The Caproni Ca.73 was an Italian airliner produced during the 1920s which went on to serve as a light bomber in the newly independent Regia Aeronautica.
It was an inverted sesquiplane with a biplane tail and two engines mounted in a push pull configuration within a common nacelle mounted on struts in the interplane gap above the fuselage.
The two pilots sat in an open cockpit, while ten passengers could be accommodated within the fuselage.
Established as a separate service in 1923, the Regia Aeronautica relied upon World War I vintage Caproni Ca.3 bombers, and a replacement was soon sought.
The immediate solution was to repurpose the Ca.73 as a warplane by adding a gunner’s position in the nose, dorsally, and ventrally amidships.
Bombs were carried on external racks on the fuselage sides.
Ca.73s remained in frontline service until 1934, and from 1926 onwards participated in Italy’s military actions in North Africa.
Variants
Ca.73
Airliner powered by Isotta Fraschini Asso 500 engines
Ca.73bis
Airliner powered by Lorraine-Dietrich engines
Ca.73ter (later redesignated Ca.82)
Bomber version with gun positions and fuselage bomb racks
Ca.73quarter (later redesignated Ca.88)
Bomber with revised control systems and strengthened airframe
Ca.73quarterG (later redesignated Ca.89)
Bomber with glazed nose, underwing bomb racks, and retractable ventral gun turret
