carry more than one ton of ordnance. The earliest light bombers were intended to dr ...

monoplane for the ''Aeronáutica Naval'' air arm of the

Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy, officially the Armada, is the Navy, maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation ...

, but since its performance was poor the prototypes were used as touring aircraft, ending up as

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at Pollensa´s Naval Air School. The CASA III was a

parasol wing 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 wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

monoplane with a fabric-covered steel tube fuselage. It had two tandem open cockpits and wide track fixed

conventional landing gear Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft Landing gear, undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the Center of gravity of an aircraft, center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail ...

with a tail skid. The wings were hinged at the rear spar and they could be folded for storage or transport. The ''M-CAGG'' registered prototype first flew on 2 July 1929 and was powered by a Cirrus III piston engine. Within a few weeks the aircraft took part in a handicap air race between Madrid and

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and on 25 December 1929 it became the first light aircraft to land in the

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. The second aircraft was fitted with a Isotta Fraschini Asso 80A engine but it was not a success. In 1930 three CASA III aircraft entered the 1930 Aerial Tour of Europe, but only two actually competed; the prototype which retired with a broken landing gear, and the de Havilland Gipsy I powered third-aircraft (M-CMAM) which arrived too late for the start although it completed the course. A total of nine aircraft were built, all with different engines, including the de Havilland Gipsy III and the Elizalde A6 radial engine. The last aircraft built was delivered to the Spanish Navy. Suitable power plants included:- de Havilland Gipsy I, de Havilland Gipsy II, de Havilland Gipsy III, Isotta Fraschini Asso 80 R.,

Lorraine 5P The Lorraine 5P, also called the Lorraine 100CV, Lorraine 110CV and Lorraine 120CV, was a family of five-cylinder air-cooled radial engines designed and built in France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily ...

Walter Venus The Walter Venus was a seven-cylinder, air-cooled, radial engine for aircraft use, built in Czechoslovakia in the late 1920s. Applications * Aero A.34 * ANBO V * Savoia-Marchetti S.56A Specifications See also References * * Němeče ...

and Elizalde D V.

Operational history

During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

all the remaining CASA IIIs were operated by the Republican forces and none of them survived.

Operators

; (Kingdom) *'' Aeronáutica Naval'' ; *

Spanish Republican Air Force The Spanish Republican Air Force was the air arm of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic, the legally established government of Spain between 1931 and 1939. Initially divided into two branches: Military Aeronautics () and Naval Aeron ...

Specifications (Gipsy I-powered)

Design and development

Operational history

Operators

Specifications (Gipsy I-powered)

See also

References

Further reading