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The CVV-6 Canguro () was a high performance two seat glider, designed at Milan Polytechnic University in 1940. A small batch was ordered for the
Italian Air Force The Italian Air Force (; AM, ) is the air force of the Italy, Italian Republic. The Italian Air Force was founded as an independent service arm on 28 March 1923 by Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, King Victor Emmanuel III as the ("Royal Air Force ...
but few were delivered; more were produced after
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, becoming the most common
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
gliding club machine. Some were still in use in the 1980s. In 1954 a Canguro came second at the
World Gliding Championships The World Gliding Championships (WGC) is a gliding competitions, gliding competition held roughly every two years by the FAI Gliding Commission. The dates are not always exactly two years apart, often because the contests are always held in the sum ...
at Camphill
Great Hucklow Great Hucklow (Old English ''Hucca's burial mound'') is a village and civil parish in the Derbyshire Peak District which is under Hucklow Edge between the villages of Tideswell and Bradwell. It has a population of about 100, including Foolow, ...
, Derbyshire, England. One was modified into a powered aircraft, at first with a
piston engine A reciprocating engine, more often known as a piston engine, is a heat engine that uses one or more Reciprocating motion, reciprocating pistons to convert high temperature and high pressure into a Circular motion, rotating motion. This article ...
and later with a
turbojet The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and ...
.


Design and development

The CVV-6 Canguro was one of a series of gliders designed at the Centro Studi ed Esperienze per il Volo a Vela (CVV) of the
Politecnico di Milano The Polytechnic University of Milan (, abbreviated as PoliMi) is a university in Milan, Italy. It is the largest technical university in the country, with about 40,000 enrolled students. The university offers undergraduate, graduate, and higher ...
between 1934 and 1957. The centre often outsourced the construction of their designs and the first two Canguros were built by the Aeronautica Lombarda, with the first flight in 1941 or 1942. Most of the later aircraft were built by Società d'Aeronautica Italiana Ambrosini, with the result that the type is sometimes referred to as the Ambrosini CVV-6 Canguro. It was an all-wood-framed aircraft, skinned with a mixture of
plywood Plywood is a composite material manufactured from thin layers, or "plies", of wood veneer that have been stacked and glued together. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured boards, which include plywood, medium-density fibreboa ...
and
fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, and different types of fabric. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is no ...
. High mounted wings were built around single spar with a ply covered D-box
leading edge The leading edge is the part of the wing that first contacts the air;Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 305. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. alternatively it is the foremost edge of an airfoil sectio ...
. Behind the spar the wings were largely fabric covered apart from an inboard section containing the CVV-type airbrakes which extended above and below the wing, where the ply skin reached aft to the
trailing edge The trailing edge of an aerodynamic surface such as a wing is its rear edge, where the airflow separated by the leading edge meets.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 521. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. ...
. There was also extra ply skinning inboard of the airbrakes, forward of the oblique, internal drag strut. Outboard of the airbrakes Frise ailerons formed the trailing edge out to rounded tips. In plan the wings were straight tapered, mostly on the trailing edge; they had 8.2° of washout and each could be detached separately for transport. The oval section
monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...
fuselage of the Canguro was entirely ply skinned as was the
tailplane A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabilizer, is a small lift (force), lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters ...
, mounted on top of the fuselage, and the narrow
fin A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. F ...
behind it. The rear control surfaces were fabric covered, with a wide chord, rounded
rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, airship, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (usually air or water). On an airplane, the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw ...
extending to the keel and moving in an elevator cut-out. The crew were seated in
tandem Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which two or more animals, machines, or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. ''Tandem'' can also be used more generally to refer to any group of persons or objects w ...
in a cabin with a wrap-around windscreen and two rectangular windows on each side. The rear seat was under the wing, with entry from above via a hatch provided with transparencies to give some upward view. The prototype Canguro and those built entirely post-war had a rubber sprung skid for landing, which extended aft beyond the cabin; a drop away wheeled dolly was used for take-off. Those originally intended for the I.A.F. had a fixed wheel at the rear of a shorter skid, though this proved too small. One Canguro was modified to fly under power by
Adriano Mantelli Adriano Mantelli (13 February 1913 – 6 May 1995) was an Italian aircraft designer who designed the Alaparma Baldo. Early life In 1929 Mantelli competed in flying competitions with aircraft that were self designed and built. In 1931 he starte ...
. His first version, flown in 1955 had a 16.4 kW (22 hp) motor mounted on a pylon above the wing. After storm damage this airframe was modified again to take a 1.47 kN (331 lbf)
Turbomeca Palas The Turbomeca Palas is a diminutive centrifugal force, centrifugal flow turbojet engine used to power light aircraft. An enlargement of the Turbomeca Piméné, the Palas was designed in 1950 by the French manufacturer Turbomeca, Société Turbo ...
turbojet in place of the rear seat, with a
ventral Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...
fuselage exhaust below the wing trailing edge. Dating from 1962, it was known as the Canguro Palas. In 1964 Mantelli set a new FAI record for C1b class aircraft of 9,700 m (31,824 ft).


