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Caproni

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, seeCaproni (surname).

Caproni
IndustryAerospace
Founded1908;116 years ago(1908)
Defunct1950;74 years ago(1950)
FateIncorporated intoAgusta
HeadquartersItaly
ProductsTransport aircraft
Bombers
Experimental planes
Military trainers
Seaplanes
SubsidiariesCaproni Bergamasca
Caproni Vizzola
Reggiane
Isotta Fraschini
Caproni Ca.316seaplane at its moorings.

Caproni,also known asSocietà de Agostini e CaproniandSocietà Caproni e Comitti,was an Italianaircraft manufacturer.Its main base of operations was atTaliedo,nearLinate Airport,on the outskirts ofMilan.

Founded byGiovanni Battista "Gianni" Caproniduring 1908, the company produced several successfulheavy bombersduring theFirst World War.Following the acquisition of several other aviation firms throughout theinterwar period,Caproni transformed into a sizable aviation-orientatedsyndicate,theSocietà Italiana Caproni, Milano.The majority of its aircraft were bombers and transport aircraft. It played a pioneering role in the development of theCaproni Campini N.1,an experimental aircraft powered by athermo-jet.It provided large numbers of combat aircraft for theAxisduring theSecond World War.The firm did not prosper in thepostwarera and the Società Italiana Caproni went out of business in 1950. Many of the company's former assets were subsequently acquired by the Italian helicopter specialistAgusta.

History

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The company was founded during 1908 by the Italianaviation pioneerandaeronautical engineerGiovanni Battista "Gianni" Caproni.It was initially named, from 1911,Società de Agostini e Caproni,thenSocietà Caproni e Comitti.Caproni was responsible for completing the first aircraft of Italian construction in 1911. Its principal manufacturing facilities were based inTaliedo,a peripheral district ofMilan,close toLinate Airport,while the firm's Caproni Vizzola division was based inVizzola Ticino,close toMilan–Malpensa Airport.

The firm initially produced a series of small single-engine aircraft, including theCaproni Ca.1,Ca.6andCa.12;these became important milestones in the early development of Italian aviation.[1]As such, Caproni became one of the most importantAlliedaircraft manufacturers during theFirst World War,being responsible for the design and manufacture of large, multi-engine long-rangebombers,such as the three-enginedCaproni Ca.32,Ca.33,Ca.36andCa.40.These aircraft were adopted not only by the Italian military, but by the French as well. Caproni's bombers were a significant contribution in the development of heavy aircraft.[2][3]Following the end of the conflict, thestrategic bombingtheories ofGiulio Douhetwere reputedly shaped by the operational use of Caproni bombers, and thus have been was seen as an important landmark in the history of aviation.[3][4]

TheInterwar periodwas a busy one for Caproni. While the end of the First World War had led to a rapid decrease in demand for bombers, impacting orders for much of Caproni's traditional product line, Caproni elected to redirect the bulk of the company's resources towards the growing civil aviation market.[5]It was also during this period that the company was reorganised into a largesyndicate,which was named theSocietà Italiana Caproni, Milano,as a result of having acquired several smaller Italian manufacturers. By the 1930s, the company's main subdivisions comprised Caproni Bergamasca, Caproni Vizzola,Reggianeand the engine manufacturerIsotta Fraschini.Caproni's aircraft activity largely orientated towards the production of bombers and light transport aircraft.

Perhaps the most distinctive of Caproni's aircraft was theCaproni Ca.60 Transaereo,an experimental largeflying boatdesigned for the civil sector. At the time, the concept of a large multi-engined flying boat to serve long-distance passenger routes was considered to be radical.[6]However, Caproni believed that such an aircraft could allow the travel to remote areas more quickly than ground or water transport, and that the investment required to develop and manufacturer such an aircraft would be less expensive than pursuing alternative means.[5]During 1919, Caproni filed topatenthis work on the concept.[7]His large seaplane design, designated Caproni Ca.60, was highly unorthodox, featuring eight engines and three sets of triple wings.[7]On 12 February or 2 March 1921,[N 1]the aircraft took off for the first time, proving to be both stable and maneuverable during its brief flight, in spite of a persisting tendency to climb.[9]However, on March 4, the sole completed aircraft was lost while attempting its second flight.[10]

