Capelis XC-12

The Capelis XC-12 was a failed 1933 aircraft design that most notably was used as a non-flying prop in the 1942 movie, The Flying Tigers, starring John Wayne, and in the 1939 film Five Came Back with Chester Morris and Lucille Ball. It resembled a Beech 18 and featured unusual twin horizontal tail structures supported by several vertical surfaces.

SpecificationsEngines: Two 525hp Wright Cyclone; span: 55'0" length: 42'0" load: 3000# Designed by Dr John E Younger. All-metal; triple biplane tail; partly-retracting gear, which extended automatically when the throttle was closed.

Funded by local Greek restaurateurs as a promotional aircraft, and constructed with help from University of California students. US patent #1,745,600 issued to Socrates H Capelis, of El Cerrito, in 1930 (a modified application for patent of the design with a half-span dorsal wing and two more engines appears in 1932). The main spar was bolted together, and much of the skin attached with P-K screws rather than rivets. These tended to vibrate loose, requiring tightening or replacing every few flights, and constituted a safety hazard that grounded the airplane. Promotional tours were soon abandoned, and its career ended as a movie prop, appearing in ground roles in a number of motion pictures during WW2, when flyable airplanes had more important uses. Flying shots in films were of a model; the plane itself was grounded by the studio's insurance company. The airplane itself is thought to have been scrapped in 1943, but the model was used in several later films.

Capelis XC-12 Filmography:

* Five Came Back (RKO) 1939

* Flying Blind (Paramount) 1941 (model)

* Flying Tigers (Republic) 1942 (airplane and model)

* Adventures of the Flying Cadets (Universal) 1943 (model)

* Invisible Agent (Universal) 1942

* Night Plane from Chungking (Paramount) 1943

* Wings over the Pacific (Monogram) 1943 (model)

* Action in Arabia (RKO) 1944

* Dick Tracy’s Dilemma (RKO) 1947

* Daredevils of the Clouds (Republic) 1948 (model)

* Tarzan's Magic Fountain (RKO) 1949 (model)

* On the Isle of Samoa (Columbia) 1950 (model)

* China Gate (Globe Enterprises) 1957 (model)

References: http://www.aerofiles.com/_ca.htmlhttp://www.cocardes.org/tvcine/articles.php?pg=273&lng=fr