Caproni Ca.9

The Caproni Ca.9 was a single-engine monoplane designed and built by Caproni in the early 1910s.

The Ca.9 was very similar to the Caproni Ca.8 in being a modern high wing monoplane with a wooden structure and canvas covering, equipped with a wing warping system to control roll and reinforced by metal tie rods connected to the fuselage and to a special structure placed above it; the fuselage was based on a wooden lattice structure, in turn reinforced by metal cables, and was covered in cloth only for the front half; the same wooden structure with a canvas covering characterized the empennage.

The fixed undercarriage, was composed of two wheels with curved skids. The engine, which operated a fixed-pitch, two-bladed wooden propeller, was a Y-shaped three-cylinder Anzani capable of developing a power output of 35 hp (26 kW).

Flown for the first time in the summer of 1911, the Ca.9 served at the flying school annexed to the Caproni workshops in Vizzola Ticino; on 20 January 1912, piloted by Enrico Cobioni, an instructor at the Caproni school, the Ca.9 beat the world speed record for aircraft with less than 40 hp (30 kW).

Data from Gli aeroplani Caproni – Studi – Progetti – Realizzazioni 1908-1935, Aeroplani Caproni – Gianni Caproni ideatore e costruttore di ali italiane

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 7.8 m (25 ft 7 in)
• Wingspan: 8.88 m (29 ft 2 in)
• Height: 3 m (9 ft 10 in)
• Wing area: 16 m² (170 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 220 kg (485 lb)
• Gross weight: 385 kg (849 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Anzani 3-cyl air-cooled radial piston engine, 26 kW (35 hp)
• Propellers: 2-bladed wooden fixed-pitch propeller

Performance

• Maximum speed: 90 km/h (56 mph, 49 kn)

• Giovanni Battista Caproni
• Museo dell'Aeronautica Gianni Caproni