Quote:
Originally Posted by copeab
Caproni Bergamaschi Ca 314 maritime reconnaissance/light bomber
Copyright 2010 by Brandon Cope
The Ca 314 was the culmination of a series of twin-engine monoplanes starting with the Ca 306 transport of 1935. While the Ca 314 was quite vulnerable to Allied fighters and it carried only a small load of bombs, it was of some value in the maritime reconnaissance role. Versions were also used as a torpedo bomber, ground attack and transport.
Just over 400 Ca 314's were built, the most useful being the 73 Ca 314A (Ca 314-SC) used for maritime patrols and convoy escort.
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The Ca 309 Ghibli (1938) had two 7.7mm wing guns (and the 7.7mm dorsal gun) and a 740-lb bomb load, with the engines and speed of the Ca 306. Some 243 were built (78 before 1940). It also had fixed landing gear.
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I think the Ghibli was used in yet another niche role, but something that might be of interest to Cliffhangers adventurers and WWII commandos: it was the air part of the Auto-Avio-Sahariane" companies. These were outfits designed for counter-insurgency in the deep South of the Lybian deserts. They had these aircraft for recon and light ground support, camel-riding units for patrolling, and a truck-mounted component for muscle. Later the trucks were largely replaced by the much sleeker vehicle you find on p. W:GL33.
All the names of this aircraft series are names of winds, and Ghibli seems to be the name of a desert wind.