The Caproni Ca.113 was an advanced

training Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...

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 ...

produced in Italy and Bulgaria in the early 1930s. Designed as a follow-on to the Ca.100, it was a more powerful and robust aircraft capable of aerobatics. It was a conventional design with two

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, on the front part of an aircraft, spacecraft, or submersible, from which a pilot controls the vehicle. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the controls th ...

s in tandem, single-bay staggered wings of equal span, and mainwheels covered by large spats.

Design and development

The Ca.113's capabilities were demonstrated by Mario De Bernardi's win of the aerobatic trophy at the 1931 Cleveland Air Races with engine Walter CastorLetectví, Vol. 11. (1931), No. 9., p. 329, https://kramerius.army.cz/search/i.jsp?pid=uuid:8d7084b2-520b-11e9-94e9-005056b73ae5 and its use in setting a number of aerial records, most importantly a world altitude record of 14,433 m (47,352 ft) set by

Renato Donati Renato is a masculine given name. It is derived from the Latin name Renatus. Notable people with the name used mononymously include: * Renato Mirze (born 1982), International brand chef, TV presenter * San Renato, a saint of the Catholic Church ...

on 11 April 1934 using a modified Ca.113with longer span wings and powered by a supercharged Alfa-Romeo-built

Bristol Pegasus The Bristol Pegasus is a British nine-cylinder, single-row, air-cooled radial engine, radial aircraft engine, aero engine. Designed by Roy Fedden of the Bristol Aeroplane Company, it was used to power both civil and military aircraft of the 1 ...

engine. Other records included a women's world altitude record of 12,010 m (39,400 ft) set by Contessa Carina Negrone in 1935, and world endurance records for inverted flight. These latter records were set by Tito Falconi at the US

1933 National Air Races Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independe ...

, who flew inverted from

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San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

and after the race meet, made an inverted flight from

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

The Ca.113 was also produced in quantity by the subsidiary that Caproni established in

Kazanlak Kazanlak ( , known as Seuthopolis () in ancient times, is a List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, town in Stara Zagora Province, Bulgaria. It is located in the middle of the plain of the same name, at the foot of the Balkan Mountains, Balkan mo ...

, Bulgaria. Here, it was known as the ''Chuchuliga'' ("

Skylark ''Alauda'' is a genus of larks found across much of Europe, Asia and in the mountains of north Africa, and one of the species (the Raso lark) endemic to the islet of Raso in the Cape Verde Islands Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially ...

") and was produced in a number of versions designated KB-2, KB-3, KB-4 and KB-5 in 1938–1939, some of which were armed. 107 of these aircraft were produced, most going to the Bulgarian Royal Air Force, where they saw service until the country was overrun by the Soviet Union in 1944. Caproni Ca-113 I-MARY

Variants

;KB-2UT :Bulgarian training version of Ca.113, with increased dimensions and powered by

BMW IV The BMW IV was a six-cylinder, water-cooled inline aircraft engine built in Germany in the 1920s. Power was in the 180 kW (250 hp) range. World record On 17 June 1919 Franz Zeno Diemer flew a DFW F37, powered by a BMW IV engine ...

, Junkers L2 or Hispano-Suiza engine. Italian designation of Ca.113/32. Eight built 1933–1935. ;KB-2A ''Chuchuliga'' : Revised derivative of KB-2UT, powered by Walter Castor radial engine. Italian designation of Ca.113/35. Six built 1936. ;KB-3 ''Chuchuliga I'' : Improved trainer based on KB-2A, with lightened structure and Walter Castor II engine. Italian designation Ca.113/36. Twenty built 1937. ;KB-4 ''Chuchuliga II'' : Armed reconnaissance/liaison aircraft, powered by Wright R-975 E-2 Whirlwind. Italian designation ''Ca.113/39''. 28 built 1938–1939. ;KB-5 ''Chuchuliga III'' : Reconnaissance/light bomber for Bulgarian Air Force. Prototype powered by Piaggio P.VII C.I engine, with production aircraft powered by Walter Pollux II engine. Italian designation Ca.113/40. 45 built 1939–1940.

Operators

; *

Bulgarian Air Force The Bulgarian Air Force () is one of the three branches of the Military of Bulgaria, the other two being the Bulgarian Navy and Bulgarian land forces. Its mission is to guard and protect the sovereignty of Bulgarian airspace, and jointly with ...

; *

Peruvian Air Force The Peruvian Air Force (, FAP) is the branch of the Peruvian Military of Peru, Armed Forces tasked with defending the nation and its interests through the use of aerial warfare, air power. Additional missions include assistance in safeguarding i ...

; *

Portuguese Air Force The Portuguese Air Force () is the air force, aerial warfare force of Portugal. Locally it is referred to by the acronym FAP but internationally is often referred to by the acronym PRTAF. It is the youngest of the three branches of the Portuguese ...

- One aircraft

Specifications

References

Bibliography