Baracca's final victory, Albatros D.III 153.266 shot down on 15 June 1918.

Lohner L.1 159 serving as a trainer in Taranto. The pilot in the cockpit is the American Harold Kantner, later a designer and test pilot with Convair.

In front of a crash-landed Bristol Fighter of the RAF, three Italian aces: Ruffo di Calabria, De Bernardi, and Piccio.

A Felixstowe flying boat at Santa Maria di Leuca in an old postcard.

An Aviatik at Venaria Reale airfield

Some of the airplanes of the 350a Squadriglia at El Palomar airfield, Argentina: two Aviatiks, a Fiat R.2, two Farmans, a Caproni Ca.5.

Aviatiks at the officers' flying school of Montecelio, near Rome.

A long line of Aviatiks at Pratoni, one of the fields at Foiano della Chiana.

Fokker D.VIII I-BEAM (ex 550/18), Amedeo Mecozzi, Postwar

Mecozzi bought one of the Fokker D.VIIIs that he had tested at Montecelio.

Brandenburg C.1 61.57, captured on 7 April 1916, was tested at Mirafiori. Behind it there is Caproni Ca.1 724 with experimental cowlings covering its engines. (Archive Schifano)

On 4 November 1923, authorities walk during the first parade of the newly born Regia Aeronautica. From the left: Admiral Thaon di Revel, Gen. De Bono, a fascist leader, Finzi, Mussolini, Arturo Mercanti, chief of civil aviation, behind them Italo Balbo. The airplane is a German Sablatnig P.3.

Natale Palli at San Pelagio with the specially decorated Ansaldo Balilla that he received as a gift from the Chamber of Commerce of Genoa. This airplane still exists, at the Caproni Museum in Trento.

Arturo Ferrarin in an Ansaldo Balilla ready to fly aerobatics at an air meeting in Nice, France, 1919.

A moving image, a photo, obviously for a young boy, reading "From heaven uncle Aldo today sends to Gino his wishes for much happiness. Rome, 25 June 1944." Finzi had been shot on 24 March.

Giuseppe Brezzi, technical director of Ansaldo, and Mario Stoppani in front of an A.1 Balilla.

Ansaldo SVA 5, 2a Sezione SVA

Ansaldo SVA 5 #6822, 2a Sezione SVA

Ansaldo SVA 5 #6824, 2a Sezione SVA, 1918

Ansaldo SVA 5 #6827, Cap. Palma di Cesnola, 1 Sezione SVA (1 Sezione Ricognizione), February 1918

Ansaldo SVA 5 #11719 3a Sezione SVA Isola di Carturo, Spring 1918

SVA 6 #11728, 303a Squadriglia, 1918

Ansaldo SVA 5 #11862, 4a Sezione SVA

SVA 6791, one of the first to be assigned to the 1a Sezione, at the end of 1917.

SVA 6822 of the 2a Sezione with its fuselage painted white.

Nicola Bo, on SVA 6822 of the 2a Sezione, after the war moved to South America, giving an important contribution of aviation in Paraguay.

Stars and stripes on SVA 6824 of the 2a Sezione.

Personnel of the 2a Sezione in front of the colorful SVA 6824.

SVA 6827 at Sovizzo; behind it a Hanriot Hd.1. (Archive Renzo Catellani)

SVA 6827 of the 1a Sezione at Sovizzo, together with Spads of the 71a Squadriglia.

The pilots who bombed Innsbruck. From the left, Arrigoni, Orsini, Palma di Cesnola, and Palli. This photo was distributed to the press, but with the roundel and the rooster censored.

Guido Masiero, the future flyer from Rome to Tokyo, with SVA 6839 of the 3a Sezione. This SVA crashed on 30 June 1918, killing ten. Vivarelli.

Unarmed SVA 6843 with pilot serg. Giovanni Trotti. The flag with the shield of the Visconti family, symbol of Milan, was clearly inspired from the flag of the 87a Squadriglia, with the Lion of St. Mark of Venice.

A SVA 6 of the 303a Squadriglia at Novi Ligure. The SVA 6 was a version without synchronizing gear, armed with a gun over the top wing.
Ansaldo SVA 4 #11728. The SVA series were strong, fast designs that served in numbers as long-range reconnaissance planes.

