Editing Caproni Ca.4

{{Short description|Italian heavy bomber of World War I}}
{{Infobox aircraft
 |name=Ca.4
 |image=Caproni Ca.40.jpg
 |caption=Caproni Ca.40 heavy [[bomber]] [[prototype]]
 |type=Heavy [[bomber]]; later variants included [[airliner]]s
 |manufacturer=[[Caproni]]
 |designer=
 |first_flight=1917
 |introduction=1918
 |retired=
 |status= Retired 
 |primary_user=[[Italian Army]]
 |more_users=United Kingdom ([[Royal Naval Air Service]])<br/>United States
 |produced=
 |number_built=44 to 53
 |variants=
}}

The '''Caproni Ca.4''' was an Italian [[heavy bomber]] of the [[World War I]] era.

==Development==
After designing the successful [[Caproni Ca.3|Ca.3]], [[Gianni Caproni]] of the [[Caproni]] works designed a much bigger aircraft. It shared the unusual layout of the Caproni Ca.3, being a [[twin-boom]] aircraft with one [[Pusher configuration|pusher]] engine at the rear of a central nacelle and two [[tractor configuration|tractor]] engines in front of twin booms, providing a [[push-pull configuration]]. The twin booms carried a single [[Elevator (aircraft)|elevator]] and three fins.<ref name="europeanairlines.no">[http://www.europeanairlines.no/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/The_civil_aircraft_of_Caproni.pdf "The civilian transport aircraft of Caproni (1918-1939)."] ''europeanairlines.no.'' Retrieved: 12 September 2018.</ref> The main [[landing gear]] was fixed and consisted of two sets of four wheels each.<ref name="europeanairlines.no"/>

The huge new bomber was accepted by the [[Italian Army]] under the military designation '''Ca.4''', but it was produced in several variants, differing in factory designations.

==Description==
The Ca.4 was a three-engine, [[Twin-fuselage aircraft|twin-fuselage]]<ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1919/1919%20-%200797.html "The Caproni Bombing Triplane CA-4-1915."] ''[[Flight (magazine)|Flight]],'' Volume XI, Issue 25, No. 547, 19 June 1919, pp. 797–799. Retrieved: 29 October 2013.</ref> [[triplane]] of wooden construction with a fabric-covered frame. An open central nacelle was attached to the undersurface of the center wing. It contained a single pusher engine, pilot, and forward gunner. The remaining engines were tractor mounted at the front of each fuselage. At least one variation of the central nacelle seated the crew in a two-seat tandem format with the forward position for a gunner/pilot and the rear position for the pilot. Others used a forward gunner with side-by-side pilot positions to the rear of the gunner. Two rear gunners were positioned, one in each boom behind the center wing. An engineer or second pilot could also be accommodated there.

Armament consisted of four (but up to eight) Revelli 6.5&nbsp;mm or 7.7&nbsp;mm [[machine gun]]s in front ring mounts and two boom ring mounts. Bombs were suspended in a bomb bay, which was a long and narrow container fixed to a lower wing. Photographs show at least four different arrangements with regard to the bombing nacelle.
* 1. No nacelle - presumably not a combat configuration.
* 2. A tall, narrow nacelle that housed approximately 12 internal bombs vertically and another 18–20 strapped to the outside.
* 3. A shorter nacelle that may have been the lower half of the tall nacelle but with no external bombs.
* 4. No nacelle but with a single long bomb/torpedo slung under the bottom wing.

