A Winged ship

A Winged ship

Wind Tunnel models did not all turn out to become production aircraft or even prototypes. Many projects were dropped. There is little or nothing left of those studies, except for a few documents and only very occasionally, a model that the manufacturer himself managed to save from destruction, or more often preserved by an engineer from the design office. In the latter instance, models are faithfully kept by families, but do reappear on the market now and then.

This is what happened with this model that was never developed. It is a study made by the Italian manufacturer Caproni for the making of a transatlantic civil aviation seaplane. This is a derived project of the military bomber Caproni Ca 90 (its first flight was in 1929) that was doomed as well as its civil spin-off because only one prototype was built.

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One notable technical feature on this aircraft is the inverted sesquiplane. On sesquiplanes and generally biplanes, the lower wing has a smaller span that the upper wing. Here, the lower wing is larger. This is an original trade mark of Caproni’s, setting itself apart from the other manufacturers.

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The model is very thin. Its slender fuselage features quite a nice elongated vessel stern-shaped cowling. These fine lines combined with the materials used (wood and brass) and its exceptional condition make this model a beautiful collector’s piece.

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