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Caproni Vizzola F.6

1943 WORLD WAR 2 X-PLANE

Caproni Vizzola F. 6 Stories

The Caproni Vizzola series of "F" fighters was spearheaded by the "F. 4" initiative in late 1937. It was a state-of-the-art single-seat monoplane with two heavy machine guns powered by an inline piston engine. The subsequent "F.

5" used the same airframe and armament, but went the route of the air-cooled radial piston engine for its performance. The former survived only as a prototype, tested until 1942, while the latter reached pre-production, but itself only had a total of 14 aircraft (including two prototypes).

However, these were used as night fighters for Italian squadrons during World War II (1939-1945) to take part in the conflict.

All this work led the company to create the "F.6", a similar combat monoplane. When the German DB605 went on sale in Italy, it switched to a liquid-cooled inline engine, but was more or less a continuation of both the F.4 and F.5 lines. The F.5 formed its airframe and the engine choice became a DB605A inverted-piston V-12 with 1,474 horsepower driving a three-bladed propeller unit on the nose.

Compared to the wooden components used in the F.5, the wing main aircraft was redesigned and made of all-metal components for added strength. Again, armament is a modest armament of only 2 x 12.7mm Breda SAFAT machine guns, which are mounted on the nose, while a pair of cannons can be mounted on the wings (one per wing).

The improved aircraft was named "F. 6M", and as a prototype, the product made its first flight in September 1941. Its chin-mounted radiator was found to create a lot of drag during flight, so the structure was modified and placed closer to the midship (the belly behind the cockpit floor).

The prototype was actively tested until a collision at Bresso, after which it was eventually abandoned - Caproni turned to efforts to further develop the promising F.7 fighter (described in detail elsewhere on this site).

The F.6Z is an offshoot of the F.6 fighter program, developed in parallel with the F.6M, although it was introduced after the M variant had progressed. This model switched to an Isotta-Fraschini "Zeta" RC 25/60 24-cylinder X engine rated close to 1,500 hp, and the proposed armament became 3 x 12.7 mm heavy Breda SAFAT machine guns, one per wing, with a single attachment area of Front fuselage/nose section.

The Model Z was delayed due to engine problems and did not fly until August 1943 with a downgraded (1,200 hp) Zeta engine. With the surrender of Italy in September of this year, all development work on the F. 6Z stopped again.