Giovanni Battista Caproni, 1st Count of
Taliedo (July 3, 1886 – October 27, 1957), known as "Gianni" Caproni, was an Italian
aeronautical engineer,
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 aircraft-manufacturing company.
Early life and education
Caproni was born on July 3, 1886 in
Massone, which at the time was in
Austria-Hungary but became a part of
Italy in 1919. In 1907 he received a
degree
Degree may refer to:
As a unit of measurement
* Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement
** Degree of geographical latitude
** Degree of geographical longitude
* Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathematics
...
in
civil engineering from the
Technical University Munich. A year later he received a
doctoral degree in
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.
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
Romanian aircraft designer
Henri Coandă, whom he had met at ''lIstituto Montefiori di Liegi'', in the building of
sailplanes. In 1908, he founded the Caproni factory in the
Taliedo district of
Milan, 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 – 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 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
The Caproni Ca.1 was an Italian heavy bomber of the World War I era.
Development and design
The Ca.1 was a three-engine biplane of fabric-covered wooden construction. It had four crew members in an open central nacelle: two pilots, a fro ...
. After Italy entered
World War I in 1915, he devoted his efforts to designing and constructing
bombers.
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 service, and on August 2, 1919, a Ca.48
crashed
"Crashed" is the third U.S. rock single, (the fifth overall), from the 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 stations, along with some Alternativ ...
near
Verona, Italy, killing everyone on board (14, 15, or 17 people, according to various sources) in Italys first
commercial aviation disaster and one of the earliest – and, at the time, the deadliest – airliner accidents in history.
In 1921, he built the
prototype
A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...
of a giant
transatlantic passenger
seaplane, the
Caproni Ca.60
The Caproni Ca.60 Transaereo, often referred to as the Noviplano (nine-wing) or Capronissimo, was the prototype of a large nine-wing flying boat intended to become a 100-passenger transatlantic airliner. It featured eight engines and three sets ...
''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, he devoted most of his effort to the design and production of bombers and light
transport aircraft, and his company manufactured the early
Stipa-Caproni
The Stipa-Caproni, also known as the Caproni Stipa, was an experimental Italian aircraft designed in 1932 by Luigi Stipa (1900–1992) and built by Caproni. It featured a hollow, barrel-shaped fuselage with the engine and propeller completely e ...
and
Caproni Campini N.1
The Caproni Campini N.1, also known as the C.C.2, is an experimental jet aircraft built in the 1930s by Italian aircraft manufacturer Caproni. The N.1 first flew in 1940 and was briefly regarded as the first successful jet-powered aircraft in hi ...
, the
ducted fan 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 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
trainers, 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 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 at the
San Diego Air & Space Museum.
[Sprekelmeyer, Linda, editor. ''These We Honor: The International Aerospace Hall of Fame''. Donning Co. Publishers, 2006. .]
See also
*
Gianni Caproni Museum of Aeronautics
*''
The Wind Rises'', a 2013 film in which Caproni is a character
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