Caproni Ca.309

The Caproni Ca.309 Ghibli was a light, twin‑engine reconnaissance and ground‑attack aircraft built in Italy during the late 1930s. Designed by the renowned Caproni company, it first flew on 8 December 1938 and entered service with the Regia Aeronautica shortly thereafter. The airframe combined a wooden semi‑monocoque fuselage with a metal‑skinned wing, giving it a low weight and good durability in desert conditions. Powered by two 540 hp Isotta Fraschini Delta RC.40 inline engines, the Ca.309 could reach 388 km/h and had a range of roughly 1,200 km, allowing long‑duration patrols over North Africa. Its distinctive feature was the glazed nose and side windows that provided excellent visibility for aerial photography, cartography, and artillery spotting. Armament typically consisted of a 12.7 mm Breda machine gun mounted in the nose and a pair of 7.7 mm guns in the rear cockpit, supplemented by up to 200 kg of bombs for ground‑strike missions. The aircraft proved vital during the early North African Campaign, where its ability to gather intelligence and perform close‑support tasks filled a gap in Italian air power. Though quickly superseded after World II, the Ca.309 demonstrated the versatility of light twin‑engine designs and left a lasting imprint on reconnaissance doctrine.

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