Caproni approx 1

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Caproni approx 1
About 1
Type: Test aircraft
Design country:

Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Italy

Manufacturer:

Caproni

First flight:

May 27, 1910

Number of pieces:

1

The Caproni Ca.1 was an Italian double-decker . It was the first aircraft designed by Gianni Caproni and is not to be confused with the two bombers Ca.31 and Ca.32 , both of which were identified in the First World War in the 300 hp version with the military identifier Ca.1.

history

Caproni began working on the machine in the spring of 1909, before completing his studies. The fuselage and landing gear were built in a workshop at Arco , while the wings and the other parts were manufactured in a furniture factory in Arco in Trento due to the limited space available .

The hull of the approx. 1, built in a backyard workshop at Arco

The first flight took place on May 27, 1910 north of Milan on a homestead called La Malpensa , which was used as a military training area and which now houses the Milan airport of the same name . Before that, the individual parts of the aircraft had been put on carts at the beginning of April 1910 and taken to the train station in Ala . From there it was finally transported by rail to Gallarate .

When the machine arrived in Gallarate on April 11, 1910, Gianni Caproni had struck gold while looking for an engine. The machine, made of the wood of the Celtis australis , was equipped with a Miller engine from Turin with only 25 HP. Due to financial problems, a reliable and more powerful engine could not be purchased despite Caproni's concerns.

The engine drove two double-bladed propellers via a chain , which were attached to the side of the fuselage at the level of the wings.

Since no pilot was available for the first flight due to financial problems, the approx. 1 was flown by the mechanic Ugo Tabacchi. He was the only one who could drive a car at Caproni and was thus determined to be the first pilot of a Caproni. Tabacchi managed to get the machine into the air, but caused a crash landing in which the Ca.1 was damaged.

The no longer airworthy machine was repaired to such an extent that Tabacchi could use it as a training aircraft. In 1939 it came to the factory museum in Taliedo in Milan, but was relocated to the family villa in Venegono Superiore during the Second World War to protect it from bomb damage. The first aircraft built by Caproni has been in the Volandia Aviation Museum since 2007 . It is also the oldest surviving aircraft in Italy.

Technical specifications

About 1 in the Aviation Museum Volandia
Parameter Data
crew 1
length 9.86 m
span 10.50 m
height 3.36 m
Wing area 38 m²
Empty mass 550 kg
Max. Takeoff mass 650 kg
drive 1 × 4-cylinder W-engine Miller
power 25 HP (18 kW)

literature

  • Rosario Abate, Gregory Alegi, Giorgio Apostolo: Aeroplani Caproni. Gianni Caproni ideatore e costruttore di ali italiane. Museo dell'aeronautica Gianni Caproni , Trento 1992.
  • Giorgio Apostolo: Guida agli aeroplani d'Italia. Dalle origini ad oggi. Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Verona 1981.
  • Federico Bianchessi: Gianni Caproni. Una storia italiana. Pietro Macchione Editore, Varese 2014 ISBN 978-88-6570-194-2 .
  • Giovanni Celoria: Tre anni di aviazione nella brughiera di Somma Lombardo (April 5, 1910 - April 5, 1913). Rod. Tip. Unione Cooperativa, Milan, 1913. Reprint ed. by Romano Turrini, Il Sommolago - Museo dell'Aeronautica G. Caproni - Comune di Arco, Trento 2004.
  • Romano Turrini: Ganni Caproni per Arco: il bene per il bene. Il Sommolago, Comune di Arco, Arco 2007.

Web links

Commons : Caproni Ca.1 (1910)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rosario Abate, Gregory Alegi, Giorgio Apostolo: Aeroplani Caproni. Gianni Caproni ideatore e costruttore di ali italiane. Pp. 37-38
  2. ^ Romano Turrini: Ganni Caproni per Arco: il bene per il bene. Pp. 21-28
  3. ^ Giovanni Celoria: Tre anni di aviazione nella brughiera di Somma Lombardo (April 5, 1910 - April 5, 1913). Pp. 9-10
  4. ^ Giorgio Apostolo: Guida agli aeroplani d'Italia. Dalle origini ad oggi. P. 17
  5. ↑ Rosario Abate, Gregory Alegi, Giorgio Apostolo: Aeroplani Caproni. Gianni Caproni ideatore e costruttore di ali italiane. Pp. 7-11
  6. ↑ About 1 Technical Data and History (Italian / English) (PDF; 672 kB) accessed on April 9, 2018