WORLD WAR 2 IN REVIEW: Caproni Ca.310 Libeccio: Italian Reconnaissance Aircraft

The Caproni Ca.310 Libeccio (southwest wind) was an Italian monoplane, twin-engine reconnaissance aircraft used in World War II. Derived from the similar Ca.309, it had its combat debut during the Spanish Civil War and took part in the earlier phases of World War II in Libya. Some were used in attack groups as a temporary replacement for the unsatisfactory Breda Ba.65. The last Ca.310 was retired by the Italian Air Force in 1948.

The Ca.310 was designed as a low-wing monoplane reconnaissance/bomber, being essentially a version of the semi-military Ca.309 with retractable landing gear and uprated engines. The fuselage was of welded steel tube construction with a covering of light alloy panels and fabric, while the empennage/tail unit was of wooden construction with plywood skin on its fixed portions and fabric covering on control surfaces.

Above the fuselage, mounted in line with the wing trailing edges was a manually operated dorsal turret armed with a single rifle-caliber (7.7 mm/0.303 in) Breda-SAFAT machine gun.

Caproni pinned great hopes on the Ca. 310's effectiveness as a combat aircraft, only to be dashed when its performance fell short of expectations. This lack of performance resulted in both Norway and Hungary being disappointed with the export models they received in 1938. The Ca.310 had been evaluated by the Regia Aeronautica (Italian Air Force) which ordered a small batch. A unit of 16 aircraft was sent to Spain in July 1938 for operational trials as a reconnaissance/bomber by the Italian expeditionary force operating alongside the Nationalist insurgents in the Spanish Civil War.

The Norwegian aircraft were acquired as part of a dried and salted cod (Klippfisk) barter deal between Norway and Italy. The original order, including options, was for 24 aircraft, but after seeing that the aircraft did not perform well, the Norwegian authorities refused to accept any further Ca.310s. Instead, a delivery of 12 Caproni Ca.312s with upgraded engines and improved performance was substituted, but not delivered before the German invasion of Norway on 9 April 1940. A similar scenario occurred with other export contracts, especially with a hoped-for Royal Air Force order for bomber trainers being curtailed during negotiations with Caproni when Italy entered the war as an Axis power.

A series of 12 Ca.310bis were produced for Yugoslavia. This variant differed mainly in having an unstepped, glazed nose. The prototype Ca.310bis served as the development for the Caproni-Begamaschi Ca.311.

The 33 Hungarian Ca.310s returned to Italy were refurbished by Caproni and reissued to the 50˚ Stormo d’Assalto. The Ca.310 was not considered an effective combat aircraft and when it saw service during World War II, it was as a reconnaissance aircraft and as a light bomber in areas where no serious opposition was expected.

Peruvian Aeronautical Corps Ca.310s took part in the July 1941 Ecuadorian-Peruvian war. Together with North American NA.50s, the Peruvian Ca.310s flew bombing missions against Ecuadorian cities and supported Army of Peru ground forces. One Norwegian example has been partially restored and is displayed at Sola Aviation Museum.

Role: Reconnaissance

Manufacturer: Caproni

Designer: Cesare Pallavicino

First flight: April 1937

Introduction: 1938

Retired: 1948

Primary users:

Regia Aeronautica

Hungarian Air Force

Royal Norwegian Air Force

Air Force of Peru

Number built: 312

Variants:

Caproni Ca.313

Caproni Ca.311

Crew: three

Length: 12.20 m (40 ft)

Wingspan: 16.20 m (53 ft)

Height: 3.52 m (11.5 ft)

Wing area: 38.7 m² (127 ft²)

Empty weight: 3,040 kg (6,702 lb)

Loaded weight: 4,650 kg (10,251 lb)

Powerplant: 2 × Piaggio Stella P.VII C.16/35, 350 kW (470 hp) each

Maximum speed: 365 km/h (227 mph)

Cruise speed: 285-312 km/h (177-194 mph)

Range: 1,690 km (1,050 mi)

Service ceiling: 7,000 m (22,966 ft)

Armament:

3 × 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Breda SAFAT machine guns:

2 × 7.7 mm/0.303 in machine guns fixed forward firing mounted in the wing roots

1 × 7.7 mm/0.303 in machine gun in a dorsal turret

Bombs: up to 450 kg (992 lb)

Variants

Ca.310

Twin-engined reconnaissance aircraft, powered by two Piaggio Stella P.VII C.16/35 seven-cylinder radial piston engines.

