CANT Z.1018
| Z.1018 Leone | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Role | Medium bomber/night fighter |
| Manufacturer | CANT |
| Designer | Filippo Zappata |
| First flight | 9 October 1939 |
| Primary user | Regia Aeronautica |
| Number built | 15 |
The CRDA CANT Z.1018 Leone (Lion) was an Italian medium bomber of the 1940s.
In 1939, the Regia Aeronautica (Italian Air Force) initiated its R Plan, or 3,000 airplanes, a campaign to quickly increase its strength with modern aircraft. By that time, Regia Aeronautica had been involved in wars on two continents, and its equipment had been depleted and had not kept up with technological advances.
As a part of this plan, a competition for a modern medium bomber was announced in 1939. CRDA submitted its Z.1015 for this competition. The Z.1015 was basically an all-metal version of the Z.1007, a three-engine medium bomber with a wooden airframe. The Z.1007 had first flown in 1937 but had not yet entered military service by 1939.
Regia Aeronautica requested Zappata's proposal be modified to incorporate greater strength: the design ultimate load factor was to be increased from 7.0 to 10.0. Zappata determined that such a change would require significant re-engineering and increased weight, and countered with a proposal for a new two-engine aircraft, the Z.1018.
The three engines of the Z.1007 had a combined power output of 2,237 kW (3,000 hp), whereas the two engines proposed for the Z.1018 Alfa Romeo 135 RC.32 had a combined output of 2,088 kW (2,800 hp). Thus its performance would be comparable to the proposed Z.1015 with simpler construction, possible lower weight, and reduced maintenance.
Zappata proposed three variants of the basic aircraft, using different wing planforms:
The new design also offered the possibility of carrying an internal torpedo, which would have been impossible with the Z.1015 fuselage layout.
The new design also offered the possibility of a floatplane version (designated Z.514), using the floats from the Z.506 (the 500 designations were for floatplanes while the 1000 designations were for landplanes).
On 23 February 1939, the Regia authorized production of 32 Z.1018 aircraft, but stipulated an ultimate load factor of 9.0, and also demanded construction of a prototype, and further required that production deliveries begin before the end of the year. This would have been an extraordinarily rapid development schedule, so CRDA objected. The proposed engines had not yet been certificated, and its counter-rotating version had not yet been developed.
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