Why Did The First Transatlantic Airliner Only Take Off Once?

Capacity is a critical issue to manage when operating an airfield or airport, and modern kit-build aircraft hangar buildings are designed to provide the capacity to safely store passenger airlines safe from the elements quickly and efficiently.

Some larger jumbo jetliners are more difficult to store than others; a rather famous issue with the Airbus A380, currently the largest jetliner in the world, is that it is so large and so wide that there are only a handful of airports in the world with hangar space for it.

Whilst a stark contrast in terms of design and sophistication, one of the first major attempts to build a transatlantic aircraft had the same types of issues, which may have contributed to its remarkably brief existence.

The Impossible Dream?

Just before the start of the First World War, 27-year-old Italian aircraft designer Gianni Caproni claimed that aeroplanes capable of carrying over 100 passengers would exist in the very near future.

Exactly a decade ago, the Wright Brothers had only just completed their first flight and by 1913, the aviation world was still barely removed from its pioneer age. At the time, the airship was considered to be the mass air transportation solution of the future.

This rapidly changed during the First World War, and Mr Caproni’s eponymous aviation company built several highly effective multi-engine bomber craft, which combined bafflingly unusual designs with remarkable stability and engineering.

Caproni’s bombing craft were successful during the war, but by 1918, the demand for heavy-duty bombers had all but evaporated, which led to attempts to convert them into passenger airliners with mixed success.

However, Mr Caproni himself had a grand plan to create a huge passenger airliner that could effectively fly anywhere at a time before non-military airports were common.

Even for the innovations of the era, Mr Caproni’s idea was odd, to say the least.

Nine Wings, Eight Engines

The Caproni Ca 60 had nine wings, with three sets of triple wings being propelled by eight engines, and was designed to take off and land on the sea. 

It raised eyebrows almost immediately, but Mr Caproni was no stranger to strange aircraft designs, and there was method in his madness. A flying boat could be used anywhere, and the extra engines and wings would theoretically add redundancy and thus safety.

The project was hugely publicised, and there was a lot of hope both within Italy and internationally that it would be a significant success. If it could successfully fly, it would be years ahead of any other heavier-than-air craft and could have changed the course of aviation history.

Its first take-off test was successful, but its first attempted flight lasted less than 100 feet before the plane lost control and crashed in the water. 

Everyone on board survived, but the cause of the crash has, for over a century, been a point of dispute. Everything from the wake of a steamship on Lake Maggiore to unsecured ballast pushing the plane back and causing the engines to stall due to too steep a climb.

It never flew again, but its remains are still on display as a reminder of, as Mr Caproni once noted, how there are often painful moments on the road to progress.