During 1927, theCaproni Museum(Italian:Museo Caproni) was established in Taliedo by Giovanni Caproni and his wife, Timina Caproni.[11]It is both the oldest aviation museum in Italy,[12][13][11]as well as the country's oldest corporate museum.[12][14]The Caproni Museum has long outlived the Caproni company itself.[15]

Caproni continued to maintain its interest in innovative aircraft. One such example was theStipa-Caproni,also known as theCaproni Stipa,which was designed byLuigi Stipaand built by Caproni during the early 1930s. The aircraft featured a hollow, barrel-shapedfuselagewith theengineandpropellercompletely enclosed by the fuselage, effectively forming a singleducted fan.While unconventional, flight testing found that the approach induced significantaerodynamic drag,cancelling out much of the gains in engine efficiency and reducing the aircraft's top speed to only 131 km/h (81 mph).[16]Some authors have claimed that its design had influenced the development ofjet propulsion.[17][18]

The Caproni Campini N.1 overflyingPiazza Venezia,Rome

During the 1930s, Caproni became involved with the Italianaeronautics engineerSecondo Campini,who was engaged in pioneering research in the then-unexplored field ofjet propulsion,having proposed adopting a so-calledthermo-jetto power an aircraft.[19]Campini had been issued with an initial contract from the Italian government to develop and manufacture his envisioned engine. During 1934, theRegia Aeronautica(the Italian Air Force) granted its approval to proceed with the production of a pair of jet-poweredprototypeaircraft; Caproni was engaged to manufacture this aircraft, which was thus designated as theCaproni Campini N.1,with Campini providing technical guidance while specialising in the engine's design.[20][21]

On 27 August 1940, themaiden flightof the experimental N.1 occurred at Caproni'sTaliedofacility.[22]On 30 November 1941, the second prototype was flown from Milan'sLinate Airportto Rome'sGuidonia Airport,in a highly publicised event that included a fly-past over Rome and a reception with Italian Prime MinisterBenito Mussolini.According to the historian Nathanial Edwards, the practicality of the N.1 design had been undermined by political pressure to speed the programme along so that Italy would be more likely to be the first country in the world to perform a jet-powered flight.[23]According to economics author Harrison Mark,Sovietaircraft design bureauTsAGIobtained details on the N.1 programme and were encouraged to pursue work on a similar design; as such, there is a basis for stating that the design of the N.1 influenced subsequent early jet aircraft.[24]

The early years of thepostwarera was one of considerable hardship for Caproni and the wider Italian aviation industry alike. During 1950, the Società Italiana Caproni ceased to exist.[citation needed]However, one of the company's former divisions,Caproni Vizzola,endured until 1983, at which point it was acquired by the Italian helicopter manufacturerAgusta.[25]

Aircraft

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From[26][27]

Pre-World War I

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World War I

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Inter-war period

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World War II

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Post-World War II

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See also

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References

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Notes

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  1. ^Alegi & August 2006,p. 23 cites 12 February 1921 as the date of the Transaereo's maiden flight, but at p. 24 the same source considers the pause between this flight and the next inexplicable. Instead theGianni Caproni Museum of Aeronautics,in the text of an explanatory panel,[8]cites 2 March 1921 as the date of the maiden flight.

