Caproni Ca3 Bomber
The Italian firm of Caproni built an unusual biplane bomber with three engines: two tractor engines in the front of the twin tail-booms, and one pusher engine in the back of the central nacelle. It had what looked like a set of baby-carriage wheels, and reared back noticably when at rest. When loaded and taking off, the plane would come forward onto all four wheels. The triple tail-planes really set it off, being attached to a common cross member that was, in turn, attached to the tail-booms. There were four crew positions, a gunner in the nose of the nacelle, a pilot and co-pilot sitting side-by-side behind the front gunner and a rear gunner who stood in a cage above the central, pusher engine to cover the rear. The Ca.3's were very effective in their attacks on Austria; it was also license-built in France. It first flew in 1915.
Technical Details
The Ca.3 carried a crew of 4. It's engines were three 155 hp (110kW) Isotta-Fraschini V-4Bs. Maximum speed was 85 mph (137km/h), the ceiling was 15,750 ft (4800m) and it had an endurance of 3 hours 30 minutes. Armament was two 7.7mm machine guns, one in each gunner's position and a 440 lb (200 kg) bomb load slung under the central nacelle.
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