Caproni Vizzola F.5
F.5 | |
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Role | Fighter Type of aircraft |
Manufacturer | Caproni |
First flight | 19 February 1939[1] |
Introduction | ca. 1939-1940[1] |
Primary user | Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force) |
Number built | 13[1] plus 1 F.4 prototype |
Variants | Caproni Vizzola F.4(precursor) Caproni Vizzola F.6 |
The Caproni Vizzola F.5 was an Italian fighter aircraft that was built by Caproni. It was a single-seat, low-wing cantilever monoplane with retractable landing gear.[1]
Development
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/37/Caproni_Vizzola_F.5_prototype.jpg/220px-Caproni_Vizzola_F.5_prototype.jpg)
The F.5 was developed in parallel with the Caproni Vizzola F.4, 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 wooden wings; the fuselage was covered with flush-riveted duralumin, while the wing had a stressed plywood skin. The F.5 (standing for Fabrizi 5) had a two-row 14-cylinder Fiat A.74 R.C. 38 radial engine, unlike its cousin the F.4, which Fabrizi and his design team intended to be powered by a water-cooled engine. The F.4 project was not pursued immediately because the Italian Air Ministry held its proposed engine in disfavor, but development of the F.5 continued.[2]
The F.5 prototype first flew on 19 February 1939. The aircraft displayed very high maneuverability during official testing, prompting an order for both a second prototype and 12 preproduction models. The last of the preproduction aircraft was selected for use as a prototype in a renewed F.4 program, but the rest of the F.5 order was delivered to the Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force).[2]
No F.5 production models were built as Caproni decided to produce the more developed Caproni Vizzola F.6M fighter instead.
Operational history
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/85/Caproni_Vizzola_F.5.jpg/220px-Caproni_Vizzola_F.5.jpg)
The Regia Aeronautica assigned the 11 preproduction F.5 fighters to the 300° Squadriglia, 51° Stormo for operational use. By 1942, they were serving as night fighters in the 167° Gruppo.[2]
The F.5 was offered to foreign customers. It has been said[by whom?] that the Aeroplani Caproni subsidiary in Peru acquired the license rights for local manufacture, but no F.5s were ever built in Peru.
Variants
- F.5
- Prototype and preproduction aircraft, powered by a Fiat A.74 R.C. 38 radial engine, 13 built, plus a 14th airframe which was completed as the Caproni Vizzola F.4.
- F.5bis
- One re-engined F.5, powered with an 1175 h.p. Alfa Romeo R.A.I000 R.C.44-la Monsonie (Monsoon) (license-built DB 601A-l) engine.
- F.5 Gamma
- A one- or two-seat advanced trainer powered by a 540 h.p. Isotta Fraschini Gamma R.C.35 IS alr-cooled engine, armed with one 7.7-mm. Breda-SAFAT machine gun, with an estimated maximum speed of 254 m.p.h. Not proceeded with.
Operators
Kingdom of Italy
Specifications (F.5)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/F5_trittico.png/220px-F5_trittico.png)
Data from Italian Civil and Military Aircraft 1930-1945 [1]
General characteristics
- Length: 7.90 m (25 ft 11 in)
- Wingspan: 11.3 m (37 ft 1 in)
- Height: 3 m (9 ft 10 in)
- Wing area: 17.6 m2 (189 sq ft)
- Empty weight: 1,850 kg (4,079 lb)
- Gross weight: 2,238 kg (4,934 lb)
- Powerplant: 1 × Fiat A.74 R.C.38 14-cyl. air-cooled radial piston engine, 649 kW (870 hp) at take-off
Performance
- Maximum speed: 510 km/h (320 mph, 280 kn)
- Range: 770 km (480 mi, 420 nmi) at 455 km/h (283 mph)
- Service ceiling: 9,500 m (31,200 ft)
- Time to altitude: 6,500m (21,325ft) in 6 min 30 s
Armament
- Guns: 2 × 12.7 mm (0.5 in) forward-firing Breda-SAFAT machine guns
See also
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
Notes
- ^ a b c d e Thompson, Jonathan W. (1963). Italian Civil and Military aircraft 1930-1945. USA: Aero Publishers Inc. ISBN 0-8168-6500-0.
- ^ a b c Green and Swanborough, p. 109
References
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Donald, David, ed. (1997). The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. Prospero Books. p. 232. ISBN 1-85605-375-X.
- Garello, Giancarlo (June 2001). "La chasse de nuit italienne (1ère partie: les débuts)" [Italian Night Fighters: The Beginning]. Avions: Toute l'Aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (99): 19–24. ISSN 1243-8650.
- 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. ISBN 0-8317-3939-8.
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Taliedo
Company WW1 HP designations | |
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Numerical designation sequence2, 3 |
|
Names | |
WW1 Military designations |
Bergamaschi (CAB)
- PL.3
- PS.1
- AP.1
- Ca.135
- Ca.301
- Ca.302
- Ca.303
- Ca.304
- Ca.305
- Ca.306
- Ca.307
- Ca.308
- Ca.308 Borea
- Ca.309
- Ca.310
- Ca.311
- Ca.312
- Ca.313
- Ca.314
- Ca.315
- Ca.316
- Ca.3171
- Ca.318
- Ca.3191
- Ca.320
- Ca.321-3241
- Ca.325
- Ca.326-3291
- Ca.330
- Ca.331
- Ca.332
- Ca.333
- Ca.3341
- Ca.335
- Ca.336-3391
- Ca.340
- Ca.341-3441
- Ca.345
- Ca.346-3491
- Ca.350
- Ca.3511
- Ca.352
- Ca.353-3541
- Ca.355
- Ca.356
- Ca.357
- Ca.358
- Ca.3591
- Ca.360
- Ca.361-3641
- Ca.365
- Ca.366-3691
- Ca.370
- Ca.371-3741
- Ca.375
- Ca.376-3791
- Ca.380
- Ca.381
- Ca.702