CASA III

The CASA III was a Spanish two-seat parasol-wing monoplane of the 1920s, designed by Luis Sousa Peco and built by Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA at Getafe near Madrid. It was meant as a light bomber for the naval air arm, but its performance was poor, so the prototypes were used as touring aircraft and then as trainers at the Naval Air School at Pollensa. It had a fabric-covered steel-tube fuselage, tandem open cockpits and wings that folded for storage. The prototype first flew on 2 July 1929 and on 23 December 1929 became the first light aircraft to land in the Canary Islands. Nine were built, each with a different engine, and all the survivors flew for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War and none lasted beyond it.