Ca.310 Idro

Twin-float seaplane version.

Ca.310bis

Effectively the prototype of the Caproni Ca.311 with the unstepped all-glazed nose and two Piaggio Stella P.VII C.35 engines

Operators

Independent State of Croatia

Zrakoplovstvo Nezavisne Države Hrvatske operated seven captured ex-Yugoslav aircraft.

Hungary

Royal Hungarian Air Force ordered 36 examples in 1938, but returned the surviving 33 in 1940 after being unhappy with type's performance.

Kingdom of Italy

Regia Aeronautica (193 aircraft); Aviazione Legionaria (16 aircraft); Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force

Italy (postwar)

Aeronautica Militare Italiana

Norway

Norwegian Army Air Service operated four Ca.310s. Serial: 501, 503, 505 and 507

Peru

Cuerpo de Aviación del Perú purchased 16 aircraft in 1938. 15 of them were delivered by ship in May 1938, and the last one was lost during the ferry flight from Italy to Peru on August 2, 1939, killing Capt. Pedro Canga Rodríguez and one of his crew members.

Spain

Spanish Air Force (16 aircraft)

Yugoslavia

Royal Yugoslav Air Force purchased 12 aircraft in 1938; SFR Yugoslav Air Force (postwar)

Ca.310bis.

Ca.310 prototype.

Civilian Ca.310.

One of the four Norwegian Caproni Ca.310s, circa 1939.

Caproni Ca.310, Croatian air force.

Caproni Ca.310, I-ABMI, Regia Aeronautica, visiting Dijon airbase, France, 1938/39.

Civilian Ca.310.

Ca.310B.

Ca.310.

Ca.310, 18-4, Spanish Civil War.

Ca.310, Spanish Civil War.

Ca.310.

Ca.310 on skis of the Norwegian air force.

Ca.310.

Ca.310 (probably colorized).

Owned by the Italian Ministero Aeronautica (Ministry of Aviation) with the Matricola Militare (military serial) MM20858, the aircraft was registered I-ENEI on 5 January 1938, and used in a record attempt between London, UK, and Cape Town, South Africa. It departed Croydon, near London, on 17 April 1938, and crashed on the Lybian Coast on the 18th, and was subsequently destroyed.

Ca.310s.

Ca.310.

Ca.310, B.406, of the Hungarian air force.

Crashed Ca.310, B.402, of the Hungarian air force.

Ca.310 of the Hungarian air force.

Crashed Ca.310, B.403, of the Hungarian air force.

German airmen examine a Norwegian reconnaissance aircraft captured intact on Sola air base after Norway’s surrender. The aircraft is one of four Ca.310 purchased in Italy in June 1938 and delivered in October of the same year to Hærens Flyvevesen, the Norwegian Army Air Service. The aircraft, military codes 501, 503, 505, 507, were deployed on Lillestrom airfield. At the time of the German invasion in April 1940, the Ca.310s were at Sola, but their involvement in war operations was very limited, only one or two sorties.

Ca.310, possibly 503, of the Norwegian air force.

Two Ca.310, nearest aircraft is 506, of the Norwegian air force.

Ca.310 of the Norwegian air force.

Ca.310, 503, of the Norwegian air force.

Ca.310, 507, of the Norwegian air force being used for parts at Stavanger-Sola airfield.

German airman examines a Ca.310 of the Norwegian air force which has had its engines removed.

Two Croatian air force servicemen in front of an aircraft of the Independent State of Croatia’s air force (Zrakoplovstvo Nezavisne Države Hrvatske—ZNDH) operational from 19 April 1941. The aircraft is an Italian-built reconnaissance plane, a Ca.310bis, former Royal Yugoslav Air Force. The latter purchased twelve Ca.310 with Piaggio P.VII C35 engines all delivered by June 1938. After the Kingdom of Yugoslavia’s surrender in April 1941, seven Royal Yugoslav Air Force Ca.310bis were transferred to the Croatian air force and employed on the Eastern Front with the Kroatische Luftwaffen Legion.

One of seven Ca.310 of the former Royal Yugoslav Air Force taken over by the Croatian air force and employed on the Eastern Front with the Kroatische Luftwaffen Legion.