Design and Development
The original design by Socrates H. Capelis was issued U.S. patent #1,745,600 in 1930. The patent comprised a modified application with a half-span dorsal wing mounted rearward, and on top of the cabin with two additional engines mounted on the wings. The project was funded by local Greek restaurateurs as a promotional aircraft, and constructed with help from University of California students.
A less radical design by Dr. John E. Younger featured all-metal construction, and was built as an all-metal low-wing, retractable gear twin engine airliner with a triple vertical stabilizer supporting a dual (biplane arrangement) horizontal stabilizer. The wing used a large box-spar construction with corrugated skin panels. The partly retracting gear, extended automatically when the throttle was closed.
Following a 1938 incident, the XC-12 was modified at Glendale, California. The forward slanting eight-piece windshield was modified to a four piece that slanted rearward, and the passenger windows were squared off to look more like a Douglas DC-3.
Read more about this topic: Capelis XC-12
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