The Caproni Ca.71, originally Ca.70L, was a two-seat

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 ...

night fighter A night fighter (later known as all-weather fighter or all-weather interceptor post-Second World War) is a largely historical term for a fighter aircraft, fighter or interceptor aircraft adapted or designed for effective use at night, during pe ...

produced in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in 1927. It was derived from the

Caproni Ca.70 The Caproni Ca.70 was a two-seat night fighter and ground attack biplane produced in Italy in 1925. It was the only Italian aircraft designed from the outset as a night fighter. Design The Caproni company designed the Ca.70 to ensure good low-sp ...

of 1925.

Design

Undaunted by the lack of interest the ''

Regia Aeronautica The Royal Italian Air Force (''Regia Aeronautica Italiana'') (RAI) was the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Regio Esercito, Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946. In 1946, the monarchy was ...

'' (Italian Royal Air Force) had displayed in the Caproni Ca.70-night fighter after official tests in 1926, the

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 ...

company designed a derivative. It was initially designated the Ca.70L and then redesignated the Ca.71. Like the Ca.70, the Ca.71 was designed to ensure good low-speed handling and good visibility from both cockpits, without any of the aircrafts structural elements obstructing the view of either crewman. Its two wings were of unequal span, and it had

tailskid Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for taxiing, takeoff or landing. For aircraft, it is generally needed for all three of these. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, s ...

, an unusual feature of which was an oleo-

pneumatic Pneumatics (from Greek 'wind, breath') is the use of gas or pressurized air in mechanical systems. Pneumatic systems used in Industrial sector, industry are commonly powered by compressed air or compressed inert gases. A centrally located a ...

shock absorber A shock absorber or damper is a mechanical or hydraulics, hydraulic device designed to absorb and Damping ratio, damp shock (mechanics), shock impulses. It does this by converting the kinetic energy of the shock into another form of energy (typic ...

on the main landing gear, which allowed the wheels to travel forward in their linkage while the plane was taxiing. The armament consisted of two fixed forward-firing 7.7-millimeter

Vickers machine gun The Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a Water cooling, water-cooled .303 British (7.7 mm) machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army. The gun was operated by a three-man crew but typically required more me ...

s and a flexible 7.7-millimeter Lewis machine gun on a

Scarff ring The Scarff ring was a type of machine gun mounting developed during the First World War by Warrant Officer (Gunner) F. W. Scarff of the Admiralty Air Department for use on two-seater aircraft. The mount incorporated bungee cord suspension in el ...

in the rear cockpit.Green and Swanborough, pp. 107. The Ca.71 differed from the Ca.70 in engine installation. A pusher configuration replaced the Ca.70s tractor-mounted

Bristol Jupiter The Bristol Jupiter is a British nine-cylinder single-row piston radial engine that was built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. Originally designed late in World War I and known as the Cosmos Jupiter, a lengthy series of upgrades and developme ...

engine, and the Ca.71 was designed to operate with various engines ranging from 298 to 373

kilowatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s (400 to 500

horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are t ...

). The lone Ca.71 built had a 298-kW (400-hp) 12-cylinder

Lorraine-Dietrich Lorraine-Dietrich was a French language, French automobile and aircraft engine manufacturer from 1896 until 1935, created when railway locomotive manufacturer ''Société Lorraine des Anciens Etablissements de Dietrich et Cie de Lunéville'' (k ...

Vee-type engine and was slightly heavier than the Ca.70, but otherwise was identical to the Ca.70.

Operational history

The Ca.71 first flew in 1927. It was slightly slower and had a slightly lower rate of climb than the Ca.70, although its capacity to accommodate a more powerful engine may have allowed it to overcome this. At any rate, the ''Regia Aeronautica'' had no more interest in procuring the Ca.71 than it had in the Ca.70, and no further examples were built.

Operators

; :''

Specifications (Ca.71)

Notes

References