Aviation historians often overlook the contribution
of the Italians to the advancement of aircraft technology. This was
particularly true during aviation’s earliest years. Giulio Douhet
was an Italian air power theorist and advocate, similar to Billy
Mitchell in America. Douhet postured in the early 1900s that air
power would be become the critical influence on all future wars. He
argued for a first strike capability that could hit an adversary in
the battlefield, at his supply lines, and at his sources of
production. The Russians and the Italians were the leading nations
in the development of large, long-range, “strategic” bombers. In
Russia the primary design force behind this movement was Sikorsky
(who would later immigrate to the United States.) In Italy Count
Gianni Caproni di Taliedo was the guiding light with more than 300
aircraft designs to his credit. Born in 1886 Caproni had built at an
early age a small biplane powered by a small 25-HP engine. He was to
become a pioneer in the development of multi-engine aircraft. In
1913 he designed a three-engine machine utilizing 80-HP Gnome-Rhône
engines with all three engines inside the fuselage. This arrangement
proved impractical and was scrapped for a more conventional system
in the Ca.31, which first flew in 1914. The first operational
three-engine Caproni was the Ca.32 biplane (military designation
Ca.2) and it utilized 100-HP Fiat 6-cylinder, liquid-cooled engines.
The 32 had a wingspan of almost 73 feet (compared to 98 feet for
Sikorsky’s Ilya Mourometz) and a maximum speed of about 72-MPH. The
32 was armed with one or two machineguns, had a crew of 4, and a
bomb capacity of 780 lbs. These aircraft were utilized in the first
Italian bombing raid of the War. More than 164 Ca.32s were produced.
In 1917 Caproni began a production run of 269 Ca.33s, which were
similar to the 32 but with more powerful engines. Near the end of
the War Caproni produced more than 225 Series 5 aircraft (some under
license). Series 5 covered the Ca.44, Ca.45, and Ca.46. The 46 could
carry a 1984-pound bomb load at a maximum speed of more than 94-MPH.
One of the most distinctive in the series of Caproni bombers was the
Ca.42. This was a triplane configuration. Thirty-two aircraft were
built, and six of these were sent to the Royal Navy Air Service. The
42 was primarily used for night bombing, although a couple of
variants were also produced, one of which was fitted with floats and
could carry two torpedoes, and another which had a biplane tail
fitted with a rear gunners position. In Stan Stokes’ painting one of
Caproni’s WW I tri-engine bombers overflys the beautiful city of
Venice in a scene very removed from the ravages of WW I trench
warfare. Shortly after the War Caproni conceived of a plan for a
huge flying boat capable of carrying 100 or more passengers on
overseas journeys. The Ca-60 was a 55,000-pound behemoth powered by
Liberty engines. Unfortunately production technology was not yet as
advanced as Caproni’s farsighted thinking. The Ca-60 was destroyed
during one of its early flight tests.
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Collector Sized Lithograph:
$40
16" x 11 1/2"
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Giclee on Canvas:
$445
18'' x 27''
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