The Caproni Vizzola F.4, an Italian fighter aircraft prototype, was designed and constructed starting in 1939.
It featured a single-seat, low-wing cantilever monoplane design with retractable landing gear.
Developed concurrently with the Caproni Vizzola F.5, the F.4 shared the same airframe.
The design process commenced in late 1937 under the leadership of F. Fabrizi.
The aircraft featured a fuselage made of welded steel tubing and a wooden wing; the fuselage was clad with flush-riveted duralumin and the wing was covered with a stressed plywood skin.
Fabrizi and his team planned for the F.4 to be equipped with a 12-cylinder Isotta-Fraschini Asso 121 R.C.40 water-cooled engine, capable of 715 kW (959 hp) at 4,000 m (13,123 ft).
However, the Italian Air Ministry’s preference against using the Asso engine in fighters led to the suspension of the F.4 project before a prototype was built, shifting focus to the development of the F.5, which utilised a radial engine.
In the summer of 1939, Italy received its first Daimler-Benz DB 601A from Germany, a liquid-cooled inverted V-12 engine rated at 876 kW (1,175 hp).
This revitalised the F.4 project, as the Air Ministry sanctioned its use in fighter aircraft.
The final one of the 12 pre-production F.5 aircraft, ordered by the Regia Aeronautica, was converted into the F.4 prototype, equipped with the DB 601A engine.
Its maiden flight occurred in July 1940.
However, no additional F.4s were commissioned, and plans to produce a model powered by an Alfa Romeo-manufactured DB 601A, designated as the F.5bis, were abandoned in favour of the more advanced Caproni Vizzola F.6M’s development.
Specifications
Length
8.9 m (29 ft 2 in)
Wingspan
11.29 m (37 ft 0 in)
Height
2.90 m (9 ft 6.1 in)
Wing area
17.60 m2 (189.4 sq ft)
Empty weight
2,462 kg (5,428 lb)
Gross weight
3,000 kg (6,614 lb)
Powerplant
1 × Daimler-Benz DB 601A inverted V12,
Liquid-cooled piston engine,
876 kW (1,175 hp)
Performance
Maximum speed
550 km/h (340 mph, 300 kn) at 3,750 m (12,305 ft)
Cruise speed
489 km/h (304 mph, 264 kn)
Range
700 km (430 mi, 380 nmi) at 435 km/h (270 mph)
Service ceiling
9,997.4 m (32,800 ft)
Armament
Guns
2 × 12.7 mm (0.5 in) forward-firing Breda-SAFAT machine guns.
Sources
The Complete Book of Fighters: An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Every Fighter Aircraft Built and Flown-W Green and G Swanborough.
La Caproni Di Taliedo Storia Di Unindustria Aeronautica-Claudio De Biaggi.
