J.Davilla Italian Aviation in the First World War. Vol.2: Aircraft A-H (A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes 74)
Ansaldo A.1 Balilla
To provide fighter escort for the planned new reconnaissance and artillery units, there would be 15 fighter squadriglias each with six seziones of six aircraft each. These would not only have HD.1s, SPAD 7s and 13s, Nieuport 27s, plus the new Ansaldo Balillas and Pomilio Gammas.
No attempt was made to produce the SPAD 7 under license; Italy was placing its hopes on license-built HD.1s and indigenous designs such as the Ansaldo SVA and A.1. These were expected to possess the requisite performance requirements, and these all-wood designs would be easier to mass produce.
Alegi believes that the development of the A.1 began almost concurrently with the SVA series. This would explain why the Ansaldo firm was quick to make the A.1 its premier fighter, perhaps even before the SVAs were rejected for service as fighters. The A.1, being designed totally under the auspices of Ansaldo, meant they would not be required to share royalties with outside parties, as they had on the SV.
Dates are unclear, but it appears that the prototype A.1 flew late in 1917. Performance testing followed in January 1918. Unlike the SVA, the maneuverability and visibility from the cockpit were considered good, but the climb rate and wing loading came in for criticism. The A.1 would have to address these criticisms without undergoing a major redesign. The war was ending and if the company wanted to sell aircraft to the military, it needed to be available now.
No less than 1,600 A.1s were ordered despite the pilot’s evaluations.
On 28 January, 1918 the prototype was destroyed in an emergency landing. This did not stop further testing and, matched against the Pomilio Gamma, Ansaldo’s design proved to be the superior machine.
Technical
Single-engine, single-seat, biplane of wood construction.
Wings - double-girder, linen-covered, with a soft trailing edge. The upper wing was longer than the lower. The upper wing had ailerons which were unbalanced. The middle wing section was supported above the fuselage by struts. There was a two-piece lower wing. Single-span airfoil chamber had on each side a pair of parallel steel tube struts.
Fuselage - longitudinal longerons, covered with thick, 2-mm plywood. The thin cover was stiffened from the inside with diagonally positioned wooden bars. Fuselage cross-section was rectangular in the middle to triangular at the tip with a downwards turn. This provided better rear visibility from the cockpit. The front of the fuselage was covered with aluminum sheeting.
Tail - vertical stabilizer covered with plywood, rudder covered in canvas. The non-split horizontal stabilizer had a leading edge covered with plywood; the rest of the horizontal tail was covered with canvas. The rudder was unbalanced. The stabilizers were externally stiffened with wire tendons, and the horizontal stabilizer was supported by struts.
Undercarriage - two struts with a fixed non-split axle, shock absorption with a rubber cord. Tail skid made of steel half spring.
Engine - 220-hp, 6-cylinder, water-cooled SPA-6A motor produced by the SPA plants in Turin or Breda (under license). Honeycomb frontal radiator. Wooden two-blade propeller with a diameter of 2.50 m. The main fuel tank was located at the bottom of the middle part of the fuselage and had an in-flight jettison mechanism. The top panel housed an additional fuel tank and an expansion tank for cooling water. The weight of the fuel reserve was 96 kg, and the fuel reserve weight was 13 kg.
Armament - 2 k.m. 7.7 mm Vickers machine gun.
Variant
A.1bis - version with a 24 sq m wing with two bays of struts; apparently only the single example was built. Compared to the production A.1s, the A.1bis proved to be slightly faster, but definitely had a slower climb rate.
Production
Alegi states that probably 221 A.1s were built prior to the Armistice.This figure includes 62 still under construction.
Operational Service
A.1s began their career in flight training units at Malpensa and also to the gunnery school at Furbara. It seems that this provided the Ansaldo firm to continue to test the new fighter without exposing it to the stress of combat.
