Count Gianni Caproni, builder of some fine aircraft, chose for some
reason to build a giant flying boat with no fewer than nine wings and
eight engines. With this, or an even bigger version, he hoped to fly over 100
passengers across the Atlantic. Amidst all the struts and wings, the absence of
any tail surfaces could easily be overlooked. Reportedly making a short hop
without incident, the official first flight was less successful. Rising to about
18m above Lake Maggiore, the Ca.60 suddenly nosed down and dived
into the water. Some said that testing had shown the need for a lot of lead
ballast and that this had shifted in flight. Test pilot Semprini crawled out of
the wreck unscathed. Later a mysterious fire destroyed the remains and ended
the Count's transatlantic dream.
Since this thing never did more than a hop, claiming a range of "410 miles" is at best disingenuous. Just look at the huge amount of built-in headwind, plus the huge amount of induced drag from all those wings.
Wikipedia states that the range was 410 mi. To cross north atlantic with such a short range would require really short hops. Something like Newfoundland, Baffin Island, Greenland, Iceland, faroe islands. scotland and onto Europe. Rather than a real commercial venture, it seems like it may have been an elaborate investment fraud.
Er, yes... I think we must salute test pilot Semprini - to take the controls of such sa monstyer requires great valour...and after all Caproni's work on eminently sensible and original designs, too..
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