BFP Episode 2: the SABCA S.47 (aka Caproni Ca.335)

The Story of the Sabca S.47 does not begin in Belgium, but in Italy. And it starts with one man, one of the most famous Italian aircraft designers, Giovanni Caproni. Giovanni Battista Caproni, is known in history as one of the most influencial aicraft designers of all time, his designs varried from some of the most revolutionary, to the most imaginativly daring. One example of the latter being the enormous Caproni Ca.60 Noviplano. Looking to expand the production capacity of his company, in 1937, he made a marketing aggreement with one of the biggest aircraft building companies in Belgium, SABCA. The contract with Caproni, included the license production of 3 of its military standard aircraft, that were to be given new designations by SABCA for future export customers. The Ca135 medium bomber was to be built and redesignated as the SABCA S.45bis, the Ca.310 recconaisance aircraft that was to be renamed the S.46, and the Ca.312 light bomber and recconaisance aircraft that was to be renamed as the S.48. In 1937, the Belgian Aeronautique Militaire was looking for a replacement for the 2-seater versions of the Fairey Fox in the fighter and recconaisance role, that by that time have become obsolete, and Caproni was asked to develop a replacement. Designing the new aircraft was Caproni's chief designer, Cesare Pallavicino. Who already had developed various succesfull aircraft in the past for for Breda, and went to work for Caproni in 1935. the new aircraft was to be based on one of his earlier designs, the Caproni A.P.1 attack aircraft, that was first flown in 1934 and 3 prototypes and 54 production aircraft were built for the Italian Air Force. the result, was the Caproni Ca.335 Maestrale (or Mistral, which is French for Northwestern wind). It was a 2-seat, single engine fighter, light bomber and recconaisance aircraft. It was to have a 2-man crew, a pilot and an observer / rear gunner. The latter sitting in a “greenhouse” like cabin in the back of the fuselage, which also had a second set of controls in case the pilot became incapacitated. The aircraft was very similar in appearance to the British Fairey Fulmar, both aircraft were designed and built in a similar configuration. It was a low-wing cateliever monoplane of mixed construction. The fuselage was made of metal skin and steel-tubing and the wings were made of wood and fabric. It measured 10,61m in length and had a wingspan of 13,20m. It was powered by a Hispano-suiza 12Ycrs liquid-cooled V-12 engine, producing 860hp, powering a 3-blade constant-speed propellor, giving it a top speed of 501km/hr. In terms of firepower, It was armed a single Hispano-Suiza HS404 20mm canon, firing throught the propellor-hub, and 3 FN Browing 7.62mm machine guns (1 in each wing and 1 in the rear observer cabin). Its bombload wasnt all that impressive, only two 50kg bombs in a small bombbay in the fuselage, but a further ten 10kg bombs could be mounted under the wings. The aircraft was completed at Caproni's factory at Ponte San Pietro in Italy, and it made its first flight there on 16th of februari 1939. It was then dismantled and shipped to Brussels by train, upon arrival, it was transfered to SABCA's factory in Haren-Evere, where it was reassembled and flew again on September the 19th . By that time, the aircraft was painted in an overall olive color scheme and Belgian military markings were applied, but for testing purposes, it recieved the civilian registration OO-ATH. Initial testing continued succesfully and a licence agreement was reached with Caproni, in which the Ca.335 was redesignated as the SABCA S.47. During demonstration flights for the Military, the Belgian Aeronautique militaire was impressed with the performance of the aircraft, and wanted to place an order for an initial 24 aircraft. However, the production capacity at SABCA's factory was already maxed out, as the company was already building 41 Breguet 693's for both the Belgian Aeronautique Militaire and the French Armee de L'air, allong with 10 Koolhoven FK.58's that were also destined for France. So the Belgian S.47 order had to be delayed. On the 14th of march 1940, the S.47 was flown to France, together with SABCA's S.40 trainer, to be demonstrated to officers of the French Armee de L'aire, who has shown interest in the aircraft. However, upon arriving at the French flight test center at Orleans, the S.47 suffered damage after landing, when a strong crosswind blew the aircraft off the runway, after which it collided with a truck. by the time the Germany invaded Belgium and France, the damage was not yet repaired and the aircraft eventually ended up in German hands on the 13th of June 1940.