Caproni Ca.1 (1910)
| Caproni Ca.1 | |
|---|---|
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| Rear view of Gianni Caproni's first experimental biplane, the Caproni Ca.1, in Malpensa (Varese) in 1910. | |
| Role | Experimental aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Gianni Caproni |
| Designer | Gianni Caproni |
| First flight | 27 May 1910 |
| Status | On display at the Volandia aviation museum |
| Number built | 1 |
The Caproni Ca.1 was an experimental biplane built in Italy in 1910. It was the first aircraft to be designed and built by aviation pioneer Gianni Caproni, although he had previously collaborated with Henri Coandă on sailplane designs.
The Ca.1 had an uncovered rectangular truss as a fuselage; its two-bay wing cellule featured unstaggered mainplanes of equal span. Although the engine was mounted in the nose, it drove propellers mounted in front of the wings on long struts. The landing gear consisted of a dual mainwheel and skid arrangement, with outrigger wheels at each wingtip and a tailwheel.
The Ca.1 flew for the first time on 27 May 1910; although the flight was rather successful, the aircraft crashed while landing and was heavily damaged; it was repaired, but never flew again. The Ca.1 is now on display at the Volandia aviation museum in Italy.
Gianni Caproni had begun his experiments in the field of aviation in 1908. In that year, together with his Romanian friend and colleague Henri Coandă, he designed and built a biplane glider whose flights took place in the surroundings of Blaumal (in the Ardennes) and were largely successful, leading Caproni to carry on his aeronautical studies. In 1909 he met several aviators and aircraft designers in Paris, where he also witnessed the flights of some of the most recent aeroplanes.
While still in France, Caproni began designing his first engined aircraft. In June 1909, after going back to Italy, he made an attempt to collect the money he needed to build the machine in Alessandria; however, he didn't manage to convince the local investors of the worthiness of his projects. It was only in December, after spending a period of time in Belgium in order to complete his specialization in electrical engineering, that Caproni went back to his hometown, Arco, and was finally able to gather some collaborators, thanks to whom he would begin the construction of the experimental biplane that was going to become known as the Caproni Ca.1.
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