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 Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

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 ...

in 1919. In 1907 he received a degree in

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

from the Technical University Munich. 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 '' ...

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 ...

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 ma ...

s; he also collaborated with the

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n 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 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 ...

, 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 a ...

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 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 con ...

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 World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

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 torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped from an air ...

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 ai ...

. 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 air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in wh ...

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

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

, 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 ...

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 programming. A prototype is generally used to ...

of a giant transatlantic passenger

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

, 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 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, 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 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 h ...

, 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 aboli ...

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

trainers Sneakers (also called trainers, athletic shoes, tennis shoes, gym shoes, kicks, sport shoes, flats, running shoes, or runners) are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but which are now also widely used ...

, 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. Si ...

at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.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