When the A.1 began to reach frontline units it was primarily to introduce the pilots to the new machine. Thus 70a, 82a, and 91a each received a single example.
91a Squadriglia was the first combat unit to receive an A.1 on 28 June. Three more followed in the next two months. The A.1s were not ready for combat; it seems that Ansaldo was requiring the unit’s mechanics to correct the flaws in the A.1 in situ. It did not work; the A.1s proved to be useless as they required continual work in a doomed attempt to turn them into operational fighters. They were not considered to be reliable enough to operate in a combat situation which, considering that the design had first flown seven months before, would appear to be a reasonable assessment.
70a Squadriglia would also receive four A.1s (Alegi assigns serials 16550, 16555, 16556, and 16558 to these aircraft).
On October 8, the commander of the 70a, tenente Flaminio Avet in one of the new Ansaldo A.1 Balilla, accompanied by tenente Leopoldo Eleuteri and sergente maggiore Aldo Bocchese, claimed an Albatros in S. Lucia di Piave; this was the only victory for an A.1 Balilla during the war; indeed, it was the only aerial victory recorded by an Italian designed and built fighter in the entire war.
At the time of the armistice, 70a was in Gazzo as part of the X Gruppo with 18 Hanriot HD.1s, five SPADs, and only one A.1 Balilla.
82a Squadriglia in August received two A.1s (16497 and 16554). On 4 November the flight line included only one A.1 Balilla. In December 1918 the unit was dissolved.
74a Squadriglia was selected to receive all the A.1s at the front. It would probably be the most efficient means of vetting the A.1 for combat, but it never happened. Alegi notes that 82a had passed one of the machines, 16497, to the unit, which is apparently the only example of the type that the Squadriglia ever received.
241a Squadriglia, a Regia Marina unit, received A.1s (we know this because there is a picture of the unit’s commander in front of the plane on 22 October). According to the units records, none of the up to seven A.1s received were operational during the last two weeks of the War.
Sezione Difesa Padova had two A.1s assigned to it.
Thus during the war, despite 159 (Alegi also suggests 161) Balillas being built in 1918, only a handful of A.1s reached the front accounting for exactly one victory. The aircraft was placed into operational too soon in an attempt to get it into combat before the Armistice.
Postwar
The list of the aircraft on hand on 20 April 1919 (based on Roberto Gentilli’s research) shows 198 A.1s on strength. There were distributed as follows:
Deposito Poggio Renatico - 31
Deposito Marcon - 8
Deposito Padova - 2
1a Magazzino avanzato - 1
Evaluation by Allied forces - 1
Regia Marina -1
Training units - 59
Depositi Territoriali - 95
By August 1919 no A.1 Balillas are listed as being on strength.
After mid-1919, the A.1s would serve as trainers at the CNA (Cooperative Nazionale Aeronautica = National Aviation Cooperative) a private entity that provided training for the military up until 1933. The CNA not only had A.1s on strength for advanced training, including aerobatics, but also claimed to have actually built six Balillas.
Units
86a Squadriglia re-equipped with 24 A.1 Balillas on 15 October 1918 at Ponte S. Pietro. If this number is accurate, it means that 86a received 92% of all A.1s produced in the last two months of the War. Personnel came from disbanded 88a and 92a Squadriglias. It was disbanded on 31 January 1919.
88a Squadriglia was reformed at Riva di Chieri on 15 October 1918 and was to be an all-Ansaldo A.1 unit. The war ended three weeks later, and the unit was disbanded before it received any aircraft.
96a Squadriglia was planned as a dedicated A.1 unit, but never had the chance to receive any aircraft.
Foreign service
Although it saw little service with the Italian military, the A.1s proved to be an export success. It would see combat in some of these countries.
