Caproni Ca.114

Caproni Са 114

Самолет Са 114, созданный в 1933 году согласно требованиям итальянских ВВС (Regia Aeronautica) на одноместный истребитель, представлял собой односекционный биплан с крыльями равного размаха с выносом верхнего крыла вперед, изготовленный из дерева и металла. Хотя после официальных испытаний Италия отказалась от Са 114 в пользу Fiat CR.32, на него был получен экспортный заказ от перуанских ВВС (Cuerpo de Aeronautica del Peru), которые, предположительно, получили 36 машин тремя партиями, а последняя машина была поставлена в январе 1935 года. Самолет участвовал в боевых действиях конфликта 1941 года между Перу и Эквадором.

ТАКТИКО-ТЕХНИЧЕСКИЕ ХАРАКТЕРИСТИКИ

   Caproni Са 114

   Тип: одноместный истребитель
   Силовая установка: звездообразный двигатель Bristol Mercury IV мощностью 530 л. с. (395 кВт)
   Летные характеристики: макс. скорость на высоте 5000 м - 355 км/ч; крейсерская скорость на оптимальной высоте 230 км/ч; набор высоты 3000 м-за 4 мин; практический потолок 9500 м; дальность полета 600 км
   Масса: пустого 1310 кг; максимальная взлетная 1660 кг
   Размеры: размах крыла 10,50 м; длина 7,68 м; высота 2,54 м; площадь крыльев 25,68 м2
   Вооружение: два фиксированных 7,7-мм пулемета Breda-SAFAT для стрельбы вперед - в передней части фюзеляжа

Flight, May 1934

A CAPRONI SINGLE-SEATER FIGHTER
Bristol "Mercury" Engine

OBVIOUSLY developed from the Caproni 113 two-seater advanced training biplane, the Caproni 114 is intended for advanced aerobatic training or for use as a high altitude single-seater fighter. Considering the fact that the machine is fitted with a geared and supercharged Bristol "Mercury" engine, the speed of the aircraft must be considered on the low side. It possesses, however, a reasonably good rate of climb, coupled with good manoeuvrability at high altitudes. The machine is a biplane with wings of equal span and chord, rounded at the tips. These are braced by N struts and streamline wires. Welded steel tubular construction is used for the fuselage, the forward portion of which is covered with duralumin sheet and the rear portion with fabric. The elevators and rudder are aerodynamically balanced, and the tail plane is adjustable in flight. A "Mercury IV" S.2 engine, using a special carburetter for inverted flying and cowled by a Townend ring, is fitted. The wing loading is 13.22 lb./sq. ft. (64,6 kg/m2) and the power loading 8.7 Ib./h.p. (3,95 kg/h p ) At sea level the maximum speed is 180 m.p.h. (290 km/hr) and at 16,400 ft. (5 000 m) 157.5 m.p.h. (225 km/hr). The climb to 19,700 ft. (6 000 m) occupies 8 min. 30 sec.

The Ca.114s arrived in Peru in a glossy black and dark red scheme with thin ivory lines. Peruvian national markings were applied on the upper and lower wing surfaces and the fin and rudder. Insignia used by 2 EC included a top hat and cane painted on the port side of the fuselage ahead of the cockpit, as seen here, or a pair of dice in the same location.

Have one on us: this side profile, depicting Caproni Ca.114 28-4-6 of the Peruvian Aviation Corps’ 28 Escuadron de Instruction in 1943.

As border tensions between Peru and Ecuador increased during 1941, Escadrilles 42 and 43 of XXI Escuadron de Caza at Tumbes and Talara were allocated more Ca.114s, which were divided between the two units. This example, 43-5, wears the XXI EC pennant and took part in numerous missions over the border during the hostilities of July-October 1941.

A CAPRONI FIGHTER. The Caproni 114 single-seater fighter fitted with a Bristol "Mercury" IV engine. It may be used for inverted flying and aerobatic training. The top speed is about 217 m.p.h. and the climb to 9,840 feet occupies 4 minutes.
Caproni’s design to the specification for Italy’s next-generation fighter was a robust single-seat biplane with single-bay staggered wings of equal span, powered by a geared, supercharged Bristol Mercury radial engine, or a licence-built version thereof. The aircraft showed great promise but was rejected in favour of Fiat’s CR.32.

Крылья Са 114 являлись двухлонжеронными и обтягивались полотном, а фюзеляж изготавливался из стальных труб и обшивался полотном и панелями из легкого сплава.

An unidentified instructor poses in the cockpit of one of the three Ca.114s initially operated by the Escuela de Aviacion Militar at Las Palmas. At the same time as the Italian Air Mission was invited to modernise Peru’s air force, Caproni was awarded a ten-year monopoly on the construction and repair of all military aircraft in Peru.

Caproni technician Renato Torrezan, second from left, poses with his colleagues beside one of the recently overhauled Ca.114s at the FNA factory in May 1939. Without its distinctive undercarriage fairings, the Mercury-powered Ca.114 strongly resembles one of its closest British contemporaries, the Gloster Gauntlet.

Officers of the Coronel Francisco Bolognesi training class pose with Regia Aeronautica pilot Tenente Luigi Bianchi (front row, centre), who was one of a number of Italians posted to Peru in 1935 to train Peruvian fighter pilots.

A line-up of Ca.114s at Teniente Coronel Ruiz air base in Chiclayo, on Peru’s north-west coast, before their overhaul in 1939. A Vought O2U-1E Corsair and a Stearman C-3R may just be seen at the end of the line.

Seen here operating with 28 Escuadron de Instruction in early 1943, 28-4-6 was lost on May 14 the same year, when its pilot was “expelled” after his safety harness failed during a manoeuvre.

Six of the 12 Caproni Ca.114s of the Cuerpo Aviacion del Peru lined up outside the Fabrics National de Aviones (National Aircraft Factory - FNA) at Lima after overhaul in May 1939. Italian influence in Peru was strong after the Peruvian government had invited an Italian Air Mission to modernise the nation’s air arm in 1935.

In the summer of 1939 the Ca.114s were sent to the FNA factory, run by Caproni Peruana - the Italian company’s Peruvian subsidiary - for an extensive programme of inspection and overhaul. Here the airframes are seen in the FNA hangar at Lima substantially dismantled. They would be repainted in an aluminium finish.

This specially-commissioned three-view artwork shows the Caproni Ca.114, as flown by the Cuerpo Aviacion del Peru. The side-view shows the individual exhaust stacks which replaced the bulky original exhaust-collector ring (as in the plan view) on all Peruvian examples from 1939.