Caproni Ca.309

Ca.309
Role Reconnaissance
Manufacturer Caproni
First flight 1937
Retired 1948
Primary users Regia Aeronautica
Hungarian Air Force
Yugoslavia
Paraguayan Air Arm

The Caproni Ca.309 Ghibli was an Italian aircraft used in World War II. Its nickname Ghibli means Desert Wind and served as the inspiration for animation Studio Ghibli's name.[1][2]

Development

The Caproni Ca.309 was designed by Cesare Pallavicino, based on the Ca.308 Borea transport. It was intended to replace the obsolete biplane IMAM Ro.1. It was intended to serve as a reconnaissance and ground-attack aircraft.

The Ca.309 was a low-wing cantilever monoplane with a piston engine fitted to each wing.

The aircraft was also produced in Bulgaria. That variant, 24 of which were built, was known as the Kaproni-Bulgarski KB 6/KB 309 Papagal.

Operations

The Ca. 309 served in Libya during the first part of World War II, with good operational results.[3]

After the loss of the African colonies the surviving planes were returned to Italy, where they were used as transports. Two Ghiblis were bought by the Paraguayan government for its Military Air Arm. They were used as transport planes from 1939 to 1945 and in that year they were transferred to Líneas Aéreas de Transporte Nacional (LATN), the Paraguayan first airline which was run by the Military Aviation. They were in active service until the early 1950s and later sold to a private Argentine owner.

Operators

 Kingdom of Italy
 Italy
 Bulgaria
 Paraguay
  • Paraguayan Air Arm (two Ca.309)
  • Líneas Aéreas de Transporte Nacional (LATN) used two ex-Paraguayan Air Arm Ca.309s

 Norway

Specifications (Ca.309)

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

  • Guns: 3 × 7.7 mm (.303 in) Breda SAFAT machine guns
  • Bombs: up to 330 kg

See also

Related development

    Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

      Related lists

      References

      1. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2015-09-13.
      2. ↑ Chen, C. Peter. "Ca.309 Ghibli Transport".
      3. ↑ Section Storia: History of the "Ghibli" in Libya during WWII (in Italian)
      4. ↑ "Caproni Ca.309 Ghibli", Ali e uomini [Wings and men] (in Italian) .
      5. ↑ "Italian Air Force Aircraft Types". www.aeroflight.co.uk.
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