Aircraft Designations Imperial Aeronautica 1920 and Beyond.

[ctwaterman]

The mix of aircraft type and manufacturers in the Empire has led to confusion about aircraft types.  Starting in 1920 production aircraft will be assigned a code with the Initials of their manufacturer a letter designating aircraft type and a number designating the year it began production.

C – Caccia [To Hunt or Stalk, Fighter Aircraft]
B – Bombardiere [To Bomb or Bomber Aircraft]
A – Assalire [To attack ground or naval attack aircraft]
P – Pattugliare [To Patrol, Reconnaissance Aircraft]
M – Marittimo [Marine or Naval Aircraft]

So An Ansaldo MA-20 would be an aircraft built by Ansaldo for maritime attack in 1920

The Aircraft in use by the Italia Aeronautica are as follows.

Light Aircraft
macchi C-16
Caproni C-16
Rinaldo Piago C-17
Macchi MC-19
Ansaldo C-20

Medium and Heavy Aircraft
Macchi MB-17
Caproni MPA-17
Caproni PB-16
Caproni MP-16
The Caproni PB-16 and MP-16 are the same aircraft however the MP-16 use float and can take off and land from the ocean.  Primarily deployed in Harbors.
Caproni PB-20