Caproni Ca.60(en.wikipedia.org)

55 pointsby m3atvor 5 Jahren8 comments

en.wikipedia.org

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caproni_Ca.60

8 comments

I saw this plane while watching The Wind Rises and due to the unorthodox wing design I assumed it was never built in reality.

Pleasantly surprised to know that it actually existed, even if it was not a viable aircraft.

simion314vor 5 Jahren

>Pleasantly surprised to know that it actually existed, even if it was not a viable aircraft

I do not see any mention about this. It seems there was an issue during a test, the prototype was broken and there were no funds to resume testing.

Maybe someone that is knowledgeable and passionate enough could plug this design into an airplane simulator and determine it's merits.

cplantijnvor 5 Jahren

This is a great video explaining the development of this aircraft. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYn6fyGNg7c

digitalrootvor 5 Jahren

did you just watch the wind rises?

Giorgivor 5 Jahren

yeah it never scaled

throwawayseavor 5 Jahren

The listed range under the specifications says the range is 380 miles. That’s a far cry from transatlantic - I wonder what caused such a big difference between intention and reality.

geeBvor 5 Jahren

Being just a prototype it might just have been enough to test, like the test Starships these days. Once you can cruise you can trade passengers/cargo capacity for fuel. But probably all the numbers were quite aspirational.

Also it probably would have followed a flight path similar to the Curtiss NC-4, with refueling stops, leaving the longest leg to be between the Azores and Newfoundland. Still much farther than the range though.

I think even if they could make it work though it would have been awful for a passenger. The cruise speed listed is incredibly slow. NY to London would take almost 2 days of flight time.

laumarsvor 5 Jahren

Compared to two weeks(!!!) by sea, which was the norm back then, two days sounds really impressive.