A phone call on sunday morning from a friend who flies in Bresso, Milan's general aviation airport, located on the northern outskirts of the city.
"I heard some rumors that the Caproncino will fly in Bresso this afternoon... do you want to come here?"
And so here I am, face to face with a 1933-built Caproni Ca.100 biplane (nicknamed "Caproncino", "lil' Caproni" by its pilots), the oldest airworthy aircraft in Italy!
The Caproncino is a basic trainer developed in the late Twenties, and it is based on the De Havilland DH.60 Moth (which was also license-built by Caproni).
Notable feature of this plane is the inverted sesquiplane wing.
It performed a short flight near the airport with the nice late winter afternoon light!
Rear cockpit.
The only other airworthy Caproncino (apart from replicas) is a 1935-built float-equipped plane based in Como seaplane base, which also happens to be the oldest airworthy seaplane in the world. And the owner is the same as the land-based one! (photo taken at the air rally Giro Aereo dei Sei Laghi 2016)
Caproni Ca.100 "Caproncino" - Milan Bresso 13/2/22
Caproni Ca.100 "Caproncino" - Milan Bresso 13/2/22
My aircraft spotting website: GolfVictorSpotting.it
Re: Caproni Ca.100 "Caproncino" - Milan Bresso 13/2/22
Now that’s just lovely.
Thank you for posting.
Thank you for posting.
- aviationanoraks
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Re: Caproni Ca.100 "Caproncino" - Milan Bresso 13/2/22
That’s a very unusual and pretty aeroplane, and not a type I had heard of before.
Thank you for sharing the stunning images.
Thank you for sharing the stunning images.
- TEXANTOMCAT
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Re: Caproni Ca.100 "Caproncino" - Milan Bresso 13/2/22
Lovely stuff! Wonky Moth!
Re: Caproni Ca.100 "Caproncino" - Milan Bresso 13/2/22
Lovely shots of a great rarity - and I've not heard of the type before either!
Re: Caproni Ca.100 "Caproncino" - Milan Bresso 13/2/22
Great shots of a rare type thanks for posting
Re: Caproni Ca.100 "Caproncino" - Milan Bresso 13/2/22
Back in 2012 ex-EAA VC10 Captain Arthur Ricketts was flying C172s at the Lake Como seaplane base and he managed to convince the owner of the Caproni to take him along on one of the limited number of flights he carried out to maintain currency on the type. So Arthur had the chance to sample this ancient seaplane trainer with its Colombo engine. They stayed low over the lake for the duration of the flight but he described a type that handled typically for aircraft of that vintage: rudder is certainly needed during turns. It took off from the lake after an 8-second run in about 400 yards. Arthur found it to have the most comfortable open cockpit from all the types he had flown.
Re: Caproni Ca.100 "Caproncino" - Milan Bresso 13/2/22
Wow, what a thrill! And such lovely photos!
Zac in NZ
#avgeek, modelbuilder, photographer, writer. Callsign: "HANDBAG"
https://linktr.ee/zacyates
#avgeek, modelbuilder, photographer, writer. Callsign: "HANDBAG"
https://linktr.ee/zacyates