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Breda Ba.25


Basic Trainer Biplane Aircraft


Kingdom of Italy | 1932



"The Breda Ba.25 proved itself a heady performer as a training instrument in the years leading up to - and during - World War 2."

Power & Performance
Those special qualities that separate one aircraft design from another. Performance specifications presented assume optimal operating conditions for the Ba.25/D.2 Basic Trainer Biplane Aircraft.
1 x Alfa Romeo D.2 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine developing 240 horsepower driving two-bladed propeller at the nose.
Propulsion
127 mph
205 kph | 111 kts
Max Speed
24,606 ft
7,500 m | 5 miles
Service Ceiling
311 miles
500 km | 270 nm
Operational Range
565 ft/min
172 m/min
Rate-of-Climb
Structure
The nose-to-tail, wingtip-to-wingtip physical qualities of the Ba.25/D.2 Basic Trainer Biplane Aircraft.
2
(MANNED)
Crew
25.6 ft
7.80 m
O/A Length
32.7 ft
(9.98 m)
O/A Width
9.3 ft
(2.83 m)
O/A Height
1,742 lb
(790 kg)
Empty Weight
5,049 lb
(2,290 kg)
MTOW
Variants
Notable series variants as part of the Breda Ba.25 family line.
Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 12/20/2021 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site; No A.I. was used in the generation of this content.

Societa Italiana Ernesto Breda (Breda) provided the Italian Air Force, the "Regia Aeronautica", with its standard biplane trainer - the "Ba.25" - in the early part of the 1930s. The type was highly-conventional in design and layout and proved successful enough that 763 units were ultimately produced from the period spanning 1931 until 1938. Three prototypes proved the design sound following a first-flight in 1931 and service entry followed in 1932, eventually counting global operators ranging from Afghanistan and Austria to Paraguay and Spain.

Structurally, the aircraft carried the typical Inter-War appearance complete with over-under biplane mainplanes, fixed "tail-dragger" undercarriage, and open-air cockpits. The mainplanes were given single bays and braced through parallel struts and cabling while being fitted ahead of the cockpit. The undercarriage featured twin main legs that were wheeled and unspatted while the tail was supported by a simple spring-loaded skid for ground-running. The cockpits were in tandem arrangement with the instructor in the rear and the student pilot in the front. Ahead of the pair was mounted the radial engine which, coupled with the biplane wings, naturally reduced forward vision - a common restriction of the biplane design.

The Ba.25 had a length of 25.6 feet, a span of 32.8 feet, and a height of 9.3 feet. Empty weight was 1,738lb with a gross weight reaching 5,044lb. Power from its Alfa Romeo D2 9-cylinder, air-cooled radial piston engine reached 240 horsepower driving a two-bladed propeller unit at the nose. Maximum achievable speed was 127 miles-per-hour while cruising was closer to 121 mph. Range was out to 310 miles while its service ceiling maxed at 24,600 feet. Rate-of-climb was a serviceable 565 feet-per-minute.

In its initial form, the Ba.25 was drawn up as a single-seater before the prototype was changed to accommodate a second cockpit and crewman. After flight-testing, the Regia Aeronautica secured an order for 100 of the biplanes for training purposes and these were all delivered prior to, or around, 1935. They proved popular enough that the service contracted for additional airframes which were delivered before the end of the decade - just prior to the fighting of World War 2 (1939-1945) - giving the Regia Aeronautica some 719 units before the end of 1938. The Ba.25 was used throughout the ensuing conflict though limited to its given basic trainer role, flying for both sides after the Italian surrender of September 1943. Their final days were had in 1945 which fell in line with the last year of the fighting.

The initial version was designated simply as "Ba.25". The "Ba.25/Lynx" incorporated the Alfa Romeo "Lynx" engine of 200 horsepower. The "Ba.25/D.2" followed with an Alfa Romeo D2 engine of 240 horsepower and the "Ba.25/Mezzo-Asso" installed the Isotta-Fraschini Asso 200 series engine of 220 horsepower.

The Ba.25 "Ridotto" was completed as an aerobatic platform given shorter span wing mainplanes for the role and the Ba.25-I ("Idro") was a dedicated floatplane model (available in single-seat format) of which 42 were built. The "Ba.26" was a one-off example built as a primary trainer with extended mainplanes and was powered by the Walter NZ120 engine - it did not move beyond its prototype form. The export-minded Ba.25 became the "Ba.28" which was trailed, and passed on, by the Regia Aeronautica (initially ordering some 50 of the design). These aircraft carried the Gnome-Rhone 7K series engine (built locally by Piaggio) and ended up in the inventories of global players including the Republic of China (Taiwan) Air Force.

Content ©MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.
Operators
Global customers who have evaluated and/or operated the Breda Ba.25. Nations are displayed by flag, each linked to their respective national aircraft listing.

Total Production: 766 Units

Contractor(s): Societa Italiana Ernesto Breda (Breda) - Kingdom of Italy
National flag of Afghanistan National flag of Austria National flag of Bolivia National flag of China National flag of Ecuador National flag of Ethiopia National flag of Hungary National flag of Italy National flag of the Kingdom of Italy National flag of Norway National flag of Spain National flag of Taiwan

[ Afghanistan; Austria; Bolivia; China (Taiwan); Ecuador; Ethiopia; Hungary; Kingdom of Italy; Norway; Paraguay; Spain ]
1 / 1
Image of the Breda Ba.25
Image from the Public Domain; Ba.28 variant pictured in RoCAF scheme.

Going Further...
The Breda Ba.25 Basic Trainer Biplane Aircraft appears in the following collections:
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