The Caproni Ca.113 was an advanced trainingbiplane produced in Italy and Bulgaria in the early 1930s. Designed as a follow-on to the Ca.100, it was a more powerful and robust aircraft capable of aerobatics. It was a conventional design with two cockpits in tandem, single-bay staggered wings of equal span, and mainwheels covered by large spats.
Caproni Ca.113 with engine Walter Castor, Cleveland (September 1931)
Design and development
The Ca.113's capabilities were demonstrated by Mario De Bernardi's win of the aerobatic trophy at the 1931 Cleveland Air Races with engine Walter Castor[1] and its use in setting a number of aerial records, most importantly a world altitude record of 14,433 m (47,352 ft) set by Renato Donati on 11 April 1934 using a modified Ca.113with longer span wings and powered by a supercharged Alfa-Romeo-built Bristol Pegasus engine.[2] Other records included a women's world altitude record of 12,010 m (39,400 ft) set by Contessa Carina Negrone in 1935,[2] and world endurance records for inverted flight. These latter records were set by Tito Falconi at the US 1933 National Air Races, who flew inverted from Los Angeles to San Diego and after the race meet, made an inverted flight from St. Louis to Chicago.
The Ca.113 was also produced in quantity by the subsidiary that Caproni established in Kazanlak, Bulgaria.[3] Here, it was known as the Chuchuliga ("Skylark") and was produced in a number of versions designated KB-2, KB-3, KB-4 and KB-5 in 1938–1939, some of which were armed. 107 of these aircraft were produced, most going to the Bulgarian Royal Air Force, where they saw service until the country was overrun by the Soviet Union in 1944.
The sole surviving Ca.113, at Volandia Park and Aviation Museum, Milan Malpensa Airport, Italy
Variants
KB-2UT
Bulgarian training version of Ca.113, with increased dimensions and powered by BMW IV, Junkers L2 or Hispano-Suiza engine. Italian designation of Ca.113/32. Eight built 1933–1935.[4]
KB-2A Chuchuliga
Revised derivative of KB-2UT, powered by 260 hp (190 kW) Walter Castor radial engine. Italian designation of Ca.113/35. Six built 1936.[5]
KB-3 Chuchuliga I
Improved trainer based on KB-2A, with lightened structure and 340 hp (250 kW) Walter Castor II engine. Italian designation Ca.113/36. Twenty built 1937.[6]
KB-4 Chuchuliga II
Armed reconnaissance/liaison aircraft, powered by 365 hp (272 kW) Wright R-975 E-2 Whirlwind. Italian designation Ca.113/39. 28 built 1938–1939.[7]
KB-5 Chuchuliga III
Reconnaissance/light bomber for Bulgarian Air Force. Prototype powered by 455 hp (339 kW) Piaggio P.VII C.I engine, with production aircraft powered by 450 hp (340 kW) Walter Pollux II engine. Italian designation Ca.113/40. 45 built 1939–1940.[8]
Andreev, Jordan (March 1999). "Les avions Kaproni-Bulgarski (I)" [The Kaproni-Bulgarski Aircraft]. Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (72): 48–50. ISSN1243-8650.
Andreev, Jordan (April 1999). "Les avions Kaproni-Bulgarski (fin)" [Kaproni-Bulgarski Aircraft]. Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (73): 45–52. ISSN1243-8650.
Bernád, Dénes (November–December 1996). "Balkan Birds: Thirty-Five Years of Bulgarian Aircraft Production: Part 2". Air Enthusiast. No. 96. pp. 10–17. ISSN0143-5450.
Grey, C. G.; Bridgman, Leonard, eds. (1938). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1938. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Ltd.
Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. p. 234.
Thompson, Jonathon P. (1963). Italian Civil and Military Aircraft 1930–1945. Aero Publishers, Inc. ISBN0-8168-6500-0.
Tincopa, Amaru; Rivas, Santiago (2016). Axis Aircraft in Latin America. Manchester, UK: Crécy Publishing. ISBN978-1-90210-949-7.
World Aircraft Information Files. London: Bright Star Publishing. pp. File 891 Sheet 10.
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