WORLD WAR 2 IN REVIEW: Breda Ba.25: Italian Trainer

Breda Ba.25/D.2.

The Breda Ba.25 was an Italian two-seat biplane trainer designed and built by the Breda company. It was the most widely used Italian basic trainer of the 1930s.

The first flight took place near Milan in 1931. Initially designed as a single-seat aircraft, the prototype was later converted to a two-seat fuselage. Flight testing of the two-seat variant was successful, and in late 1931 Regia Aeronautica ordered a series of 100 Ba.25 training aircraft. The student and instructor sat in open tandem cockpits, although some versions had a single-bay cockpit.

The initial production order was completed by 1935, but demand for the aircraft increased and production for the Regia Aeronautica totaled 719 by the end of 1938. Many others were produced for export or for private use with different radial engines like the Alfa Romeo Lynx or Walter Castor.

The Ba.25 remained in service of the Regia Aeronautica as training aircraft during World War II. Some of the aircraft were seized and handed over to the Allies. Paraguay bought four Breda Ba.25, one of them Ba.25Idro. They were used as primary trainers from 1939 to 1945.

Role: Trainer aircraft

Manufacturer: Società Italiana Ernesto Breda

First flight: 1931

Introduction: 1932

Primary users: Regia Aeronautica; Royal Hungarian Air Force

Produced: 1931-1938

Number built: 763 + 3 prototypes

Crew: 2

Length: 7.80 m (25 ft 7 in) (Breda 25 Idro - 9.1 m (29.86 ft))

Wingspan: 9.98 m (32 ft 9 in)

Height: 2.8278 m (9 ft 3.33 in) (Breda 25 Idro - 3.6 m (11.81 ft))

Wing area: 25.0 m2 (269 sq ft)

Empty weight: 788 kg (1,738 lb)

Gross weight: 2,288 kg (5,044 lb)

Powerplant: 1 × Alia Romeo D2 9-cyl. air-cooled radial piston engine, 180 kW (240 hp)

Maximum speed: 205 km/h (127 mph; 111 kn)

Cruise speed: 195 km/h; 105 kn (121 mph) (Breda 25 Idro - 93 mph (150 km/h))

Stall speed: 71 km/h; 38 kn (44 mph) (Breda 25 Idro - 56 mph (90 km/h))

Range: 499 km; 269 nmi (310 mi)

Service ceiling: 7,498 m (24,600 ft)

Rate of climb: 2.87 m/s (565 ft/min)

Variants

There were many minor variants:

Ba.25: Main production version.

Ba.25/Lynx: Fitted with a 149 kW (200 hp) Alfa Romeo Lynx engine.

Ba.25/D.2: Fitted with a 179 kW (240 hp) Alfa Romeo D2 engine.

Ba.25/Mezzo-Asso: Fitted with a 164 kW (220 hp) Isotta-Fraschini Asso 200 engine.

Ba.25 Ridotto: Reduced-span aerobatic version.

Ba.25-I (I for Idro): Floatplane version (42 built, one for Paraguayan Naval Aviation)

Ba.26: Primary trainer with a longer wingspan and Walter NZ 120 engine, prototype only.

Ba.28: Export version with Piaggio-built Gnome-Rhône 7K engine for Norway, China and Ethiopia, among others.

The Ba.28 training aircraft was developed from the earlier Ba.25. Also a biplane with a new, more powerful Piaggio Stella P.VII Z radial engine of 365 hp, had ailerons on the upper wing . In June 1936 the prototype was shown at the air show in Venice. The Italian Air Force in the same year ordered a series of 50 aircraft. During use in flight schools the Ba.28 proved not to be among the best—it was difficult to manage in the air. However, orders for the type arrived from abroad - were duly delivered to the following countries: Afghanistan (2), China (18), Norway (6), Austria (12) and Spain (6).

Operators

Afghanistan

Afghan Air Force

Austria

Austrian Air Force (1927-1938)

Bolivia

Bolivian Air Force

China

Republic of China Air Force

Ecuador

Ecuadorian Air Force

Ethiopia

Ethiopian Air Force

Hungary

Royal Hungarian Air Force: operated three aircraft

Kingdom of Italy

Regia Aeronautica

Aviazione Legionaria

Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force

Italian Social Republic

Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana

Norway

Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service

Paraguay

Paraguayan Military Aviation: used three Ba.25

Paraguayan Naval Aviation: used one Ba.25 Idro

Spain

Spanish Air Force

Breda Ba.25/Mezzo Asso.

Breda Ba.25 Lynx.

Breda Ba.25. The aircraft depicted in the photo were in force just with Regia Aeronautica Cameri Flying School (hence the letters CAM on the fuselage). They are equipped with Isotta Fraschini "Semi-Asso" 200 six cylinders, air cooled in-line type engine.

Airmen of No. 3 Squadron RAAF, an all Australian fighter bomber squadron, looking over an Italian Breda Ba.25 floatplane which was captured intact when the port of Augusta was occupied by Allied forces. The Breda was flown by the Squadron and later handed over to the Free French. Augusta, Sicily, September 1943.