==Variants==
[[File:Caproni Ca.48.jpg|thumb|The Ca.48 [[airliner]]]]
[[File:Caproni Ca.42-Royal Naval Air Service.jpg|thumb|The Ca.52 (Caproni Ca.42) - second production series of Ca.4-Ca.40 family - Aircraft of N°227 Squadron Royal Naval Air Service]]

''Note: during the war, all these aircraft were designated Ca.4 by the Italian Army. At the time, Caproni referred to the various designs by the total power of their engines. After the war, Caproni devised a new designation scheme for their own designs—these are used below.''
* '''Caproni Ca.40''' - single prototype.
* '''Caproni Ca.41''' - production variant, essentially similar to the prototype and powered by three [[Fiat A.12]] [[inline engine (aviation)|inline engines]] of {{cvt|210|kW}}. A few Ca.41s were powered by {{cvt|186|kW}} [[Isotta Fraschini]] engines instead. These were referred to internally by Caproni as the '''Caproni 750&nbsp;hp'''. A total of 41 were built.
* '''Caproni Ca.42''' - powered by {{cvt|298|kW}} [[Liberty engine|Liberty]] V-12 engines and known internally as the '''Caproni 1,200&nbsp;hp'''. 12 built.
* '''Caproni Ca.43''' - single example of a [[floatplane]] variant.
* '''Caproni Ca.48''' - [[Airliner]]s converted from Ca.42s after World War I; the Ca.48 first flew in 1919. The double-deck passenger cabin mounted between the booms seated a total of 23 passengers who entered via the nose [[nacelle]]; 16 of them sat in the lower cabin on long benches alongside its walls with large windows providing them with good views, and the other seven passengers sat on an upper deck, as did the pilots. The Ca.48 was powered by three {{cvt|298|kW}} [[Liberty L-12]] engines. Although it is unlikely that the Ca.48 ever entered [[airline]] service, a Ca.48 did visit the First Aviation Exhibition Amsterdam of August–September 1919, where it was very popular with visitors, among whom was [[Prince Hendrik of the Netherlands|Prince Hendrick]] (1876–1934), [[Prince Consort]] of the [[Netherlands]] (1901–1934).<ref name="europeanairlines.no"/><ref>[http://www.europeanairlines.no/the-italian-aircraft-on-the-elta-of-1919 "The Italian Aircraft on the ELTA of 1919"], ''europeanairlines.no''</ref>
* '''Caproni Ca.51''' - single example of a considerably enlarged design with biplane tail and tail [[barbette]]. Three × {{cvt|522|kW}} [[Fiat A.14]] engines.
* '''Caproni Ca.52''' - Ca.42s built for the RNAS. Six built.
* '''Caproni Ca.58''' / '''Caproni Cinquemotore''' A variant of the Ca 48 airliner was built powered by five {{cvt|186|kW}} engines, the outer engines in pusher nacelles.<ref name="dieselpunks">{{cite web|title=S.A.M. #33: Monster Multiplanes|url=http://www.dieselpunks.org/m/blogpost?id=3366493%3ABlogPost%3A180472|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630173759/http://www.dieselpunks.org/m/blogpost?id=3366493:BlogPost:180472|url-status=usurped|archive-date=June 30, 2017|website=Dieselpunks|access-date=14 August 2017}}</ref> 
* '''Caproni Ca.59''' - as for the Ca.58, but this designation used for customers outside Italy.

Production figures differ in publications. The most likely number is 38 of all Ca.4 variants (other quoted figures are: 38 of Ca.40 and Ca.41 and 6 Ca.42 or 32 Ca.42 and 21 of other variants). Numerous publications incorrectly refer to all variants as the Ca.42.

==Operational history==
Ca.4s were tested by the [[Italian Air Force]] in 1917 and began operations in 1918. They were used for attacking targets in [[Austria-Hungary]]. In April 1918, six Ca.42s were issued to the British [[RNAS]] ([[No. 227 Squadron RNAS|No. 227 Sqn]]) but were never used operationally and were returned to Italy after the war.<ref>Munson, Kenneth. ''Bombers 1914–1919''. London: Blandford, 1968. {{page needed|date=May 2015}}</ref> At least three CA.42s were sent to the United States for evaluation. After the war, the Ca. 4 was replaced in Italy by the [[Caproni Ca.3|Ca.36]].

Despite its unstable and fragile appearance, the Ca.4 was well designed. Its size, without regard to its height, was not any larger than that of other foreign heavy bombers. With Liberty engines, it had a fast speed, similar to other heavy bombers, while its bombload had one of the largest capacities of that era, surpassed only by that of the Imperial German [[Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI]]. If it had been flown with other engines, its performance would have suffered.