Argentina -To support foreign sales, by 30 November 1918 the Italian government sent 350a Squadriglia to Argentina in an attempt to interest that government in purchasing Italian aircraft. On 30 April, Locatelli and tenente Silvio Scaroni flew Balillas from Buenos Aires to Rosario and return; on 20 June. Later tenente Giorgio Michetti and sergente Nicola Bo flew from the Argentinian capital to Uruguay’s capitol city. Tenente Edoardo Olivero made the trip from Buenos Aires to Tandil on 5 September and on the 27th flew the A.1 from Buenos Aires-Tandil Tres Arroyos course. At least one Balilla was sold locally and was used by the Centro de Aviation Civil at Castelar. The aircraft did not enter military service.
El Salvador - A single Ansaldo A.1 Balilla fighter was flown in to Salvador in July 1923 by Enrico Massi who became a flying instructor for the Government. This was civil machine, but when Massi was killed during a training flight at low altitude, the Government incorporated his Balilla into the air force. Hagedorn believes it received the serial “A-1” and survived on at least until January 1927. This is almost certainly the same aircraft that had been briefly been used by the Honduran Air Force.
Greece - On 20th April 1921, Lieutenant J.G. St. Psaroudakis, with Ch. Hristidis as his observer, was out on a reconnaissance mission on a D.H.9 airplane. After a three hour flight and a shortage of fuel, they were forced to land on a sandy coast, 12 kilometres south of Ephesus. This area was also within the Italian sector. The Italian authorities impounded the aeroplane and arrested the crew. The prisoners later managed to escape and reported that they had learned that the Italian cargo ship Nafkratousa was carrying airplanes bound for Turkey.
Psaroudakis managed to relay this information to the Ministry of the Navy which dispatched the cruiser Elli which stopped and search the freighter. Eight new, Ansaldo A-1 Balilla type, Italian made, fighter planes were found and confiscated. They were transported and stationed to Tatoi. In Tatoi they remained out of commission and used only in some local flights. The reasons of their non-commission were a lack of spare parts and technical instructions.
The planes were certainly not well-liked. It was felt that the A-1s center of gravity was too far forward and during spins it would show great acceleration. The motor would often stall and it had only one magneto. Despite being aerobatic they were very difficult to operate.
The first flights commenced as soon as they learned how to operate them. Of course, these were cautious, trial flights and the aircraft could not be transferred to the front.
Many aviators flew these planes but their main pilot was St. Psaroudakis who had brought them to the N.F.C. through his actions. In his personal “flight book”, over a period of 5 months, out of a total of 90 recorded flights, 67 were on a Balilla and 23 on a D.H.9.
In July 1922, the Greek Army’s advance beyond the Tsataltza fine and the occupation of Constantinople was planned and highlighted by the Greek government as a diversion. For this purpose, military units were assembled in the Eastern Thrace Front. Among these was a N.F.C. detachment with D.H.9s and Italian Balillas.
The march against Constantinople was never accomplished due to the lack of support by the British, French and Italian Allies against Greece’s last-minute move. Thus, the Balilla fighter aircraft were never used in operational missions and remained in Tatoi only to be employed in training, flight proficiency, and maintenance flights.
In September 1923, a Balilla piloted by Ath. Veloudios stalled twice, forcing the experienced pilot into two forced landings within the same morning, one in a field in Marathon and one in a field in Kifisia. Veloudios refused to fly it for a third time and Psaroudakis was summoned as the expert. Psaroudakis indeed took off but the Balilla stalled for the third time and the pilot made a third forced landing next to the stream of Chelidonou. This ended the A.1’s career with the Greeks.
Honduras - In 1922 one Ansaldo A.1 Balilla and three Caudron G.IIIs reached Honduras for use by the national aviation school. The aircraft thus far cited, ostensibly owned and in some cases “leased” to the government, had been, for the most part, assigned serial numbers H-1 to H-8. The venture failed to survive the revolution of February-March 1924.
The single A.1 Balilla was flown to El Salvador by Enrico Massi, after having flown for a time at his flying school, may have been given to Massi as final payment for his services.
