A PLANE dubbed the world’s wackiest ever built was designed to soar across the Atlantic with its unique set up that would also allow it to work on water.
The innovative aircraft had nine wings and a whopping eight engines but the dream ended in a catastrophic way as it nosedived straight into a lake and the crazy idea was abandoned as it was left in tatters.
5
5
The Caproni Ca.60 Transaereo was a truly one-of-a-kind aircraft as manufacturing company Società Italiana Caproni had the bright idea to make a flying boat in 1921.
The hopeful plan was to make a plane that could carry up to 100 passengers across the Mediterranean and Atlantic in simple, short and safe journeys.
In case of a crash landing or any technical faults in the air the plane could simply glide into the water and continue on its journey because of its clever design allowing it to sail as well.
Nicknamed the Capronissimo, the plane was powered by eight 400 horsepower engines and had nine 30m wings.
read more in wacky planes
The aircraft was essentially three triplanes fused on top of each other and two pontoons that provided stability.
Standing 30ft tall and weighing 15,000kg, the plane was modest in both height and size compared to passenger jets like a Boeing 747.
Hitting maximum speeds of 87mph and cruising at 68mph the ship in the skies wasn’t particularly quick but it was predicted to do its job quite well.
Passengers would’ve been put on wooden benches in cabins in groups of four people.
Most read in Tech
Two would sit on a bench and face the other two during the journies.
At the time of the aircraft’s conception planes were only really used for carrying a very small number of people.
Usually a maximum of 10 people would squeeze into a less than safe plane and hope they landed where they wanted to be but the Capronissimo was designed to be different.
The whole build only took 18 months to complete despite the complexity of it and after a short successful trial run the Italian developers were raring to give it a go on a longer journey.
They packed the plane with sandbags to replicate the weight of the people they’d soon be transporting and took off on a flight over Lake Maggiore in Italy.
With three people on board, the pilot Federico Semprini and two engineers, the plan was to make it across the lake and land in Switzerland.
As it reached an impressive height of around 70ft Semprini made a dodgy turn and lost control of the aircraft, sending one of its nine wings smashing into the lake’s surface.
The plane then stalled and crashed into Lake Maggiore in devastating fashion and was badly damaged.
It was saved from tragically sinking and towed to shore but it was too beaten up to ever make a third go of it and the project was chucked to the side.
Some blamed a poor stability in the air on the crash while others speculated that the sandbags onboard all flew to one side of the plane when it turned and wildly threw it off balance.
Parts of the battered plane can still be seen today in the Gianni Caproni Museum of Aeronautics in Trento.
An engine, the control panel, and some of the floats are all on display.
The contest for the worlds wackiest plane has had some stiff competition over the last century even if most remained in the concept stages of production.
Perhaps the most far fetched idea was the Lockheed Very Large Aeroplane that was literally the largest ever plane thought up.
It was due to be twice the size of a Boeing 747 and carry 1,000 people in a double-decker style jet.
The Lockheed Ring Wing was set to be the first passenger plane to have only one huge circular wing.
It was designed to use up less fuel, have smoother landings and be able to land on tiny runways.
Earlier this month, a supersonic plane that promises to be the next generation of commercial travel announced it was in the works.
Designed by Oscar Viñals from Barcelona, Spain, the spaceship-like aircraft looks like something straight out of Star Wars and can carry 300 passengers in ultra-lux flights.
It is also powered by electricity and reaches a top speed of around 1,150mph.
5
5
5
