The Caproni Vizzola F.4 was an Italian fighter aircraft prototype that was designed in 1937 and built from 1939. It was a single-seat, low-wing cantilever monoplane with retractable landing gear.

Development

The F.4 was developed in parallel with the

Caproni Vizzola F.5 The Caproni Vizzola F.5 was an Italian fighter aircraft that was built by Caproni. It was a single-seat, low-wing Cantilever wing, cantilever monoplane with retractable landing gear. Development The F.5 was developed in parallel with the Capro ...

, with which it shared a common airframe. Design began in late 1937 by a team led by F. Fabrizi. The aircraft had a welded steel-tube fuselage and a wooden wing; the fuselage was covered with flush-riveted

duralumin Duralumin (also called duraluminum, duraluminium, duralum, dural(l)ium, or dural) is a trade name for one of the earliest types of age hardening, age-hardenable aluminium–copper alloys. The term is a combination of ''Düren'' and ''aluminium'' ...

, while the wing had a stressed plywood skin. Fabrizi and his design team intended the F.4 (standing for Fabrizi 4) to be powered by a 12-cylinder Isotta Fraschini Asso 121 R.C.40 water-cooled engine rated for at , but the Italian

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...

preferred that the ''Asso'' not be used in fighters; the F.4 project therefore was halted before construction of a prototype in favor of continued development of the F.5, which employed a radial engine.Green and Swanborough, p. 109 In the summer of 1939, Italy received its first

Daimler-Benz DB 601 The Daimler-Benz DB 601 was a German aircraft engine that was built during World War II. It was a liquid-cooled inverted V12, and powered the Messerschmitt Bf 109, Messerschmitt Bf 110, and many others. Approximately 19,000 601s were produ ...

A—a liquid-cooled inverted V-12 engine rated at from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. This gave the F.4 project a new lease on life, as the Air Ministry approved of its use in fighters. The last of 12 pre-production F.5 aircraft ordered for 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) was selected for conversion into the F.4 prototype, powered by the DB 601A. It flew for the first time in July 1940. No further F.4s were ordered, and a proposal to build a production model powered by an

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian carmaker known for its sports-oriented vehicles, strong auto racing heritage, and iconic design. Headquartered in Turin, Italy, it is a subsidiary of Stellantis Europe and one of 14 brands of mu ...

-built DB 601A as the F.5bis was dropped in favor of pursuing development of the more advanced Caproni Vizzola F.6M.

Operational history

The ''Regia Aeronautica'' assigned the lone F.4 prototype to the 303ª ''Squadriglia'', which operated it experimentally during 1942.

Operators

; *''

Variants

;F.4 :Prototype with German-built

A engine

Specifications (F.4)

Notes

References

*Green, William, and Gordon Swanborough. ''The Complete Book of Fighters: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Every Fighter Aircraft Built and Flown''. New York: SMITHMARK Publishers, 1994. . * Thompson, Jonathan. ''Italian Civil and Military Aircraft 1930-1945''. Aero Publishing Inc. United States of America. {{Portal bar, Italy, Companies, Aviation Vizzola F.4 Low-wing aircraft 1940s Italian fighter aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft