Giovanni Battista Caproni, 1st Count of

Taliedo Taliedo is a peripheral district ("quartiere") of the city Milan, Italy, part of the Zone 4 administrative division, located south-east of the city centre. The informal boundaries of the district are three main city streets, respectively Via Mecen ...

(July 3, 1886 – October 27, 1957), known as "Gianni" Caproni, was an Italian

aeronautical engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is si ...

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

, and aircraft designer who founded the

Caproni Caproni, also known as ''Società de Agostini e Caproni'' and ''Società Caproni e Comitti'', was an Italian aircraft manufacturer. Its main base of operations was at Taliedo, near Linate Airport, on the outskirts of Milan. Founded by Giovan ...

aircraft-manufacturing company.

Early life and education

Caproni was born on July 3, 1886 in Massone, which at the time was in

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but became a part of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in 1919. In 1907 he received a

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from the

Technical University Munich The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; german: Technische Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Establis ...

. A year later he received a

doctoral degree A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

from the

University of Liège The University of Liège (french: Université de Liège), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French. As of 2020, ULiège is ranked in the 301 ...

Career

In 1907 and 1908, Caproni gained experience in the construction of

aircraft engine An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the power component of an aircraft propulsion system. Most aircraft engines are either piston engines or gas turbines, although a few have been rocket powered and in recent years many ...

s; he also collaborated with the

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n aircraft designer

Henri Coandă Henri Marie Coandă (; 7 June 1886 – 25 November 1972)''Flight'' 1973 was a Romanian inventor, aerodynamics pioneer, and builder of an experimental aircraft, the Coandă-1910 described by Coandă in the mid-1950s as the world's first jet, a co ...

, whom he had met at ''lIstituto Montefiori di Liegi'', in the building of

sailplane A glider or sailplane is a type of glider aircraft used in the leisure activity and sport of gliding (also called soaring). This unpowered aircraft can use naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to gain altitude. Sailplan ...

s. In 1908, he founded the Caproni factory in the

district of

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, Italy, to manufacture

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

s. In 1909 he opened an industrial airport near the Cascina Malpensa – today's

Milan–Malpensa Airport Milan Malpensa Airport is the largest international airport in northern Italy, serving Lombardy, Piedmont and Liguria, as well as the Swiss Canton of Ticino. The airport is northwest of Milan, next to the Ticino river dividing Lombardy and ...

– to manufacture and test his aircraft. In 1910, he designed and built his first powered aircraft, the Caproni Ca. 1, an experimental biplane which was the first aircraft built in Italy. It was destroyed during its first flight on May 27, 1910. In 1911, the year his company was named ''Società de Agostini e Caproni'', he switched to

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

construction, in which he had greater success. In 1914, he tested Italys first multi-engined aircraft, a three-engine biplane later dubbed the Caproni Ca.31 . After Italy entered

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1915, he devoted his efforts to designing and constructing

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

s. His company later was renamed ''Società Caproni e Comitti''. Caproni was an early proponent of the development of passenger aircraft, and developed a variant of the Ca.4 bomber into the Ca.48

airliner An airliner is a type of aircraft for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an ...

. Although it made a very favorable impression on the public when first displayed, the Ca.48 probably never entered

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...

service, and on August 2, 1919, a Ca.48

crashed "Crashed" is the third U.S. rock Single (music), single, (the fifth overall), from the band Daughtry (band), Daughtry's debut album. It was released only to U.S. rock stations on September 5, 2007. Upon its release the song got adds at those stat ...

near

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

, Italy, killing everyone on board (14, 15, or 17 people, according to various sources) in Italys first

commercial aviation Commercial aviation is the part of civil aviation that involves operating aircraft for remuneration or hire, as opposed to private aviation. Definition Commercial aviation is not a rigorously defined category. All commercial air transport and ae ...

disaster and one of the earliest – and, at the time, the deadliest – airliner accidents in history. In 1921, he built the

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of a giant

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passenger

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tec ...

, the Caproni Ca.60 ''Noviplano'', with a capacity of 100 passengers, but it proved unstable and crashed on its second flight. He also designed gliders. Between World War I and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he devoted most of his effort to the design and production of bombers and light

transport aircraft Transport aircraft is a broad category of aircraft that includes: * Airliners, aircraft, usually large and most often operated by airlines, intended for carrying multiple passengers or cargo in commercial service * Cargo aircraft or freighters, fix ...

, and his company manufactured the early Stipa-Caproni and Caproni Campini N.1, the

ducted fan In aeronautics, a ducted fan is a thrust-generating mechanical fan or propeller mounted within a cylindrical duct or shroud. Other terms include ducted propeller or shrouded propeller. When used in vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) applicatio ...

experimental aircraft An experimental aircraft is an aircraft intended for testing new aerospace technologies and design concepts. The term ''research aircraft'' or ''testbed aircraft'', by contrast, generally denotes aircraft modified to perform scientific studies, ...

which were precursors of true jet aircraft. During this period, his company became ''Società Italiana Caproni'', a major conglomerate which purchased other manufacturers, creating subsidiaries which included Caproni Bergamasca and Caproni Vizzola, although the assertion that Caproni also purchased the

Reggiane Officine Meccaniche Reggiane SpA (commonly referred to as ''Reggiane'') was an Italian industrial manufacturer and aviation company. Reggiane was founded during 1904 by its parent company Caproni, which was in turn owned by the aeronautical eng ...

company to form a "Caproni Reggiane" subsidiary is a myth. Caproni was granted the title ''Conte di Taliedo'' (Count of Taliedo, or Earl of Taliedo) during the interwar period. The Caproni company produced aircraft for the ''

Regia Aeronautica The Italian Royal Air Force (''Regia Aeronautica Italiana'') was the name of the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946. In 1946, the monarchy was abolis ...

'' (Italian Royal Air Force) during World War II – primarily bombers, transports, seaplanes, and

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, although the Caproni Vizzola subsidiary also built several fighter prototypes. The ''Società Italiana Caproni'' conglomerate ceased operations in 1950, although its last vestige, the Caproni Vizzola subsidiary, survived until 1983.

Death and legacy

Caproni died in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

on October 27, 1957. His remains were transferred to his hometown of Massone where he was buried in the Caproni family grave. In 1983, Caproni was inducted into the

International Air & Space Hall of Fame The International Air & Space Hall of Fame is an honor roll of people, groups, organizations, or things that have contributed significantly to the advancement of aerospace flight and technology, sponsored by the San Diego Air & Space Museum. Sin ...

at the

San Diego Air & Space Museum San Diego Air & Space Museum (SDASM, formerly the San Diego Aerospace Museum) is an aviation and space exploration museum in San Diego, California, United States. The museum is located in Balboa Park and is housed in the former Ford Building, ...

.Sprekelmeyer, Linda, editor. ''These We Honor: The International Aerospace Hall of Fame''. Donning Co. Publishers, 2006. .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caproni, Giovanni Battista 1886 births 1957 deaths Aircraft designers Italian aerospace engineers Italian electrical engineers Italian civil engineers Italian nobility Caproni Technical University of Munich alumni Caproni people

Early life and education

Career

Death and legacy

See also

References