On 2 August 1919, after its wings apparently collapsed in mid-flight at an altitude of {{convert|3,000|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}}, a Ca.48 airliner [[1919 Verona Caproni Ca.48 crash|crashed]] at [[Verona]], Italy, during a flight from [[Venice]] to [[Taliedo]], [[Milan]].<ref name="Flight">''Flight'', 7 August 1919, p. 1053.</ref> All on board died.{{#tag:ref|The casualties were variously reported as 14,<ref name="Flight"/> 15,<ref>[http://www.veniceairportlido.com/wings-sparrow.html "On the Wings of the Sparrow."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170612024923/http://www.veniceairportlido.com/wings-sparrow.html|date=2017-06-12}} ''Venice Airport Lido.'' Retrieved: 25 March 2012.</ref> and 17<ref>Guttman, Jon, "Crazy Capronis," ''Aviation History'', July 2008. p. 55</ref>|group=Note}} It was Italy's first [[commercial aviation]] disaster and one of the earliest [[heavier-than-air]] airliner disasters.

==Operators==
;{{flag|Kingdom of Italy}} 
*[[Corpo Aeronautico Militare]]
;{{flagcountry|UKGBI}} 
*[[Royal Naval Air Service]]
;{{flagcountry|USA|1912}}
*[[United States Army Air Service]]

==Specifications (Ca.42)==
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=
|prime units?=met
<!--
        General characteristics
-->
|crew=four (pilot, co-pilot, front gunner, and rear gunner/mechanic)
|length m=13.1
|span m=29.9
|height m=6.3
|wing area sqm=200
|empty weight kg=6,709
|max takeoff weight kg=7,500
<!--
        Powerplant
-->
|eng1 number=3
|eng1 name=[[Liberty L-12]]
|eng1 type=V-12 water-cooled piston engines
|eng1 kw=298<!-- prop engines -->
<!--
        Performance
-->
|max speed kmh=140
|range km=700
|ceiling m=3,000
|climb rate ms=2.083
<!--
        Armament
-->
|guns=4 × 6.5 mm [[Fiat-Revelli Modello 1914|FIAT-Revelli machine guns]], two in forward mounting and one in each of two rearward positions.
|bombs={{convert|1,450|kg|lb|abbr=on}} of bombs
}}

==See also==
{{aircontent|
|related=
|similar aircraft=
|lists=
* [[List of bomber aircraft]]
* [[List of World War I Entente aircraft]]
|see also=
}}

==References==

===Notes===
{{Reflist|group=Note}}

===Citations===
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
{{Refbegin}}
* Angelucci, Enzo. ''The Rand McNally Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft, 1914–1980''. San Diego, California: The Military Press, 1983. {{ISBN|0-517-41021-4}}.
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Caproni Ca.4}}

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060717172241/http://www.aerei-italiani.net/Liste/aereicacciabombIgm.html AEREI ITALIANI] (Italian)
*[http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-468/ch2-3.htm Quest for Performance: The Evolution of Modern Aircraft, Chapter 2: Design Exploration, 1914–18] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060928220736/http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-468/ch2-3.htm |date=2006-09-28 }}
*[http://www.europeanairlines.no/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/The_civil_aircraft_of_Caproni.pdf The civilian transport aircraft of Caproni (1918–1939)]
*[http://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1919/1919%20-%201051.PDF ‘’Flight’’ magazine, August 7, 1919, at flightglobal.com]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20170612024923/http://www.veniceairportlido.com/wings-sparrow.html Venice Airport Lido: On the Wings of the Sparrow]

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[[Category:Caproni aircraft|Ca.004]]
[[Category:1910s Italian bomber aircraft]]
[[Category:Triplanes]]
[[Category:Three-engined push-pull aircraft]]
[[Category:Twin-boom aircraft]]
[[Category:Aircraft first flown in 1917]]
[[Category:Aircraft with fixed tricycle landing gear]]
[[Category:Three-engined piston aircraft]]