Caproni Ca.60 Noviplano flying boat (static display)

Count Gianni Caproni, builder of some fine aircraft, chose for some reason to build a giant flying boat with no fewer than nine wings and eight engines. With this, or an even bigger version, he hoped to fly over 100 passengers across the Atlantic. Amidst all the struts and wings, the absence of any tail surfaces could easily be overlooked. Reportedly making a short hop without incident, the official first flight was less successful. Rising to about 18m above Lake Maggiore, the Ca.60 suddenly nosed down and dived into the water. Some said that testing had shown the need for a lot of lead ballast and that this had shifted in flight. Test pilot Semprini crawled out of the wreck unscathed. Later a mysterious fire destroyed the remains and ended the Count's transatlantic dream.

Specification CREW 8
ENGINE 8 x 400hp Liberty piston engines
WEIGHTS Take-off weight 24993 kg 55100 lb
DIMENSIONS Wingspan 30.00 m 98 ft 5 in Length 23.47 m 77 ft 0 in Height 9.24 m 30 ft 4 in
PERFORMANCE Max. speed 112 km/h 70 mph

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Caproni
• Ca.60
• Noviplano
• flying
• boat
• aviation
• history

[smurfswacker]

What a magnificent monster! I read somewhere that people said the Caproni had a built-in headwind. Is there footage somewhere of its test flight?

[Bomberguy]

Not that I know of

[mackat4ck]

This would be cool for fsx.

[NVanWendy]

It's said that Fokker would design his aircraft by eye, rather than with a slide rule and mathematics. What looked good to his eye tended to fly well, as the allies found out in WW 1. How is it that something so preposterous as this made past the first sketch at the Caproni works? No instincts for design, I guess.

[ecomtek]

this is why italians shouldnt design planes man,, that shit is horrible and 8 V12 fucking engine to pull that bs off the ground?!! Woow..

[danielcarro100]

It was a ugly and unfortunated monster

[popnsplat]

It crashed on its first flight. The pilot escaped, and the plane was recovered, but later burned in a fire.

Too bad, this is an amazing old machine.

[aleks070777]

Campari-Martini flying boat Look 1:28 :)))

[oldfart387]

@Bomberguy She ain't pretty but......... well, she ain't pretty.

[oldfart387]

Whenever you view a video from bomberguy, be sure to read the description! He always has good info there.

[oldfart387]

@davidrodgersNJ It said in the description that it got up to 18m followed by a sudden stop, the water!

[davidrodgersNJ]

Did it actually fly?

[diddymuck]

surprising bulk economy unfortunately sacrificing aesthetic value. Had he kept modifying two or three more times, we may have had Hughes' Albatross a few decades earlier.

[skiidahonorthsouth]

Love how the props are not far refined from the 2x8 boards they were made from.