CANSA

Order of Battle · Aircraft manufacturers · Italy

CANSA

Costruzioni Aeronautiche Novaresi S.A. · Fiat CANSA

Born from the old Gabardini flying school at Cameri, CANSA became Fiat’s wartime design annexe, and ended up building trolleybus bodies when the aircraft stopped.

DefunctStatus
5Aircraft on record
CountryItalyHeadquartersCameri airfield, NovaraOwnerFiat (majority from 1939)StatusDefunct
The story

CANSA: the company and the aircraft that made its name

Out of Gabardini

CANSA grew on the airfield at Cameri, near Novara, out of the business of Giuseppe Gabardini, whose company and flying school had long been part of Italian aviation. When Gabardini’s activities ceased, Costruzioni Aeronautiche Novaresi took over; it developed his Lictor 90 into the Alfa Romeo-powered Lictor 130. On 18 May 1939 Mussolini himself toured its workshops at Cameri.

Fiat’s second design office

That same year Fiat bought a majority stake and sent engineer Giacomo Mosso from its own design office as deputy director. Mosso’s team produced a burst of designs: the C.5 trainer, of which 65 were built for the Regia Aeronautica, the C.6 Falchetto aerobatic biplane, the FC.12 attack aircraft and the twin-engined FC.20, a ground-attack machine with a 37 mm cannon in its nose. Only the FC.20bis reached a squadron, in tiny numbers, weeks before the armistice of September 1943.

From warplanes to trolleybuses

After the armistice the German occupiers stopped all aircraft work at CANSA. The design office tried, in vain, to keep going with a motor tricycle and a railcar. After the war the name lived on in road transport: in the 1950s CANSA bodied the Fiat 2401 trolleybus for cities from Turin to Ancona. Today Cameri is home to Leonardo’s F-35 final assembly line.

Born from the old Gabardini flying school at Cameri, CANSA became Fiat’s wartime design annexe, and ended up building trolleybus bodies when the aircraft stopped.CANSA · verified 2026-10-03
At a glance

CANSA in numbers

The company

In short
Cameri, Novara

  • Successor to Gabardini’s activities at Cameri
  • Fiat majority from 1939

Production

Best known for
CANSA FC.20

  • C.5 trainer: 65 built
  • FC.12 attack aircraft: 11 built
  • FC.20 family: a handful

Today

Now
Defunct

  • Bodied Fiat 2401 trolleybuses in the 1950s

The Cameri airfield now assembles F-35s for Leonardo.

The numbers

C.5 trainers ordered by the Regia Aeronautica
62 (12 in 1939, 50 in 1940)
The aircraft

Every notable CANSA aircraft

Aircraft Role First flight Built Status Note
CANSA Lictor 130 Trainer Retired Development of the Gabardini Lictor 90
CANSA C.5 Basic trainer biplane 1939 65 Retired Designed by Giacomo Mosso
CANSA C.6 Falchetto Aerobatic trainer prototype 1941 Retired Prototypes only
CANSA FC.12 Ground attack / dive-bomber trainer 1940 11 Retired Fiat A.30 V-12 engine
CANSA FC.20 Reconnaissance bomber / ground attack 1941 a few Retired FC.20bis served with 174a Squadriglia, July 1943
Places, people, records

Where CANSA built, who led it, what it achieved

Factories

  • Cameri works · Cameri, Novara — Airfield workshops visited by Mussolini in 1939

People

  • Giacomo Mosso · deputy director, chief designer — Moved from Fiat in 1939; designed C.5, C.6, FC.12, FC.20
  • Giuseppe Gabardini · predecessor — Aviation pioneer whose business CANSA succeeded
Timeline

CANSA, year by year

1939

Mussolini visits the CANSA works at Cameri

1939

Fiat acquires a majority stake

1939

C.5 trainer first flight

1940

FC.12 first flight

1941

FC.20 first flight

1943

Three FC.20bis with 174a Squadriglia

1943

German occupiers halt aircraft work

1953

Fiat 2401 trolleybus with CANSA body enters production

The family tree

Before and after CANSA

Came afterFiat AviazioneMajority owner from 1939Read the Fiat Aviazione page
Questions & Answers

Everything people ask about CANSA

What does CANSA stand for?
Costruzioni Aeronautiche Novaresi Società Anonima, the Novara aeronautical construction company.
Was CANSA part of Fiat?
Fiat took a majority stake in 1939, and several designs carry the name Fiat CANSA.
What was the CANSA FC.20?
A twin-engined reconnaissance and ground-attack aircraft of 1941; the FC.20bis carried a 37 mm nose cannon.
What did CANSA make after the war?
Bus and trolleybus bodies, notably for the Fiat 2401.

Continue the tour

Around CANSA

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Sources & Further Reading

Every fact, checked

Verified 2026-10-03.