Caproni, Giovanni Battista (Gianni), Conte di Taliedo

SUBJECT AREA: Aerospace

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b. 3 June 1886 Massone, Italy

d. 29 October 1957 Rome, Italy

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Italian aircraft designer and manufacturer, well known for his early large-aircraft designs.

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Gianni Caproni studied civil and electrical engineering in Munich and Liège before moving on to Paris, where he developed an interest in aeronautics. He built his first aircraft in 1910, a biplane with a tricycle undercarriage (which has been claimed as the world's first tricycle undercarriage). Caproni and his brother, Dr Fred Caproni, set up a factory at Malpensa in northern Italy and produced a series of monoplanes and biplanes. In 1913 Caproni astounded the aviation world with his Ca 30 three-engined biplane bomber. There followed many variations, of which the most significant were the Ca 32 of 1915, the first large bomber to enter service in significant numbers, and the Ca 42 triplane of 1917 with a wing span of almost 30 metres.

After the First World War, Caproni designed an even larger aircraft with three pairs of triplane wings (i.e. nine wings each of 30 metres span) and eight engines. This Ca 60 flying boat was designed to carry 100 passengers. In 1921 it made one short flight lightly loaded; however, with a load of sandbags representing sixty passengers, it crashed soon after take-off. The project was abandoned but Caproni's company prospered and expanded to become one of the largest groups of companies in Italy. In the 1930s Caproni aircraft twice broke the world altitude record. Several Caproni types were in service when Italy entered the Second World War, and an unusual research aircraft was under development. The Caproni-Campini No. 1 (CC2) was a jet, but it did not have a gas-turbine engine. Dr Campini's engine used a piston engine to drive a compressor which forced air out through a nozzle, and by burning fuel in this airstream a jet was produced. It flew with limited success in August 1940, amid much publicity: the first German jet (1939) and the first British jet (1941) were both flown in secret. Caproni retained many of his early aircraft for his private museum, including some salvaged parts from his monstrous flying boat.

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Principal Honours and Distinctions

Created Conte di Taliedo 1940.

Further Reading

Dizionario biografico degli Italiani, 1976, Vol. XIX.

The Caproni Museum has published two books on the Caproni aeroplanes: Gli Aeroplani Caproni -1909–1935 and Gli Aeroplani Caproni dal 1935 in poi. See also Jane's

fighting Aircraft of World War 1; 1919, republished 1990.

See also: Heinkel, Ernst; Ohain, Hans Joachim Pabst von; Whittle, Sir Frank

JDS