CANT 25

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. 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.

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)

|prime units?=met General characteristics

Powerplant

|eng1 kn-ab= |eng1 lbf-ab= Performance

|never exceed speed kmh= |never exceed speed mph= |never exceed speed kts= |wing loading kg/m2= |wing loading lb/sqft= 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 at 120 km/h (74 mph; 65 kn) Armament

Notes

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. .

References

1. Green and Swanborough, p. 106.