Caproni Ca.3
1916 bomber aircraft family by Caproni
The Caproni Ca.3 is an Italian heavy bomber of World War I and the postwar era. It was the most produced version of the series of aircraft that began with the 1914 Caproni Ca.1 and continued until the more powerful 1917 Caproni Ca.5 variant.
Development
The development of the Ca.1 to the Ca.2 suggested the benefits of increasing amounts of power to the very sound airframe. The Ca.3 was a development of Ca.2, by replacing the two engines mounted on the booms with the same Isotta-Fraschini engine that had been used as the central, pusher engine on that design. The prototype flew in late 1916 and was soon put into production. Known by Caproni at the time as the Caproni 450 hp, the Italian Army designated it the Ca.3. In Caproni's postwar renaming, it became the Ca.33. Between 250 and 300 of these aircraft were built, supplying the Italian Army and Navy (the latter using the type as a torpedo bomber), and the French Army. Late in the war, Robert Esnault-Pelterie licence-built an additional 83 (some sources say only 19) aircraft in France.
Note: there is some variation in published sources over early Caproni names.
“Caproni Ca.3” enters the record as 1916 bomber aircraft family by Caproni. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Caproni, bomber and aircraft can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Caproni Ca.3” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Caproni, bomber and aircraft provides the most credible route into that argument.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 31, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q1035018. The Library of Congress control number is sh2011000328. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1914, 1917 and 1916.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Caproni Ca.3”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Caproni Ca.3 primary sources, Caproni Ca.3 archive and Caproni research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Caproni Ca.3”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Caproni Ca.3” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.