Latvia - An A.1 was first demonstrated in Latvia on June 7, 1923 at the Air Show. The plane was piloted by an Italian, Lovandino. On 16 August 1922, a contract was concluded with Latvia, for four SVA 10s and four A.1s.The aircraft were to be flight tested in Riga by Ansaldo crews. Eventually, Latvia acquired 13 Balillas, but pilot Mainardi was killed when he spun in at Riga-Spilve airfield while performing low level aerobatics at the 1924 Open House Aviation Festival Day. The Balillas were used first by a fighter squadron and then by the military flying school.
By August 1923, Latvia had already acquired and was flying its first four Balillas. They were armed with two 7.9 mm Vickers synchronized machine guns.
Known serial numbers are: 1K, 2K, 3K, 12K, 28, 34, 35, 39, 44, 45, 47, 49.
The Italian aircraft were phased out in the early 1930s, being replaced by the Gladiators, Hinds and SV-5s. In total, over the course of their service lifetimes, the twelve Balillas were involved in two fatal accidents.
#1K (K probably means Krustpils airfield) - Original serial number 318
#3K - Original serial number 320
#28 - Original serial number 32. In 1926, after major repairs/overhaul, this aircraft was returned to service. On 29 June 1927 Balilla no.28, piloted by Sgt. Robert Bemchens crashed at Spilve and was totally incinerated.
#34 - 1926 - after major repairs/overhaul this aircraft was test flown (Bergmanis) and returned to service.
#35 - 1926 - after major rep airs/overhaul this aircraft was test flown (Kleins) and returned to service
#39, #44, #45, #47
#49 - 1/29/30- Balilla no.49, piloted by vltn. Dimitri Gotsalk, crashed at Spilve. The plane was seen to spin from a height of 600-700 m, in both directions, apparently out of control. The pilot was killed.
Mexico - According to Hagedorn a single A.1 was obtained in August 1921 with the enthusiastic support of the Jefe del Departamento de Aviation Gustavo Salinas. It was assigned code 1-D-79. Testing by one of the instructor pilots the aircraft performed satisfactorily. However, the pilots were reluctant to use the A.1 as it had been reported as difficult to fly. A German mechanic named Fritz Bieler allegedly convinced the authorities that he was a pilot and successfully performed the first test flights in August 1921.
The A.1 was flown regularity from September 1921 to mid-1923. The now respected machine during its operational lite suffered some accidents during its period of service.
At the end of June 1922, on the occasion of the commemoration of the Centenary of the Independence of the Republic of Brazil, the Ansaldo A.1 took part in the celebrations.
On July 21 Ramon Alcala took off at 10:05 AM, and, after performing aerobatics, was prepared to perform a barrel roll at about sixty meters. The maneuver ended properly, he flew over the field and inverted the A.1, lost control and crashed to the ground. After the accident, Ramon Alcala died at 11:50 that fateful morning.
Peru - Two Ansaldo A.1 “Balilla” arrived in Peru in February 1921 brought by the trade mission of Gio Ansaldo & Co., as part of the commercial effort launched by this Italian arms manufacturer in Latin America. They arrived with Mr. Barbara Cornaro, representative of the Ansaldo Company, as well as Edmundo Lenzi and Eduardo Chio Lierio, mechanics of the firm.
On 2 May, Giovanni Ancilloto took off at 0549hrs from the Maranga airfield aboard an Ansaldo A.1 “Balilla” heading for the city of Cerro de Pasco, located 208 kilometers east of Lima. After crossing the Andes mountain range, he touched down in an improvised field established on the outskirts of the city. Six days later, at 11.15 a.m., Ancilloto began his return to Maranga, taking with him a Maltese cross made of solid gold, which was given to him by the city mayor in recognition of his visit.
