AEROPLANE TO AEROPLANO

     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...

  Furio Lauri’s meteors by Giuseppe Blini            The name of Furio Lauri is undoubtedly associated to the rebirth of Italian aviation after WWII and to the Meteor company.         Differently from other Italians who, in the same period, distinguish themselves as aircraft designers, Lauri was rather a multifaceted and far-sighted aviation entrepreneur always animated by a great passion.         Furio Lauri was born in 1918 in Zara (now Zadar, Croatia) and grew up in Trieste. He achieved his civilian pilot license, and in 1939 joined the Regia Aeronautica, which he left in 1947 with the rank of major.         His military activity is outside the scope of this article, but it would suffice to say that he was awarded a gold medal and two silver medals for military valor. The gold medal was awarded to him for a series of da...