World's FIRST - Fighter Plane
N 47° 31.151 W 122° 17.850
10T E 552888 N 5263100
One of many static aircraft displays located at the Museum of Flight at King County International Airport and known as the 'World's First Fighter Plane'. Admission fees apply.
Waymark Code: WMVGA8
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 04/15/2017
Views: 7
Located at the Museum of Flight are a large number of static aircraft on display. One of them is a Caproni Ca.20, known as the 'World's First Fighter Plane'. The Museum of Flight website contains a
page devoted to this aircraft and it reads:
The World's First Fighter Plane
The Caproni Ca.20 was an aircraft ahead of its time in design, purpose, and armament. In early 1914, before World War I, this speedy single-seat monoplane was created and equipped with a forward-facing machine gun mounted above the propeller arc. Considered the world's first fighter plane, the Ca.20's pilot could aim the overhead .303-caliber Lewis machine gun at enemy aircraft via false sight at eye level.
The model 20 was a derivative of Caproni's Ca.18 reconnaissance airplane -- the first Italian-made airplane to be used by the Italian military. The new "fighter plane" version, incorporated a larger engine (a Le Rhône 110-horsepower rotary engine), shorter wingspan, and a streamlined metal cowling to reduce drag and increase speed.
Test flights proved that the Ca.20 was an exceptional airplane -- much faster than other military airplanes being made in France and Germany. Yet the Italian military wanted the Caproni Company to focus on heavy bombers and only this single Ca.20 was ever produced.
The Caproni Ca.20 may not be as crisp, clean, and pretty as the day when it was rolled from the workshop, but that's part of its beauty. Unlike most aircraft in museum collections, this plane is displayed in almost its entirely original condition. It wears covering that was applied long ago, and that battered fabric shows all of the scars and stains of almost a century of life.
The plane was stored by the Caproni family in Italy for over 85 years. It was eventually parked, strangely enough, in a monastery! The Ca.20 was carefully dismantled piece by piece by Museum staff and then lowered through a second story window. The rare aircraft was then shipped to The Museum of Flight and painstakingly reassembled and displayed as it appeared in Europe.
A nearby placard also highlights the Caproni Ca.20 and reads:
Gun and Mount
The Caproni Ca.20 was designed to carry a .303-cal. Lewis machine gun mounted high on the airplane's king post. A similar machine gun from the Museum's collection is installed. Even more interesting than the gun itself is the simple and clever way it was operated by the pilot,
below.
A "false sight," attached to the gun through two shafts,
allowed the pilot to aim the gun through the propeller are while the gun fired from above the arc. In the days before the invention of a workable synchronizing gear to shoot a machine gun through the propeller arc, this system worked fairly well.
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