Where Caproni began

Vizzola Ticino, close to today’s Malpensa airport, is where it all started. Gianni Caproni moved there at the end of 1910 and began series production in 1911. When the Caproni group grew into a large syndicate between the wars, Caproni Vizzola became one of its main divisions, alongside Caproni Bergamasca, Reggiane and Isotta Fraschini. In 1915 a consortium of bankers and industrialists took over and enlarged the Vizzola works to build the Ca.31 bomber, and in 1917 Gianni and his brother Federico bought the business back as Società Italiana Caproni.

Fighters that lost out

In 1938 the Regia Aeronautica held a competition for a modern monoplane fighter. Caproni Vizzola entered the F.5, which first flew on 19 February 1939; it outperformed the winners, the Fiat G.50 and Macchi C.200, yet only a small batch of 13 was built. Prototypes F.4 and F.6 followed during the war. When the parent group collapsed in 1950, Vizzola kept going on its own, building NSU-engined motorcycles from 1953 to 1959 and bus bodies in the 1960s.

Sailplanes, motorcycles and buses

Its later fame came from sailplanes. The Calif family first flew in 1969, and the two-seat A-21S, built in around 150 examples, at one time held four world records for two-seaters. A jet trainer, the C22J Ventura, flew on 21 July 1980. In 1983 the company was acquired by Agusta. It was the last aircraft to carry the Caproni name, and development continued for a while under Agusta without series production.

Továrny

• Vizzola Ticino works · Vizzola Ticino, Lombardy — Caproni’s original series production site from 1911

Lidé

• Gianni Caproni · founder of the Caproni group — Began series production at Vizzola Ticino in 1911

Rekordy a prvenství

• Calif A-21S: straight-distance two-seat record of 970.4 km by Ingo Renner and Hilmer Geissler, Australia, 1975
• Calif A-21S: women’s two-seat closed-circuit speed record by Adele Orsi and Franca Bellengeri, August 1974