The Italian ace made another daring flight a few days later, when, on May 23, he left Maranga at 10:30 am, aboard the Balilla, for the city of Huancayo, located 115 miles to the Southeast of the capital. He landed his airplane at his destination one hour and 45 minutes later The Balilla was eventually acquired by the Military Aviation Service and flown until the beginning of 1923 when it was lost in an accident.
Poland - The Polish Military Mission operating in Italy, headed by Brig. Gen. Eugeniusz Kijtkowski purchased 35 A-1 Balilla aircraft in the following lots:
1st batch of 10, order from August 1919
2nd batch of 15, contract of March 1920
3rd batch 10, contract from August 1920
Before the first purchased planes arrived, a demonstration copy was sent to Poland, the plane was initially stored at SL Lawica (December 1919 - 1920), then assembled at CSL. It took part in an international aerobatic aviation meeting. The competition, which included SE 5a and Fokker D VII aircraft, was in fact a competition for the efficiency of pilots and structures. The Italian pilot Mainardi took third place in a Balilla.
The first batch of 15 reached Warsaw on January 9,1920. The assembly of the last ones was completed on April 28, 1920, and on May 1,1920. Balillas were to be assigned to 7 EM.
After flying a distance of nearly 850 km , and on May 25, 1920, the planes landed at the Biala Cerkiew airport. They took part in the final phase of the Kiev offensive. American pilots, from voluntary recruitment in France, flew them alongside Poles. They were used primarily for anti-cavalry/ground attack operations. There was also a successful attack on a transport ship in the Dnieper plus numerous reconnaissance and liaison flights. Comparing the Balilla with the Oeffag D.III planes, the advantages of the A1 were noticed: greater endurance, higher maximum speed, and better maneuverability. However, their range was limited by high oil consumption, and the Italian synchronizer functioned poorly, allowing the propeller blade to be hit from time to time. There were also accidents of spontaneous combustion of the engine. The Balilla functioned in the previously mentioned roles until the truce of October 1920.
The last batch of ten A-1 fighters arrived in Krakow in August 1921. After the war, they were still used by the 7th EM (Eskadra Mysliwska = Fighter Squadron) included in the 1st PL. On 25 May the 7th EM arrived in Biala Cerkiew and operated in front-line service right up to the 18 October 1920 Armistice. They used various bases, even being supported by a train which operated as mobile base, the rugged Ansaldo A.1s had no difficulties in operating in these primitive conditions. Ironically, it never was used as fighter due to a lack of aerial opposition.
Alegi notes an incident when one of the unit’s A.1s was jumped by two Fokker D.VIIs and managed to survive without difficulty.
The unit’s American mercenary pilots decided that the high performance A.1 should be initially reserved for the more experienced and combat-proven pilots, while others would continue flying the D.III.
In addition, they were used for training and training in the training sections 1, 2 and 3 of PL, the CZL and WSP Grudziadz exercise sections, the last ones were SOC in the spring of 1926.
Polish Production
In an effort to become independent from foreign sources of supply, a decision was made to launch factory production of aircraft in the country. In October 1919, the A-1 aircraft (together with the A.300) was selected for license production. ZM PL&L (E. Plage and T. Laskiewicz Mechanical Works) in Lublin was selected to build the A 1s under agreement No. 201/10 of February 14, 1920 (covering both the A.1 and A.300). It was specified that 100 would be delivered from August 1920 to September 1921. In November 1920. a contract was placed between ZM PL&L and Gio Ansaldo for the delivery of 100 SPA-6A engines.
The pattern aircraft was intended to be delivered by flight. The start from Turin took place on August 23, 1920. The pilot was Lt. Stefan Pawlikowski. On the way, the plane force landed at Montelimar airport in France, where it was damaged. It reached Poland by sea via Cherbourg to Gdansk. At that time, in the face of the Bolshevik offensive, preparations for production were interrupted and the factory was evacuated from Lublin across the Vistula River. In October 1920, work was resumed and in mid-July 1921 there were already 14 A.1s in the factory: 4 finished, 4 being completed and 6 under assembly in the carpentry shop. The Lublin Balilla was a bit heavier than the Italian aircraft.
