Italian experiments before carrier aviation dominated

The unusual nine-wing Caproni Ca.60 passenger design demonstrates how water could accommodate an aircraft too large for most contemporary airfields, although its crash on the second flight shows that scale was not enough. Italian naval seaplanes such as the Macchi M.18 could deliver maritime reconnaissance without an aircraft carrier. In the 1920s, that was still a credible alternative because carrier aviation had not yet opened an overwhelming performance gap. An experimental civil transport and a practical naval scout therefore belonged to the same water-enabled design culture.