Operational history

In 1943 the
Italian Air Force The Italian Air Force (; AM, ) is the air force of the Italy, Italian Republic. The Italian Air Force was founded as an independent service arm on 28 March 1923 by Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, King Victor Emmanuel III as the ("Royal Air Force ...
ordered six Canguros, to be built by Ambrosini, but received only one before the fall of the
Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...
regime. The others remained half-built until after the end of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, when Ambrosini completed them and produced twenty four more. Three others were built by Meteor SpA and one by a club. Several remained in service in 1982. A Canguro was the first sailplane to cross the
Apennines The Apennines or Apennine Mountains ( ; or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; or – a singular with plural meaning; )Latin ''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which would be segmented ''Apenn-inus'', often used with nouns s ...
on 22 April 1953, flown by Adriano Mantelli. Canguros flew in three
World Gliding Championships The World Gliding Championships (WGC) is a gliding competitions, gliding competition held roughly every two years by the FAI Gliding Commission. The dates are not always exactly two years apart, often because the contests are always held in the sum ...
, competing in the multi-seat or two-seat category. At
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
in 1952 Mantelli came fourth with teammate Guerrini, flying a second Canguro, in sixteenth place. In 1954 Mantelli and L. Brighini, flying together, came second at Camphill in
Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
, UK; two years later A. Brigliadori and Fanoli could only finish eleventh at
Saint-Yan Saint-Yan is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. Geography The Arconce forms part of the commune's southern border and the Loire part of its western border. Climate Educa ...
,
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
.


Variants

;CVV-6 Canguro: Production glider ;CVV-6 Canguro versioni motorizzate (Ambrosini P-25): Fitted with a 16.4 kW (22 hp) Ambrosini P-25 motor mounted on pylon above the wing; 1955. ;CVV-6 Canguro versioni motorizzate (Turbomeca Palas): The motor glider modified into a single seat version powered by a 1.47 kN (331 lbf)
Turbomeca Palas The Turbomeca Palas is a diminutive centrifugal force, centrifugal flow turbojet engine used to power light aircraft. An enlargement of the Turbomeca Piméné, the Palas was designed in 1950 by the French manufacturer Turbomeca, Société Turbo ...
turbojet; 1962.


Operators

;
Italian Air Force The Italian Air Force (; AM, ) is the air force of the Italy, Italian Republic. The Italian Air Force was founded as an independent service arm on 28 March 1923 by Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, King Victor Emmanuel III as the ("Royal Air Force ...
operated 32 aircraft until 1980s


Aircraft on display

* Museo dell'aria e dello spazio, Castello di San Pelagio,
Due Carrare Due Carrare is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Padua in the Italian region Veneto, located about southwest of Venice and about south of Padua. This municipality is the result of the merging of two different municipalities (''Ca ...
: fuselage of Canguro ''I-TRIW''. *
Italian Air Force Museum The Italian Air Force Museum is an aircraft museum at Vigna di Valle, on Lake Bracciano (Lazio), in central Italy. It is operated by the . The museum's collection has an emphasis on Italian machines and seaplanes. While maintaining the technical ...
,
Vigna di Valle ''Vigna'' is a genus of plants in the legume family, Fabaceae, with a pantropical distribution.Aitawade, M. M., et al. (2012)Section ''Ceratotropis'' of subgenus ''Ceratotropis'' of ''Vigna'' (Leguminosae–Papilionoideae) in India with a new ...
: Canguro Palas


Specifications


References


External links


Göttingen 549 airfoil
{{CVV aircraft 1940s Italian sailplanes Aircraft first flown in 1941 High-wing aircraft