How the 9-Wing Caproni Ca.60 Was Supposed to Revolutionize Flight in 1921

What if a plane with nine wings and the luxury of an ocean liner was supposed to make the Wright Brothers look like amateurs? In 1921, Italian engineer Gianni Caproni built the Ca.60 Noviplano, a flying hotel that promised to carry 100 passengers across the Atlantic. In this episode, Gavin Carter reveals why this engineering marvel became aviation's most spectacular failure after just two test flights. 🎯 What You'll Learn: • How Caproni crammed nine wings, eight engines, and 3,200 horsepower into one massive aircraft • Why the passenger cabin had smoking lounges and sleeping berths like a luxury cruise ship • The exact moment everything went wrong on that fatal second test flight in March 1921 👤 Perfect for: aviation enthusiasts and anyone fascinated by ambitious engineering projects that pushed the boundaries of what seemed possible. 📍 Chapters: [00:00] Gavin Carter introduces the flying hotel that defied physics [01:45] Building a plane bigger than anything before it [03:30] Nine wings, eight engines: the wild engineering behind the Ca.60 [06:00] Inside the luxury passenger cabin designed for transatlantic comfort [08:15] February 21st: the first flight that barely left the water [10:30] March 4th: the crash that ended Caproni's Atlantic dream [12:00] What modern aviation learned from this colossal failure 🔔 Never miss an episode: Follow Flight Footprints on Spotify or Apple Podcasts and turn on notifications. New episodes drop daily, your next favorite aviation story is one tap away. 🔍 Topics: Caproni Ca.60, experimental aircraft, aviation history, 1921 flight testing, early passenger aviation ----- Keywords: aircraft design, supersonic flight, aviation history Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices