The Caproni Ca.335 Maestrale ( Mistral) was an Italian single-engined two-seat fighter-bomber/
reconnaissance
In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...
Caproni
Caproni, also known as ''Società de Agostini e Caproni'' and ''Società Caproni e Comitti'', was an Italian aircraft manufacturer. Its main base of operations was at Taliedo, near Linate Airport, on the outskirts of Milan.
Founded by Giova ...
, with SABCA selling some of Caproni's military aircraft in certain markets, including the Caproni Ca.135, Ca.310 and the Ca.312, which were to be designated SABCA S.45bis, S.46 and S.48 respectively. As part of this agreement, Caproni were to develop a replacement for the Belgium Air Force's
Fairey Fox
The Fairey Fox was a British light bomber and fighter biplane of the 1920s and 1930s. It was originally produced in Britain for the RAF, but continued in production and use in Belgium long after it was retired in Britain.
Development and des ...
biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...
s, which were used as two-seat fighters and reconnaissance aircraft, but were obsolete.Green 1967, p.38.
The task of designing the new type for SABCA, the Caproni Ca.335 Maestrale, was given to Chief Engineer
Cesare Pallavicino
Cesare Pallavicino (Rome, 1893 – Bergamo, 1976) was an Italian aeronautical engineer, heading the design department at Caproni from 1935 to 1941. He designed several important Italian aircraft, including the Breda Ba.15, Breda Ba.18, Breda ...
cantilever
A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is unsupported at one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cantilev ...
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 ...
of mixed construction, with a metal skinned steel-tube fuselage and wood and fabric wings, powered by a single
Hispano-Suiza 12Y
The Hispano-Suiza 12Y was an aircraft engine produced by Hispano-Suiza for the French Air Force before the Second World War. The 12Y became the primary French 1,000 hp (750 kW) class engine and was used in a number of famous aircraft ...
crs
V12 engine
A V12 engine is a twelve-Cylinder (engine), cylinder Internal combustion engine#Reciprocating engines, piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V engine, V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more c ...
. It had a hydraulically actuated retractable
tailwheel undercarriage
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 the mainwheels retracting backwards into the wing. The pilot and observer were provided with individual, widely separated cockpits, with the observer having defensive armament of a single machine gun, and the pilot firing a Hispano-Suiza HS.404 ''moteur-canon'' firing through the propeller hub and two wing mounted machine guns, a small bomb bay housing two 50 kg (110 lb) bombs, while a further ten 50 kg (22 lb) bombs could be carried under the wings.Green 1967, pp. 38–39.
The Ca.335 prototype was built at Caproni's
Ponte San Pietro
Ponte San Pietro (Bergamasque: ) is a ''comune'' in the province of Bergamo, Lombardy, northern Italy. It is about northeast of Milan and about west of Bergamo.
Sights include the Villa Mapelli Mozzi.
Geography
Ponte San Pietro is built on ...
factory, making its maiden flight there on 16 February 1939. It was then dismantled and sent to SABCA's factory at
Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
by train. After reassembly, it flew again on 19 September 1939. Initial testing was successful, resulting in SABCA purchasing a license for manufacture of the Ca.335, and demonstrating it, now designated SABCA S.47, to officials of the Belgian Ministry of Defence and representatives of a number of other nations. While the Belgian Air Force were impressed by the S.47, and had a requirement for 24 of them, SABCA's factory was busy with orders for 41
Breguet 693
Breguet may refer to:
* Breguet (watch), watch manufacturer
**Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747–1823), Swiss watchmaker
** Louis-François-Clement Breguet (1804–1883), French physicist, watchmaker, electrical and telegraph work
* Breguet Aviation, ...
s for the Belgian Air Force and for France, and 10
Koolhoven F.K.58
The Koolhoven F.K.58 was a single engine, interceptor-fighter aircraft designed and mainly manufactured by Koolhoven, N V Koolhoven in the Netherlands under contract by France. Intended for ''Armée de l'Air'' use, the F.K.58 saw limited servic ...
s for France, delaying a formal order being placed.Green 1967, pp. 39–40.
On 14 March 1940, the prototype was being demonstrated to the French ''
Armee de l'Air
The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the French Air Fo ...
'' at
Orléans
Orléans (,"Orleans" (US) and Germans invaded France and the Low Countries, stopping SABCA's production plans. The prototype S.47 was captured by the advancing German forces on 13 June 1940. Attempts by Caproni to reclaim the S.47 were unsuccessful, it remaining in France until 1943, eventually being scrapped.Green 1967, p.39.
Specifications (S.47)
See also
References
Sources
*
*Green, William. ''War Planes of the Second World War: Volume Seven Bombers and Reconnaissance Aircraft''. London:Macdonald, 1967.