Caproni Ca.135 P.XI, the italian B-26

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Caproni Ca.135 P.XI

History.

In 1934 the Regia Aeronautica asked the various aeronautical industries of the time for a bomber capable of modernizing and strengthening the ranks of the air forces. The Caproni Company responded to the tender with a medium bomber called Caproni Ca.135. The vehicle passed the tender and entered the ranks of the Air Force, but unfortunately the vehicle was born old and was kept for a long time, which aggravated the problems of the aircraft. Despite all this, the aircraft was used by the Regia Aeronautica and also by the Hungarian and Peruvian air forces and the last example ended its life in 1942 among the Hungarian ranks, after having had a very troubled and unsatisfactory life for its pilots.

Armaments and propulsion.

The defensive armament of the bomber consisted of 3 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT heavy machine guns placed in various positions to cover as much of the aircraft as possible and provide it with a good defense against enemy fighters. In terms of bomb load, the aircraft could carry a maximum of 1600 kg of bombs, although due to this and its engines it often risked not taking off due to overloading.
Speaking of engines, the plane in this first version was powered by two Piaggio P.XI RC40 engines of 1000 hp each, which allowed the plane to reach a maximum speed of 440 km/h and a ceiling height of 7900 m.

Specifications.

Spoiler

Crew: 5
Length: 14,38 m
Wingspan: 18,80 m
Height: 3,40
Empty weight: 6,051 kg
Gross weight: 9,548 kg
Powerplant: 2 × Piaggio P.XI R.C.40 with 1000 hp each
Maximum speed: 440 km/h
Maximum range: 2,000 km
Service ceiling: 6,500 m
Maximum rate of climb: 5.6 m/s
Weapons: 3 x 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns and 1600 kg of bombs

Pictures and drawnings.

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Sources.

Spoiler

Caproni Ca.135 - Wikipedia
Caproni Ca.135, Aerei militari, Schede tecniche aerei militari italiani e storia degli aviatori
Caproni Ca.135 - Wikipedia
Уголок неба ¦ Caproni Ca.135

5 Likes

Interesting! However, in the text, you say it has 4 machine guns, while in the Specifications you say it has 3. I assume one is a typo. Which is it?

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4 is the correct option.

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+1

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+1 looks cool, would love to play it

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Not bad, could be worse, should definitely be in the tech tree +1

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Dutiful edit to the suggestion.
I unintentionally concluded on various things. The plane is the Caproni 135 bis, with 3 machine guns and I had posted several wrong photos. All corrected. @JamesPond1200 @Ollysbuddy @kamina_sama @OpusAudereSemper

4 Likes

+1

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So I was looking up the names of the planes on the suggestions place for very light amounts of research & imagining how it would be like in war thunder

so I looked this one up went to it’s wiki page and I found a monumental discovery and it was that it could carry 120 (1 or 2 kg) bomb-lets so I would be very over joyed if this got added to war thunder as it be another meme vehicle

but aside from adding a vehicle just for memes it would be a good cas plane for Italy as it had good bomb options like 2 (800) kg bombs so I think it makes a good addition to war thunder and the Italian tech tree

3 Likes

Fun fact: those bombs are anti-personnel or incendiary.

Calling it an “Italian B-26” is a wee bit too generous given how much weaker its armament and payload is. I would rather compared it to the A-20.

Still, Italy still lacks this kind of aircraft, so that will get a +1 for me.

4 Likes

Idk a lot of american planes, so I opted for the one that I know.

+1 to a very interesting bomber!

1 Like

+1 very cool

C: hi

So I looked at some sources and there is not much about this plane specification apart from construction. Most what I found is that everyone who even touched it hated this aircraft as it was piece of crap that break constantly XD

But I have photos and bomb options, so:

Bombs:
2x800kg
2x500kg
4x250kg
16x100kg
120x1or2kg

Screenshot_20240722-201431~2


Screenshot_20240722-181448~2
Screenshot_20240722-181525~2
Screenshot_20240722-181529~2

2 Likes

Hell yeah. Thanks man.

1 Like