Lublin was a firm relatively new to manufacturing aircraft, and the A.1 was, perhaps, not the easiest machine to begin mass production with. Not unexpectedly problems began to appear and would soon escalate to catastrophic proportions.
The first copy was prepared for the premiere flight on July 21, 1921. The pilot was an instructor from the Wyzszej Szkoly Pilotow (Higher School of Pilots) in Grudziadz. The flight ended with the plane crashing and the test pilot’s death. The pilot’s over-bravado was cited as the cause, but it was said among aviators that a previously unrecognized tendency for the Balilla to slide easily onto the wing in tight turns was revealed. Two months earlier, in May 1921, an Italian-made Balilla had a similar accident with 7 EM. The pilot, Capt. Antoni Poznariski, died.
It was decided to halt production by Lublin. In order to save the good name of the company, the Ansaldo factory sent to Poland in September 1921 a factory pilot Luigi Mainardi, who made a flight from Turin to Warsaw in the A 1. While in Poland, he showed off the reliability and capabilities of the plane, showing off, among others landing on the road of the Poniatowski Bridge.
Production was allowed to resume to allow the completion of the first serial production A.1 which was sent to CZL from Lublin in November 1921.
In the spring of 1922, a series of accidents on airplanes produced in Lublin again took place, involving the A.1 No.135 of corporal pilot Jozef Ryba. On May 15, 1922 in MS Wojsk a commission of Brig.Gen. Juliusz Malczewski began to investigate the accidents. Another commission from WCBL under the leadership of Maj.Toruri was tasked to evaluate the high failure rate of engines imported from Italy. The engine commission determined that the engines sent were older ones that been previously repaired.
On October 4,1922, a new contract was made, limiting the number of A.1s ordered to 80.
<...>required 8. Mieczyslaw Peczalski from WCBL carried out from 6 to 14 June 1923 an inspection of the Balilla wings and fuselages collected in Lublin and located in the P.2 warehouse of the CZL depot. 15 fuselages and wings for 5 aircraft, were returned to the workshop for alterations and corrections. Two engines sent from 2PL (2nd Air Park) were tested again on the WCBL test bench. The test was carried out in July and August 1923. In October, the CZL issued an opinion that the engines were unusable and needed to be revised. In the meantime, airframe production was restarted and the first Balillas were picked up after an almost one-and-a-half-year hiatus at the end of September 1923. Some innovations were introduced on the aircraft. On the right side of the pilot’s cabin, a knob in the form of a crank, was placed to make easier to adjust the ignition without removing the engine covers and reaching in a hard-to-reach place. This knob identifies the Lublin-built machines from those produced at the Ansaldo factory.
In April and May 1924, the press launched a virulent campaign, prompting the formation of another commission. The corps of controllers formed a commission led by Lt. K. K. Abczynski. The results were included in the protocol of May 27, 1924, recommending a comprehensive control of the production quality as well as improving the level of discipline and training in the squadrons. At the same time, attention was paid to the recurring problems with the paneling, defects in welds unreliable engines, and other specific issues. Regardless, the domestic Balillas were not popular with pilots who considered them dangerous.
In September 1924, it was decided to discontinue the production of the unpopular A.1s. By that time, 62 airframes had been built. The liquidation protocol required the plant to deliver 23 more units without engines as part of the contract settlement. The available data show that eight copies were assembled in total. These airframes were left with the previously assigned numbering to the finished sets, but the order in which they were assembled was not followed. The highest number 180 was the plane that later became no.122 in the EM / 1 PL. About 15 remained unassembled, still in pieces. Such sets were kept in factory warehouses during the inventory in May 1927. Thus, a total of 70 A.1 aircraft were built at ZM Pl&L; Alegi states that between 57 and 63 of these were actually delivered.
