Ca.73
Caproni Ca.73 airliner
Role	Airliner, later used as a bomber
Manufacturer	Caproni
First flight	1925

The Caproni Ca.73 was an Italian airliner produced during the 1920s which went on to serve as a light bomber in the newly independent Regia Aeronautica.

Design and development

The Ca.73 was an inverted sesquiplane with a biplane tail and two engines mounted in a push-pull configuration within a common nacelle mounted on struts in the interplane gap above the fuselage. The two pilots sat in an open cockpit, while ten passengers could be accommodated within the fuselage.

The publication of General Giulio Douhet's seminal treatise on strategic bombing Il dominio dell'aria (The Command of the Air) in 1921 had left Italy's military planners acutely aware of a lack of this capability. Established as a separate service in 1923, the Regia Aeronautica relied upon World War I-vintage Caproni Ca.3 bombers, and a replacement was soon sought. The immediate solution was to repurpose the Ca.73 as a warplane by adding a gunner's position in the nose, dorsally, and ventrally amidships. Bombs were carried on external racks on the fuselage sides.

Ca.73s remained in frontline service until 1934, and from 1926 onwards participated in Italy's military actions in North Africa.

Variants

Caproni Ca.73ter bomber photo from NACA Aircraft Circular 51

• Ca.73 – airliner powered by Isotta Fraschini Asso 500 engines
  • Ca.73bis – airliner powered by Lorraine-Dietrich engines
  • Ca.73ter (later redesignated Ca.82) – bomber version with gun positions and fuselage bomb racks
  • Ca.73quarter (later redesignated Ca.88) – bomber with revised control systems and strengthened airframe
    • Ca.73quarterG (later redesignated Ca.89) – bomber with glazed nose, underwing bomb racks, and retractable ventral gun turret
  • Ca.74 (later redesignated Ca.80) – version powered by Bristol Jupiter engines
• Ca.80 – the Ca.74 redesignated
  • Ca.80S – air-ambulance and paratroop transport version
• Ca.82 – redesignated Ca.73ter
• Ca.87 – long-range record version (one converted)
• Ca.88 – redesignated Ca.73quarter
• Ca.89 – redesignated Ca.73quarterG

Operators

Specifications (Ca.73)

Caproni Ca.73 bis 3-view drawing from L'Aérophile March,1927

General characteristics

• Crew: two pilots
• Capacity: ten passengers
• Length: 15.10 m (49 ft 7 in)
• Wingspan: 25.00 m (82 ft 0 in)
• Height: 5.60 m (18 ft 5 in)
• Wing area: 143.0 m² (1,539 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 3,400 kg (7,496 lb)
• Gross weight: 5,390 kg (11,883 lb)
• Powerplant: 2 × Isotta Fraschini Asso 500 , 373 kW (500 hp) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 180 km/h (112 mph, 97 kn)
• Endurance: 3 hours
• Service ceiling: 4,600 m (15,080 ft)

See also

Related lists

• List of Interwar military aircraft

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Caproni Ca.73.

• Passingham, Malcolm (September 1996). "Caproni Ca.73 - Ca.74: les bombardiers aux ailés inversées (1ère partie)" [Caproni Ca.72 - Ca.74: The Bombers with Inverted Wings]. Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (42): 7–9. ISSN 1243-8650.
• Passingham, Malcolm (October 1996). "Caproni Ca.73 - Ca.74: les bombardiers aux ailés inversées (2ème partie)". Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (43): 28–30. ISSN 1243-8650.
• Passingham, Malcolm (November 1996). "Caproni Ca.73 - Ca.74: les bombardiers aux ailés inversées (3ème partie)". Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (44): 28–32. ISSN 1243-8650.
• Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. pp. 232–33.
• World Aircraft Information Files. London: Bright Star Publishing. pp. File 891 Sheet 09.