Caproni Ca.100

The Ca.100 (nicknamed Caproncino, little Caproni), was based on the de Havilland DH.60 Moth, for which Caproni had a production licence. They revised the wings so that the upper wing was slightly smaller than the lower, and also redesigned the tailplane. Otherwise, its wings followed those of the Moth in having no sweep or stagger. It was a wooden-framed, fabric-covered single-engine aircraft with a square section fuselage built around four longerons, with tandem open cockpits. It had a fixed, conventional undercarriage. Fuel was carried, Moth style, in a streamlined tank on the centre section of the upper wing. It first flew in late 1928, piloted by Domenico Antonini, at Milan-Taliedo.

Ca.100s were powered by a variety of engines. The most common of these were the {{cvt|85|kW}} Isotta Fraschini Asso 80R and the {{cvt|108|kW}} Colombo S.63, both six-cylinder air-cooled inline engines, and the uncowled {{cvt|63|kW}} Fiat A.50 and {{cvt|104|kW}} A.54 seven-cylinder radials. Other engines in the 60-100 kW (80-135 hp) range included the Walter NZ-85, Farini T.58, Fiat A.53, Fiat A.60 radials and the inline Colombo S.53, Cirrus Major, de Havilland Gipsy, de Havilland Gipsy Major engines.

The Regia Aeronautica received two prototype and 675 production Ca.100s, built by Bergamasche, Breda, C.N.A. and Macchi as well as Caproni. 30 of the Macchi-built examples were fitted with floats and designated Ca.100 Idro. The Ca.100s were mostly used as primary trainers, though some undertook liaison work.

Some aircraft were built as civilian tourers, numbering at least eight. Later they were joined on the Civil Register by retired ex-military machines.

There were exports to Peru and Portugal. Twelve Ca.100PRs, a derivative with all-metal structure, powered by a {{convert|125|hp|kW|abbr=on}} Kinner B-5 radial engine were built under licence by Fábrica Nacional de Aviones Caproni Perú, a Peruvian subsidiary of Caproni from 1937.{{sfn|Tincopa|Rivas|2016|pp=204–205}}{{sfn|Air-Britain Archive March 2011|p=36}} The Ca.100PRs remained in service with the Peruvian air force until 1946, when the remaining four aircraft were transferred to the Peruvian Civil Aviation School, where they remained in use until 1956.{{sfn|Tincopa|Rivas|2016|p=207}}

Ca.100 was also produced by Caproni's Bulgarian subsidiary as the KB-1 Peperuda (butterfly), with seven aircraft powered by {{convert|120|hp|kW|abbr=on}} Walter NZ 120 engines built in 1932, and a further two Bulgarian-built floatplanes donated to the Bulgarian government by Gianni Caproni.{{sfn|Bernád|1996|p=11}} They were phased out of Bulgarian service due to problems with the aircraft's wooden structures within two years.{{sfn|Nöel|Passingham|1991|p=44}}

One example of the Ca.100 Idro seaplane version was used to establish a world seaplane altitude record of {{convert|5324|m|ft|abbr=on|0}} in 1931.{{sfn|Air-Britain Archive March 2011|p=32}}

File:Aerodrome Côme 3.JPG

The last flying original landplane Ca.100, I-ABMT is ex-military, MM55194. The Aero Club Como floatplane I-ABOU, ex-MM65156, has been rebuilt after a takeoff collision in 2006, flying again in September 2010. At least one replica also flies.

The Italian Air Force Museum at Vigna di Valle acquired landplane I-GTAB in May 2007; it is now marked with the registration FIR-9, appropriate to a Ca.100 serving at the Florence basic Flying School in the mid-1930s.

File:Caproni Ca.100 Idro 2009-06-02.JPG variant in the Museo dell'Aeronautica Gianni Caproni, Trento.]]

Floatplane ex-I-DISC and MM56237 is in the Museo dell'Aeronautica Gianni Caproni, Trento.

Ex-I-BIZZ and MM56271 is in the Royal Saudi Air Force Museum.