Balillas manufactured in Lublin were used by eskadr 7 and 18 (squadrons 7 and 18), later 121 and 122 EM in 1 PL and eskadr 13 and 15 (later 111 and 112 EM) in 3 PL. In total 28 copies were in service. They were used by 11 PL in Lida at the beginning of the formation of this unit. In addition, they were in the training squadrons in aviation regiments, in CZL, in the Szkole Pilotow (Pilots’ School) in Bydg oszcz, and in the Wyzszej Szkole Pilotow (Higher School of Pilots) in Grudziadz.
As the SPAD 51s and 61s were received, the A.1s were withdrawn for storage and scrapping, which was carried out at the factory in Lublin and in the workshops of Parkow (Parks) 1 and 2 PL.
A total of 28 PiL Balillas equipped four fighter squadrons: Eskadry mysliwskie (fighter squadrons) 7 and 18 EM (later 121 and 122 EM of I Pulk Lotniczy, or Air Regiment, PL) and 13 and 15 EM (later 111 and 112 EM of 3 PL).They were equipped with them until 1926-1927.
In the 11th MPL, as of September 30, 1926, there were three operational Balillas with numbers: 171, 174, 177. Only 12 copies were left after a general renovation in Park 1 PL, at the disposal of the Departamentu Lotnictwa (Aviation Department). In addition, 11 refurbished
A.1 aircraft were sent to the regiments for training purposes.
The A.1 also served as trainers with the 1, 2 and 3 PL, CSL training sections (at Warsaw-Mokotow, but also at Winiary Poznan and sometimes Torun), Bydgoszcz flying school and the Grudziadz WSP (advanced flying school).
As late as 1926-27 PLs still had a few operational Balillas, the decision to retire them being taken on 31 May 1927.
After overhaul, a dozen were retained and 11 distributed to Pulks for training duties. They were withdrawn from training duties in 11 Mysliwskie Pulk Lotniczy (Fighter Aircraft Regiment, MPL) and 6 PL in 1928.
Excluding combat losses, the Polish Air Force had lost 35 Balillas, all but five locally built and including five burned in the Cracow-Rakowice hangar fire. There had been four fatal accidents in Italian A.1s and 11 in Polish ones, the last of which on 20 September 1927.
Soviet Union - The Soviet Union was another country which purchased 30 Balillas to re-equip its fighter units in 1920. A total of 18 (c/n 300 to 317) aircraft was delivered via Odessa in 1922. The A.1s were ordered without synchronizers and, as such, proved to be useless in a combat role. Synchronizers were subsequently ordered. Kulikov reports that the engines were a major source of problems: leaking water jackets, broken valve springs, ect. In the end there was nothing to be done, but to order more engines and spares. In addition to these issues, the aircraft arrived in the winter and had to be equipped with ski undercarriages, initially using the skis from Nieuports before designing purpose built sets four the Ansaldo. These were assigned to The Western Military District - 2nd Fighter Squadron, 2nd Regiment at Kharkov. Other units were the Air Forces of the Black Sea Fleet (2nd Navy Fighter Detachment) and the Air Forces of the Baltic Sea (1st and 2nd Air Detachments = 1st IAO (Otdel’nyi morskoi istrebitel’nyi aviatsionnyi otryad) at Novyi Petergof and 2nd IAO (2nd Otdel’nyi morskoi istrebitel’nyi aviatsionnyi otryad) at Odessa. The Navy fighter units were designated IAO = Independent Naval Fighter Sections. Each IAO had six operational and two reserve aircraft.
The Moscow Aviation School would receive ten A.1s.
Balillas flew until 1925 with the Moscow School for Advanced Instruction for Military Pilots. 1st IAO (later 1st OMIAO) used the type from 1923 to 1925, accidents involved Nos. 2 (7 July 1924) and 3 (26 May 1924).
