The
prototype Ca.30 three-engine bomber first flew in 1913.
The aircraft had a central crew nacelle with a pusher engine and
twin booms with tractor engines.
Caproni continued to improve the Ca.30 through
World War I. Caproni bombers were license built
in France and the U.S. The definitive version, the Ca.36,
entered service toward the end of World War I and remained in
service as late as 1929.
Along with pre-Soviet Russia, Italy pioneered
heavy bombers. Regular bomber raids against Austria-Hungary
were being mounted within a year of Italy entering the war.
