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Buchi nell'aria

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FIASCHI DIMENTICATI Durante l'età d’oro dell’aviazione generale, molte proposte, tanti prototipi e vari modelli di produzione morirono sul nascere. Di LeRoy Cook (Traduzione di L. Pavese) Durante l'età d’oro dell’aviazione generale negli Stati Uniti, la definizione della quale varia a seconda di chi ne parla, ma che si potrebbe identificare con i cinquant’anni che vanno dal 1960 al 2010, vi furono tanti aeroplani, solo proposte ma anche prototipi e velivoli di produzione, che nacquero morti o morirono sul nascere; e anche meritatamente, in alcuni casi. In altri, invece, il fallimento fu il risultato di una tempistica sbagliata o di un’immeritata cattiva reputazione. Io fui testimone della maggior parte di suddette mal recepite presentazioni, ed ebbi anche occasione di pilotarne alcune. A beneficio dei lettori, vorrei dragare dal fondo della mia memoria alcuni di questi progetti quasi riusciti. Se non altro, le mie reminescenze potrebbero portare una ventata di realismo storico...
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Observing Ethiopia

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       International Observers in Italian Eastern Africa      By Gianclaudio Polidori (Translated and edited by Leonardo Pavese).      Between January and March 1936, during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, a commission of foreign officers was accompanied to Eastern Africa to show the evidence of fair play on the part of the Italian forces, since the European adversaries of Italy insisted on the accusation of the use of illicit means in the conduct of the war. The Italians also wanted to demonstrate the operational capabilities of their military forces in that theatre. Some of the international observers with Italian General Staff officers. In the background: S.81s of the 63rd Squadriglia of the 24th Group, 9th Stormo B.T. (9th Land Bomber Wing) of the Italian Regia Aeronautica (Royal Air Force), based in Gura, Eritrea.       The head of the mission was Lieutenant Colonel Paolo Angioy, a mutilated, decorated veteran of...
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A Croat Surviving in Serbia

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      The  FIAT G.50bis in Croatia      By Decio Zorini (Translated and edited by L. Pavese)      In 1940, several modifications were identified and made to improve the FIAT G.50 as an interceptor, including removing the fragmentation bomb bay and streamlining the rear fuselage. However, the tailwheel remained fixed instead of retractable as planned. The powerplant was unchanged, and performance remained largely the same despite slight increases in empty and gross weight. Designated the G.50bis, the new variant first flew in September 1940, though deliveries did not begin until April 1941. It was then deployed alongside the original G.50 on most operational fronts. From 1941 to 1943, several Squadriglie operated in the Balkans, including Greece and Albania.      In October 1941, the Italian Mission in the Kingdom of Croatia received a request for military aid, including medium tanks, armored cars, fighter, bomber, and li...
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Targeting a METEOR

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     The genesis of the Meteor P0      T he first modern Italian drone       by Carlo Siardi (translated by L. Pavese       The word “drone” is now familiar to nearly everyone, surrounded as we are by news of these unmanned aircraft, often portrayed as novel, highly innovative, and somewhat mysterious. Yet drones also have a history—one largely unknown but well worth telling.      Surprisingly, Italy was a cradle of European drone development. And, since the beginning,  the country has produced unmanned aircraft ranging from high-performance, radio-controlled aerial targets capable of high-transonic speeds to multispectral reconnaissance and surveillance drones able to remain aloft for up to twenty-four hours.      This article traces the little-known origins of the Meteor P0, the ancestor of all Italian drones.      Sixty-seven years ago, the first Meteor P0 made ...
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