Caproni Ca . 335 The Caproni Ca . 335 Maestrale ( Mistral ) was an Italian single - engined two - seat fighter - bomber / reconnaissance aircraft of the 1930s . It was designed by Caproni to meet a requirement of the Belgian Air Force , with it being planned that the aircraft would be built under licence by the Belgian company SABCA as the SABCA S . 47 . Only a single aircraft was built , production plans being stopped by the German invasion of Belgium in May 1940 . Development and design . In October 1937 , the Belgian aircraft manufacturer Société Anonyme Belge de Constructions Aéronautiques ( SABCA ) made a marketing agreement with the Italian company Caproni , with SABCA selling some of Caproni ' s military aircraft in certain markets , including the Caproni Ca . 135 , Ca . 310 and the Ca . 312 , which were to be designated SABCA S . 45bis , S . 46 and S . 48 respectively . As part of this agreement , Caproni were to develop a replacement for the Belgium Air Force ' s Fairey Fox biplanes , which were used as two - seat fighters and reconnaissance aircraft , but were obsolete . The task of designing the new type for SABCA , the Caproni Ca 335 Maestrale , was given to Chief Engineer Cesare Pallavicino , who based the design on his earlier A . P . 1 attack aircraft . It was a low - winged cantilever monoplane of mixed construction , with a metal skinned steel - tube fuselage and wood and fabric wings , powered by a single Hispano - Suiza 12Y crs V12 engine . It had a hydraulically actuated retractable tailwheel undercarriage , with the mainwheels retracting backwards into the wing . The pilot and observer were provided with individual , widely separated cockpits , with the observer having defensive armament of a single machine gun , and the pilot firing a Hispano - Suiza HS . 404 " moteur - canon " firing through the propeller hub and two wing mounted machine - guns , while a small bomb - bay housed two 50 kg ( 110 lb ) bombs , while a further ten 50 kg ( 22 lb ) bombs could be carried under the wings . The Ca 335 prototype was built at Caproni ' s Ponte San Pietro factory , making its maiden flight there on 16 February 1939 . It was then dismantled and sent to SABCA ' s factory at Brussels by train . After re - assembly , it flew again on 19 September 1939 . Initial testing was successful , resulting in SABCA purchasing a license for manufacture of the Ca 335 , and demonstrating it , now designated SABCA S . 47 , to officials of the Belgian Ministry of Defence and representatives of a number of other nations . While the Belgian Air Force were impressed by the S . 47 , and had a requirement for 24 of them , SABCA ' s factory was busy with orders for 41 Breguet 693 s for the Belgian Air Force and for France , and 10 Koolhoven F . K . 58 s for France , delaying a formal order being placed . On 14 March 1940 , the prototype was being demonstrated to the French " Armee de l ' Air " st Orléans when it was damaged in a minor landing accident . It had not been repaired when the Germans invaded France and the Low Countries , stopping SABCA ' s production plans . The prototype S . 47 was captured by the advancing German forces on 13 June 1940 . Attempts by Caproni to reclaim the S . 47 were unsuccessful , it remaining in France until 1943 , eventually being scrapped .