Italian Special Military Commission for Aeronautics in U.S.A.

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Major Raffaele Perfetti explains that due to the lack of an Italian airplane industry, he and A. Pomilio were dispatched to the U.S. in February 1915, three months before Italy declared war. Consequently:[1]

Today all the airplanes at the front, and under construction, are made entirely of American raw materials manufactured in Italy.

He thanks the U.S. and especially Prof. James S. Macgregor and Dr. H. T. Beans of Columbia University.

(His statement corroborates the retrospective comment of Elsbeth E. Freudenthal that Europeans preferred American parts to American aircraft, which at the time didn't work very well.)[2]

Perfetti did not mention that committee was also lobbying for the construction of Caproni aircraft in the US.[3] [Source isn't clear whether he wanted them to license the design, or build them on contract, or what. Earlier it says the Caproni company was trying to persuade them to license a triplane bomber, but the US refused due to expense.]

References

  1. Major R. Perfetti, "Italian Airplane Development", Vol. 1, No. 3., July 26, 1917, pp. 89.
  2. Freudenthal, 1940, The Aviation Business, p. 26.
  3. Rossano & Wildenberg, 2015, p. 102.

Links


Organization names Italian Special Military Commission for Aeronautics in U.S.A.; Special Italian Military Commission for Aeronautics in the United States; etc
Entity type
Country US, IT
City
Affiliated with
Scope international
Started aero 1915
Ended aero
Keywords military
Key people R. Perfetti, A. Pomilio
Wikidata id