Raffaele Conflenti (4 December 1889 – 16 July 1946) was an Italian

aeronautical engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is si ...

and aircraft designer. During his career, he worked for some of the most important

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tec ...

manufacturers in Italy and designed a large number of aircraft including civil and military

flying boats A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged aircraft, fixed-winged seaplane with a hull (watercraft), hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a ...

, record-breaking seaplanes and land

trainers Sneakers (also called trainers, athletic shoes, tennis shoes, gym shoes, kicks, sport shoes, flats, running shoes, or runners) are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but which are now also widely used fo ...

and

fighters Fighter(s) or The Fighter(s) may refer to: Combat and warfare * Combatant, an individual legally entitled to engage in hostilities during an international armed conflict * Fighter aircraft, a warplane designed to destroy or damage enemy warplane ...

Biography

Conflenti was born in

Cosenza Cosenza (; local dialect: ''Cusenza'', ) is a city in Calabria, Italy. The city centre has a population of approximately 70,000; the urban area counts more than 200,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Province of Cosenza, which has a populati ...

, then part of the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and ...

, on 4 December 1889. He graduated in engineering and in 1912 he started working for Società Italiana Transaerea (Italian Trans-Aeronautical Company, or SIT) in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. Th ...

. He then worked for Domenico Santoni's Società Costruzioni Aeronautiche Savoia (Savoia Aeronautical Works Company) in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

and later he became the technical director of SIAI (Società Idrovolanti Alta Italia,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

for Seaplane Company of Northern Italy), the company Santoni had founded in 1914 together with businessman Luigi Capè. SIAI was headquartered in

Sesto Calende Sesto Calende is a town and ''comune'' located in the province of Varese, in the Lombardy region of northern Italy. It is at the southern tip of Lake Maggiore, where the Ticino River starts to flow towards the Po River. The main historical sight ...

, on

Lake Maggiore Lake Maggiore (, ; it, Lago Maggiore ; lmo, label= Western Lombard, Lagh Maggior; pms, Lagh Magior; literally 'Greater Lake') or Verbano (; la, Lacus Verbanus) is a large lake located on the south side of the Alps. It is the second largest l ...

. Conflenti, who had initially supervised the production of license-built Blériot,

Maurice Farman Maurice Alain Farman (21 March 1877 – 25 February 1964) was a British-French Grand Prix motor racing champion, an aviator, and an aircraft manufacturer and designer. Biography Born in Paris to English parents, he and his brothers Richard a ...

and

Henri Farman Henri Farman (26 May 1874– 17 July 1958) was a British-French aviator and aircraft designer and manufacturer with his brother Maurice Farman. Before dedicating himself to aviation he gained fame as a sportsman, specifically in cycling and moto ...

aircraft, now turned to FBA types. In 1917, however, his first original design—the

SIAI S.8 The SIAI S.8 was an Italian 1910s two-seat reconnaissance flying boat. Design and development The Societa Idrovolanti Alta Italia (SIAI) was formed in 1915 initially to build French flying boats under license. The company employed Raffaele Confl ...

—made its maiden flight. Conflenti designed several other aircraft for SIAI before Santoni suddenly left SIAI and moved to Saint-Ouen, in the suburbs of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

, where in 1921 he founded a new company named CAMS (Chantiers Aéro-Maritimes de la Seine, French for Aircraft and Shipping Yards of the

Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plate ...

); Conflenti followed Santoni a few months later and became the technical director of CAMS. CAMS initially built SIAI aircraft under license, but Conflenti soon started designing new types of seaplanes, including record-breaking CAMS 30T and CAMS 36. Conflenti left CAMS in 1923 and he went back to Italy, where he became the head designer of the newly founded aeronautical section of CNT (Cantiere Navale Triestino, Italian for Shipyard of

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into pr ...

), headquartered in

Monfalcone Monfalcone (; Bisiacco: ; fur, Monfalcon; sl, Tržič; archaic german: Falkenberg) is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Gorizia in Friuli Venezia Giulia, northern Italy, located on the Gulf of Trieste. Monfalcone means 'falcon mountain ...

. He held that position until 1932 (in the meantime, CNT had merged with Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino giving birth to

Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico ("United Shipbuilders of the Adriatic") was an Italian manufacturer in the sea and air industry which was active from 1930 to 1966. This shipyard is now owned by Fincantieri. History In 1930, Stabilimento Tecnic ...

, or CRDA). Between late 1932 and 1935 Conflenti worked for the

Società Aerea Mediterranea Società Aerea Mediterranea (SAM) was an Italian cargo and passenger airline based in Rome, Italy, which operated between 1928 and 1939 as subsidiary of Ala Littoria and between 1959 and 1981 as subsidiary of Alitalia. It was founded on 26 March 1 ...

(SAM) airline. In 1936 he started working for the

Caproni Caproni, also known as ''Società de Agostini e Caproni'' and ''Società Caproni e Comitti'', was an Italian aircraft manufacturer. Its main base of operations was at Taliedo, near Linate Airport, on the outskirts of Milan. Founded by Giova ...

group, where he collaborated with

Giovanni Pegna Giovanni Pegna (4 January 1888 – 19 May 1961) was an important figure in the development of Italian aviation. He was the head of the construction department of Piaggio and later of the Officine Meccaniche Reggiane, a subdivision of Caproni. ...

; among his last designs were the Caproni Ca.164, Ca.165 and Ca.603. Conflenti died in Cosenza on 16 July 1946.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conflenti, Raffaele 1889 births 1946 deaths Aircraft designers Italian aerospace engineers