Breda Ba.33

Light-Class, High-Performance Racing Aeroplane

Kingdom of Italy | 1930

"The high-performance Breda Ba.33 racer certainly made a name for itself in the 1930s - though its story ultimately tainted by structural failures."

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 01/03/2022 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site; No A.I. was used in the generation of this content.

Cesare Pallavicino of Breda of the Kingdom of Italy is credited with the design of the light-class, racing-minded Ba.33. The twin-seat, single-engine aircraft initially went airborne (as the "Ba.33 Serie 1") in 1930 and went on to become a notable performer for its time in the air, claiming the Giro Aereo d'Italia in 1931. The design ran into trouble (including one fatal crash) in 1932 due to wing failures which ultimately damaged its reputation.

The aircraft was largely conventional in its design approach, utilizing a very streamlined, rounded fuselage with the engine fitted to the nose. Aft of the engine compartment were tandem open-air cockpits for two, the fuselage tapering towards the empennage. The empennage carried a single vertical tail fin, low-set planes, and a tailwheel. The tailwheel was supported through the main legs under the wings positioned ahead of midships. The mainplane members, straight in their general shape with rounded tips, were also seated ahead of midships for the needed balance and were braced against the fuselage by way of reinforced struts and high-tension cables.

The Ba.33 was given a running length of 22.2 feet and a wingspan of 30.9 feet. Empty weight was 946lb against a gross rating of 1,826lb.

The original engine fitting was the British de Havilland "Gipsy III" 4-cylinder inverted inline, air-cooled piston engine of 120 horsepower used to drive a simple two-bladed propeller at the nose. This helped the airframe reach maximum speeds of 143 miles-per-hour out to a range of 1,120 miles. The service ceiling was rated to 22,960 feet and rate-of-climb reached 874 feet-per-minute.

Beyond the Serie 1 aircraft, with its de Havilland Gipsy III, the line included the Ba.33 Serie 2 entries of which one carried the Gipsy engine and the other was completed with an uprated Colombo S.63 unit of 130 horsepower. The final aircraft was the Ba.33S which included seating for just one in a more modern enclosed cockpit. This airframe was fielded with the S.63 140 horsepower engine of the second Series 2 entry.

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Power & Performance
Those special qualities that separate one aircraft design from another. Performance specifications presented assume optimal operating conditions for the Breda Ba.33 Serie 1 Light-Class, High-Performance Racing Aeroplane.

1 x de Havilland Gipsy III 4-cylinder inline, air-cooled piston engine developing 120 horsepower driving two-bladed propeller unit at the nose.
Propulsion

143 mph
230 kph | 124 kts
Max Speed

22,966 ft
7,000 m | 4 miles
Service Ceiling

1,118 miles
1,800 km | 972 nm
Operational Range

874 ft/min
266 m/min
Rate-of-Climb

Structure
The nose-to-tail, wingtip-to-wingtip physical qualities of the Breda Ba.33 Serie 1 Light-Class, High-Performance Racing Aeroplane.

2
(MANNED)
Crew

22.2 ft
6.78 m
O/A Length

30.8 ft
(9.40 m)
O/A Width

948 lb
(430 kg)
Empty Weight

1,830 lb
(830 kg)
MTOW

Variants
Notable series variants as part of the Breda Ba.33 family line.

Ba.33 - Base Series Designation

Ba.33 Serie 1 - Initial twin-seat model with de Havilland Gipsy III engine of 120 horsepower.

Ba.33 Serie 2 - Twin-seat model with original Gipsy III engine and second airframe with Colombo S.63 engine fitting of 140hp.

Ba.33S - Single-seat model with enclosed cockpit and S.63 engine of 140hp.

Operators
Global customers who have evaluated and/or operated the Breda Ba.33. Nations are displayed by flag, each linked to their respective national aircraft listing.

Total Production: 4 Units
Contractor(s): Breda - Kingdom of Italy

[ Kingdom of Italy; Imperial Japan ]

1 / 1

Image from the Public Domain.

Going Further...
The Breda Ba.33 Light-Class, High-Performance Racing Aeroplane appears in the following collections:

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