Romeo Ro.1bis: “What’s in a name?”

The Fokker C.V with the Fairey III and especially the French duo, Bréguet XIX and Potez XV, were the recon/light bomber bestsellers of the 1920s/early 1930s. Utterly Fokker in its construction philosophy, the design was also quite flexible with an assortment of engine options (both radial and liquid-cooled), with and without floats and various wing span configurations. Circa a thousand were produced inhouse and under licence.

The Ro.1 was a licence-built version of the Fokker C.V-E produced in Italy by what later became the IMAM company. An improved Ro.1bis flying over a really impressive cloud cover in this charming photo.