;{{AUT}}

• Austrian Air Force{{citation needed|date=July 2015}}

;{{BUL}}

• Bulgarian Air Force

;{{flag|Kingdom of Italy}}

• Regia Aeronautica

;{{ITA}}

• Italian Air Force{{sfn|Air-Britain Archive March 2011|pp=33–34}}[http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/waf/italy/af/ital-af2-all-time.htm aeroflight]

;{{flag|Peru}}

• Peruvian Air Force

;{{POR}}

• Portuguese Air Force - One aircraft.{{sfn|Air-Britain Archive March 2011|p=36}}

;{{ESP}}

• Spanish Air Force

;{{SAU}}

• Royal Saudi Air Force

{{Aircraft specs

|prime units? = met

|crew=two, pilot and instructor

|length m=7.30

|length ft=23

|length in=11

|span m=10.00

|span ft=32

|span in=10

|height m=2.75

|height ft=9

|height in=0

|wing area sqm=24.4

|wing area sqft=263

|empty weight kg=400

|empty weight lb=882

|gross weight kg=560

|gross weight lb=1,499

|eng1 number=1

|eng1 name=de Havilland Gipsy 4-cylinder air-cooled upright inline

|eng1 kw=63

|eng1 hp=85

|max speed kmh=165

|max speed mph=102

|range km=700

|range miles=462

|ceiling m=4,000

|ceiling ft=13,125

|climb rate ms=1.8

|climb rate ftmin=354

}}

• {{cite book |title=World Aircraft Information Files |publisher=Bright Star Publishing|location=London |pages=File 891 Sheet 09 }}

{{Aircontent

|related=

|similar aircraft=

|lists=

• List of Interwar military aircraft

}}

{{Commons category|Caproni Ca.100}}

{{reflist|refs=

{{cite book |last= Taylor |first= Michael J. H. |title=Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation |year=1989 |publisher=Studio Editions |location=London |pages=232 }}

{{cite book |title=Aviation Museums and Collections of Mainland Europe |last= Ogden |first=Bob |year=2009|publisher= Air Britain (Historians) Ltd|isbn=978-0-85130-418-2}}

{{cite journal |date=August 2007 |journal= FlyPast}}

{{cite journal |date=March 2011 |title= Caproni Ca.100|journal= Air Britain Archive|pages=31–6 |issn=0262-4923}}

{{cite web |url=http://www.alieuomini.it/catalogo/dettaglio_catalogo/caproni_ca,73.html|title=Caproni Ca.100 |accessdate=26 November 2014}}

}}

• {{cite magazine |last=Bernád |first=Dénes |title=Balkan Birds: Thirty-Five Years of Bulgarian Aircraft Production: Part 2 |magazine=Air Enthusiast |issue=96 |date=November–December 1996 |pp=10–17 |issn=0143-5450}}
• {{cite magazine |last1=Nöel |first1=Jean |last2=Passingham |first2=Malcolm |title=La production aéronautique bulgare: Troisième partie |magazine=Le Fana de l'Aviation |date=August 1991 |issue=261 |pages=42–49 |language=fr}}
• {{cite magazine |date=March 2011 |title=Head-On View No. 37; The Caproni Ca.100|magazine= Air-Britain Archive |pages=31–36 |issn=0262-4923 |ref={{harvid|Air-Britain Archive March 2011}}}}
• {{cite book |last=Thompson |first=Jonathon P. |title=Italian Civil and Military Aircraft 1930–1945 |year=1963 |publisher=Aero Publishers, Inc. |isbn=0-8168-6500-0}}
• {{cite book |last1=Tincopa |first1=Amaru |last2=Rivas |first2=Santiago |title=Axis Aircraft in Latin America |year=2016 |location=Manchester, UK |publisher=Crécy Publishing |isbn=978-1-90210-949-7}}

{{Caproni aircraft}}

Category:1920s Italian military trainer aircraft

Ca.100

Category:Biplanes

Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft

Category:Aircraft first flown in 1928

Category:Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear