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by using the link in the description. The Transaereo was unlike any aircraft ever
built. With 8 engines, 9 wings, and room for 100 passengers. And it was going to do what
had never been done before. Fly passengers all the way across the Atlantic, when ocean
crossings were still only possible by boat. But in 1921, flight was still in its infancy.
And this enormous machine was setting out to do the impossible. For centuries, travelling from Europe to North
America meant crossing the Atlantic aboard a ship. And in the 18th century, it took a
sailing ship weeks to make the journey. In the 19th century, faster and more reliable
steamships could make the crossing in just over a week. By the 20th century, enormous
steam turbine ocean liners could cross the Atlantic in a matter of days. But after centuries of progress ships had
more or less reached their limit. Ocean crossings weren't going to get much faster. And it was
right around this time that some were beginning to look to a new technology. In June of 1919,
two daring British aviators John Alcock and Arthur Brown set out to cross the Atlantic
in an airplane. Taking off from the tip of North America aboard
a heavily modified WWI-era bomber, the two pilots barely survived fierce north Atlantic
storms, failing equipment, and even a crash landing in Europe. But they made it, completing
the world's first non-stop flight across the Atlantic in just 16 hours. They received a hero s welcome. But despite
their achievement, regular passenger-carrying flights across the Atlantic were at least
another 20 years away. Because in 1919, knowledge about aerodynamics and the mechanics of flight
still were not fully understood. But a pioneering Italian aircraft builder
by the name Giovanni Caproni wasn't going to wait around. In the same year Alcock and
Brown made the first non-stop crossing, Caproni was already overseeing construction of an
enormous transatlantic airliner. A giant flying boat he dubbed the Ca. 60 Transaereo. While Alcock and Brown s plane carried just
the two daring pilots, Caproni s flying boat would accommodate one hundred passengers along
with a crew of eight. These were unheard of numbers for 1919. And while Caproni had already made a name
for himself building Italy s first airplane and many successful military aircraft, many
dismissed his giant flying boat as a complete fantasy. But as photos of the enormous aircraft appeared
in the press, the world began to take Caproni s ambitions more seriously. Because in many
ways, he was a visionary who had long dreamt about the potential of large passenger aircraft.
Especially in parts of the world where transportation infrastructure was still underdeveloped. But no one had ever attempted to build an
aircraft this large. And Caproni's design philosophy seems to have been. to take whatever
was known to work, and to do a lot more of it. Because with nine wings, the Transaereo
was unconventional even by 1920 s standards. And also had eight of the most powerful engines
available at the time, configured with some engines pulling the aircraft forward while
others pushed. Keeping the enormous plane together were more than 250 meters of struts
and over two kilometers of bracing wire. Inside the Transaereo were benches for one
hundred passengers and large windows for taking in panoramic views. Operating the aircraft
would be a team effort. With two pilots upfront in an open air cockpit, and two flight engineers
sitting on top to operate the engines. To communicate, the pilots and flight engineers
would rely on a complex system of lights and indicators. The Transaereo was an extraordinary machine,
built to usher in a new era of mass air travel. The Transaereo made its first test flight
sometime in February or March of 1921. Managing to reach 80 km/h before briefly lifting out
of the water. Incredibly, the Transaereo could actually fly. But there s a reason why aircraft aren't built
with nine wings. Arranged in neat a row, each set of wings interfered with the ability of
the next set to produce lift. And all of the struts and wire rigging produced enormous
drag. The Transaereo's center of lift also looked to be way above it s center of mass,
which made the aircraft stable but extremely difficult to control. So you can probably
guess where this is going. On it s second test flight, things didn't
go so well. This time the Transaereo lifted off, reached 100 km/h and then promptly smashed
back into the water. Leaving a broken tangled mess. In an instant, Caproni s dreams of transatlantic
air travel were shattered. But even if the Transaereo had been airworthy,
It s not entirely clear how it was supposed to make it all the way across the Atlantic.
With a cruising speed of just 130 km/h and hour and a range of about 600 km, the journey
from Italy to America would have taken days. Requiring at least a dozen refueling stops.
Many of which would have been in the middle of the Atlantic, where taking on fuel from
a waiting ship would have been impractical if not dangerous. But Caproni firmly believed that mass air
travel was the future. And he had the right idea, but at the wrong time. Because the Transaereo
was a plane designed to do what was still impossible in 1920. And it would take another
two decades before aviation technology would catch up, allowing for regular transatlantic
passenger flights to begin in 1939. But a decade after the Transaero, Caproni
was back at it. This time, helping to design what many claim is the ugliest aircraft ever
built. But in many ways, the Stipa-Caproni was even
more forward thinking. And some even claim that this plane helped pave the way for turbofan
engines. You can learn more about what makes this plane so special in my latest video now
on Nebula. Nebula is a streaming platform I helped create.
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That's a very Kerbal aircraft - MOAR WINGS
The Wind Rises
My guess is that it would catch turbulence like a real son of a bitch.
Y'know slap some hydrogen bags on that bad boy and I think we got a contender
I’d like to see how the pilots and flight engineers communicated with another!
Yo my boy mustard the airplane channel.
Can anybody send link to his nebula videos?
He had a good idea, but this was way too early. The technology just didn't allow this sort of thing yet. Most engines at this point in history could measure their hours between major servicing in single digits. I seriously doubt it could have made the trip.
Day to cross, in an open cockpit. Did Caproni catch his wife with a pilot?