By 1926 the fleet had been reduced to a dozen planes, serving in the 48th Separate Air Detachment of the Black Sea Fleet.
In 1926-27 the Italian fighters were replaced by Fokker D.VIIs in the first-mentioned unit and and by Fokker D.XIs and R-1s in the second.
Service use continued until mid-1928. Known Soviet Union c/ns: 306, 314, 354.
The Red Army captured at least two Ukrainian Ansaldo Balillas (c/ns 59/8 and 161) during the Civil War, which were repaired and put into service with the RKKVF.
Turkey - Turkey obtained one aircraft named “Erzunumlu Nafuz I”, It was assigned 2.Tv.Bl from 12/12/20 to 8/15/1921.
Spain - Jose Canudas, in his book Historia de I’Aviacio Catalana, Barcelona, 1983, states that in 1922 he used a Balilla del Servicio to make several trips between Madrid and Valencia (one of them in 1 hour 25 minutes).
United States - At least two Balillas were shipped to the Italian Aeronautical Mission in the United States. In early 1919, the Mission visited McCook Field, in Dayton, Ohio. On 4 February, A.1 16612. crashed at Wright Field. When the Italian mission withdrew, an unnamed company purchased one SVA and A.1 16608 on behalf of the auto magnate Cliff Durant, who entrusted it to Rickenbacker to establish a San Francisco-Los Angeles speed record in 1920. It was then used in Hollywood for films and received a 180-hp Hispano Suiza motor.
Aero Import Corp. purchased a single A.1 for $2,000 on 12 March 1920. This was probably the machine which Aero Import entered with race number 56 in the 1920 Pulitzer. Flown by Bert Acoste, this standard Balilla placed third, averaging 134 mph. In November 1921 Lloyd Bertaud races a Balilla fitted with a 415-hp Curtiss K-12 engine turning a four bladed propeller; he won the American Legion Derby in Kansas City averaging over 149 mph and fourth place in the Pulitzer in Omaha. The Lutz-Manor Co. entered another Balilla piloted by Florian F. Manor, which was assigned race number 7 but was withdrawn.
The Hispano Suiza-powered Balilla was still flying in 1926 in St. Louis.
Uruguay - One A.1 is known to have been used in Uruguay until 1925.
Yemen - is believed to have had at least on a A.1 Balilla.
A.1 single seat fighter with one SPA 6 engine
Wingspan 7.68 m, length 6.5 m; height 2.85 m; wing area 21 sq m
Empty weight 640 kg; loaded weight 885 kg; payload 215 kg
Maximum speed 205 km/h; climb to 1,000 m in 2 minutes 40 seconds; 2,000 m in 5 minutes 30 seconds; 3,000 m in 8 minutes 20 seconds; 4,000 m in 13 minutes; 5,000 m in 22 minutes 40 seconds; ceiling 5,800 m; endurance 2 hours 30 minutes
A.1 bis single seat fighter with one Isotta Fraschini V6 engine
Wingspan 7.68 m, length 6.9 m; height 2.53 m; wing area 24 sq m
Empty weight 715 kg; loaded weight 970 kg; payload 255 kg
Maximum speed 225 km/h; climb to 1,000 m in 3 minutes; 2,000 m in 6 minutes; 3,000 m in 9 minutes 30 seconds; 4,000 m in 13 minutes 30 seconds; 5,000 m in 18 minutes 30 seconds; ceiling 5,800 m; endurance 2 hours 30 minutes
A.1 ISA single seat fighter with one SPA 6 engine
Wingspan 7.68 m, length 6.5 m; height 2.83 m; wing area 21 sq m
Empty weight 640 kg; loaded weight 885 kg; payload 245 kg
Climb to 1,000 m in 2 minutes; 2,000 m in 4 minutes 54 seconds; 3,000 m in 8 minutes 30 seconds; 5,000 m in 22 minutes 40 seconds; ceiling 5,800 m; endurance 2 hours 30 minutes
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