CANT 25

CANT 25
	The CANT 25M, the initial version of the CANT 25.
Role	Flying-boat fighter
Manufacturer	CANT
Designer	Raffaele Conflenti
First flight	1927
Introduction	1931
Primary user	Regia Aeronautica

The CANT 25 was an Italian shipboard single-seat sesquiplane flying boat fighter that entered service with the Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force) in 1931.

Design and development

The CANT 25 was developed from the earlier CANT 18 flying boat to meet a requirement for a flying boat fighter for the Regia Aeronautica. The aircraft was of wooden construction and was armed with two fixed, forward-firing 7.7-millimeter (0.303-inch) Vickers machine guns.^[1] It was built in two versions, the CANT 25M with removable wings and the CANT 25AR which was strengthened for catapult launching and had folding wings.

The CANT 25M appeared first, in 1931. It had Warren truss-type interplane bracing and a 306-kilowatt (410-horsepower) Fiat A.20 12-cylinder water-cooled engine mounted to drive a two-bladed pusher propeller, and was used for catapult trials aboard warships of the Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy). It was replaced by the CANT 25AR—AR stood for Ali Ripiegabili, Italian for "Folding Wings"—which instead had vertical interplane bracing struts to allow the outer panels of the wings to fold to the rear. It also had strengthened tailplane bracing and a more powerful engine, a 328-kilowatt (440-horsepower) version of the Fiat A.20.^[1]

Variants

CANT 25M: Initial version with detachable wings
CANT 25AR: Later version strengthened for catapult launching and with folding wings

Operators

Kingdom of Italy

Regia Aeronautica

Specifications (25AR)

Data from Green, William, and Gordon Swanborough. The Complete Book of Fighters: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Every Fighter Aircraft Built and Flown. New York: SMITHMARK Publishers, 1994. ISBN 0-8317-3939-8. p. 108.

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 8.75 m (28 ft 8.5 in)
Wingspan: 10.40 m (34 ft 1.5 in)
Height: 3.12 m (10 ft 2.8 in)
Wing area: 30.90 m² (332.6 sq ft)
Empty weight: 1,276 kg (2,813 lb)
Gross weight: 1,706 kg (3,761 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Fiat A.20 12-cylinder water-cooled, 328 kW (440 hp)
Propellers: 2-bladed

Performance
• Maximum speed: 245 km/h (152 mph; 132 kn) at sea level
• Climb rate: 26 min 30 sec to 5,000 m (16,405 ft)
• Range: 900 km (560 mi) at 120 km/h (74 mph; 65 kn)
Armament

Guns: 2 × fixed, forward-firing 7.7 mm (.303 in) Vickers machine guns in the bow

Notes

^ ^a ^b Green and Swanborough, p. 106.

References

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982–1985). Orbis Publishing: 1985.
Green, William, and Gordon Swanborough. The Complete Book of Fighters: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Every Fighter Aircraft Built and Flown. New York: SMITHMARK Publishers, 1994. ISBN 0-8317-3939-8.