Citations

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  1. ^Abate, Alegi & Apostolo 1992,pp. 10–29.
  2. ^Abate, Alegi & Apostolo 1992,pp. 35–36.
  3. ^abGrant & Niccoli 2003,p. 101.
  4. ^Unikoski, Ari (22 August 2009)."The War in the Air – Bombers: Italy".firstworldwar.Retrieved14 April2012.
  5. ^abAlegi & August 2006,p. 15
  6. ^Alegi & August 2006,p. 16
  7. ^abAlegi & August 2006,p. 17
  8. ^La sfida del volo[The Challenge of Flight] (exhibition explanatory panel) (in Italian).Trento:Gianni Caproni Museum of Aeronautics.2011.
  9. ^Alegi & August 2006,pp. 23–24
  10. ^Alegi & November 2006,p. 32
  11. ^ab"Museo dell'Aeronautica Gianni Caproni"(in Italian). Museo delle scienze. Archived fromthe originalon 18 February 2012.Retrieved24 February2012.
  12. ^abNicoletti & Gabrielli 2007,p. 2.
  13. ^"Un secolo di storia (1)"(in Italian). Museo dell'Aeronautica Gianni Caproni. Archived fromthe originalon 6 February 2012.Retrieved24 February2012.
  14. ^"Un secolo di storia (2)"(in Italian). Museo dell'Aeronautica Gianni Caproni. Archived fromthe originalon 6 February 2012.Retrieved24 February2012.
  15. ^"Museums"(in English).UNITN – Scienze Matematiche, Fisiche e Naturali,2012. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  16. ^Guttman,Aviation History,March 2010, p. 19.
  17. ^O.E. Lancaster,High Speed Aerodynamics and Jet Propulsion. Vol. XII: Jet Propulsion Engines,Princeton 1959 claims that "The Stipa Aero plane built by Caproni in 1932 should be classified as a Jet Aircraft. The Stipa Aero plane can be considered as a predecessor of the Jet Aircraft of today."
  18. ^Guttman, Robert (March 2010). "Caproni Flying Barrel: Luigi Stipa Claimed His 'Intubed Propeller' Was the Ancestor of the Jet Engine".Aviation History:18–19.ISSN1076-8858.
  19. ^Golly 1996, pp. 32–33.
  20. ^"Storia del Campini Caproni"(in Italian). National Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo da Vinci.Archivedfrom the original on 15 July 2017.Retrieved15 July2017.
  21. ^Pavelec 2007, p. 5.
  22. ^"ItalianAir Scooter".Flight,10 October 1952. p. 471.
  23. ^Edwards, Nathanial. "Flight as Propaganda in Fascist Italy."World At War Magazine,Late 2010.
  24. ^Mark 2014, p. 235.
  25. ^"Caproni Museum of Aeronautics in Trento".discoveritaly.alitalia.
  26. ^Gianni Caproni, Biplano Ca 90, inGli Aeroplani Caproni- Projects Studies Realizations from 1908 to 1935, Milan, Edizioni d'arte Emilio Bestetti, 1937, pp. 229-45,
  27. ^AA.VV., Caproni Ca.90, inGrande Enciclopedia Aeronautica,Milan, Edizioni Aeronautica L. Mancini, 1936, p. 154,

Bibliography

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  • Abate, Rosario; Alegi, Gregory; Apostolo, Giorgio (1992).Aeroplani Caproni – Gianni Caproni ideatore e costruttore di ali italiane(in Italian). Trento, Italy: Museo Caproni.
  • Alegi, Gregory (August 2006). "The castle door, the mooring pylon and the Transaereo – Part 1".WW1 Aero(193).ISSN0736-198X.
  • —— (November 2006). "The castle door, the mooring pylon and the Transaereo – Part 2".WW1 Aero(194).ISSN0736-198X.
  • Golly, John.Jet: Frank Whittle and the Invention of the Jet Engine.Datum Publishing, 1996.ISBN1-90747-201-0.
  • Grant, R. G.; Niccoli, R. (2003).Il volo – 100 anni di aviazione(in Italian). Novara, Italy: DeAgostini.ISBN88-41809-51-5.
  • Mark, Harrison.The Economics Of Coercion And Conflict.World Scientific, 2014.ISBN9-81458-335-9.
  • Nicoletti, Giovanna; Gabrielli, Luca (2007). Giovanna Nicoletti (ed.).La Collezione Caproni(in Italian). Rovereto, Italy: Stella Edizioni/Museo Tridentino di Scienze Naturali/Museo dell'Aeronautica Gianni Caproni.OCLC799828536.
  • Pavelec, Sterling Michael.The jet race and the Second World War.Praeger Security International: Westport, Connecticut. 2007.ISBN0-275-99355-8.
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