52 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN Issue No 21
Ca.113R biplane and the rather more sedate
Breda Ba.25 biplane trainer, Romeo (later IMAM)
Ro.1bis biplane reconnaissance-bomber and
Ro.30 reconnaissance biplane. The association
between altitude records, the RAQ and Guidonia
peaked with the AQV monoplane, developed,
built and tested in this single location, which
explains why it remained almost completely
unknown until 1999, and its development and
history grossly distorted thereafter.^2
The high-flyers
By the mid-1930s open-cockpit biplanes were
starting to give way to more advanced types.
On September 28, 1936, Sqn Ldr F.R.D. Swain
reached 15,229m (49,964ft) in the specially-
constructed Bristol Type 138A, returning the
record to Britain. Its monoplane design and
enclosed cockpit pointed to the future, but
it is difficult to say if, and to what extent, it
influenced Italian designers. What is known is
that during 1935–37 there appeared in Italy a
series of at least three high-speed high-altitude
monoplane designs, details of which have only
recently surfaced, and of which the AQV was the
only one to fly.
The first monoplane proposal was possibly
the Ca.117, a 550 h.p. two-seater with a wing
of 14·5m (47ft 7in) span and 30m² (323ft²)
area. A general arrangement drawing was
completed on September 13, 1936, but the type
apparently never went any further. At some
point Capitano ingegnere (Captain, engineering
branch) Roberto Miniero proposed a 750 h.p.
single-seater monoplane intended to reach a
speed of 530km/h (329 m.p.h.) and a height of
13,600m (44,600ft). Variously dated to 1935 or
1937, this unnamed design was built only as a
windtunnel model, the test results of which are
unfortunately lost.^3
The third monoplane was initially designated
simply AQ (for Alta Quota — High Altitude),
and was envisaged with an unspecified 500 h.p.
engine with reduction gear. Its designer was
Capitano ingegnere Giuseppe Schepisi, a young
graduate engineer who had joined the service in
June 1936, shortly after completing his doctorate.
The earliest surviving, albeit undated, AQ
documentation provides a comprehensive list
of static and aerodynamic tests, ranging from
spinning to aileron and elevator balancing.^4 It
also shows Schepisi pondering alternatives,
presumably to determine whether the potential
performance gain justified the additional weight
and complexity. With the engine set at 2,400
r.p.m. and the propeller turning at 1,890 r.p.m. at
10,000m (32,800ft), the aircraft was expected to
be capable of 485km/h (301 m.p.h.) with a fixed
undercarriage and 520km/h (323 m.p.h.) with a
retracted undercarriage. Both metal and wooden
empennages were contemplated, with the
tailplane trimmable from -6° to +3°. Half of theThe earliest known Italian
high-altitude monoplane
proposal was the Caproni
Ca.117, the original general
arrangement drawing of which
was rediscovered only during
the research for this article,
and the plan and profile views
of which are reproduced here
for the first time.
BELOW A poor-quality but
extremely rare photograph
of the Miniero monoplane
windtunnel model. Its
resemblance to the AQV
has led some to identify
Miniero as the father of
the latter, but there is no
evidence to suggest this.
VIA GIULIO C. VALDONIOVIA AUTHOR