Gianni Caproni Aeronautical Museum

Born in Massone di Arco in 1886, Caproni was an engineer and pioneer of aviation. He founded a company for the design and production of airplanes, many of which were used during the First World War.

The Fascist expansionist and military policy favoured the progressive growth of the company and its transformation into an industrial group with factories in Italy and abroad. From the outset, Caproni chose to preserve some models in his factories instead of disposing of obsolete aircraft and reusing the materials, which led to the world’s first aeronautical collection, hailed by Fascists to celebrate the history of Italian aeronautics.

After Caproni’s death in 1957, the entire estate, including the precious archive, was kept by his family, who later organised an exhibition in Vizzola Ticino (Varese). Since 1992, the collection, one of the most important and oldest in the world, has been moved to Trento where it has been managed by the Trentino Historical Museum Foundation since 2019.

Photo: Gianni Caproni Aeronautical Museum in Taliedo, 1940. Credits: Gianni Caproni Aeronautical Museum