SVA 5 11862, here carrying a 100-pound bomb, in 1919 ended up in Poland. In front of the windscreen there is a small skull, the size of an apple.

SVA 12090 in Krakow, Poland, 1919. (Archive Kopanski)

Nicola Bo on SVA #12220 of the Italian air mission to Argentina in 1919. (Archive Longhi)

Antonio Locatelli completed the first aerial crossing of the Andes, from Argentina to Chile, with this SVA in 1919.

SVAs of the 2a Sezione at Nove di Bassano.

A SVA of the 4a Sezione showing the shield of the Visconti, the rulers of Milan in the Middle Ages. (Courtesy Claudio Caridi)

A SVA of the 4a Sezione showing the shield of the Visconti, the rulers of Milan in the Middle Ages. (Courtesy Claudio Caridi)

Italian pilots with a SVA in Czechoslovakia. (Vrtulnik.cz)

The SVA during evaluation at Mirafiori; Stoppani is in the cockpit.

Mario Stoppani after the first flight of the new Ansaldo SVA.

Ten. Guglielmo Haas of the 6a Sezione with a SVA showing a rich equipment of instruments.

Ten. Guglielmo Haas, commander of the 6a Sezione Sezione SVA.

An anonymous SVA of the Sezione Difesa Rimni. (Archive Longhi)

Official portrait of Finzi in a SVA during his service with the 87a Squadriglia.

Finzi in a SVA of the 87a Squadriglia.

Conversion to the new Ansaldo SVA took place at Ponte San Pietro, here Finzi is on SVA 6774.

The official portrait of Antonio Locatelli at the 87a Squadriglia.

Antonio Locatelli with a SVA of the 87a Squadriglia, in a photo signed for Gabriele d'Annunzio.

A SVA single-seater showing the elegant black cat insignia of the 3a Sezione.

Marzari with SVA 11719. The black cat is adorned with his decorations: two wounds in action, three medals for valor, and the medal for "the hardships of war".

Pilots of the 5a Sezione SVA: first from the left, ten. Orsini, second s.ten. Allasia.

SVAs of the 4a Sezione at San Luca. (Archive Ludovico Slongo)

A long line of SVAs at the airfield of Ponte San Pietro.

Mario De Bernardi at the Montecelio testing field in a SVA fitted with a hook to pick up messages from the ground.
This SVA was fitted with a hook to test for deck landing on an aircraft carrier, in 1923.

SVA 3bis 11719 of the 3a Sezione at Isola di Carturo.

The SVA was well equipped with instruments.

SVA 6785 of the 5a Sezione SVA shot down by Austrian artillery on 31 May 1918. (Kriegsarchiv Wien)

Another view of SVA 6785. Its pilot, ten. Dal Soglio, was taken prisoner.

A landing accident to SVA 3 13988; the 302a Squadriglia used the similar 13987.

SVA 3 14712 of the Sezione Difesa Bologna after an accident, in May 1919.

A SVA is picked up from a river after a crash landing. (Archive Ragni)

A few Ansaldo A.3 were built before the end of the war, too late to reach the frontline.

The 272a Squadriglia received one Ansaldo ISVA, 16263, that was soon wrecked. The ISVA was a big failure; its performance was poor and no use for it was found. This is 15240 at Venice, where the plans to equip a fighter squadron with it were abandoned.

SVA 10 #13179, Rome-Tokyo Flight, March 1920

Marzari with SVA 9 13196 that he flew in the raid from Rome to Tokyo in 1920, managing to reach Turkiye.

Stoppani flies Benito Mussolini in a SVA 10.

SVA 10 #12847 of the 58a squadriglia with a shield, not a pennant. The insignia is the red halberd of Trieste.

The SVAs ready for departure in Rome, destination Tokyo. The one of Mecozzi was number 3, with serial 13200 and ten. Bilisco as passenger.

The pilots of the flight to Tokyo: from the left, Giuseppe Grassa, Umberto Re, Mario Gordesco, Ferruccio Ranza, Bruno Bilisco, Amedeo Mecozzi, Ferruccio Marzari and a civilian. None of them reached Japan, Grassa and Gordesco died.

Ferrarin and Masiero at Centocelle airport, ready to take off for Japan. Out of eleven airplanes that departed, only they arrived.

Roberto Lordi, as a lieutenant, in front of a SVA10.

A SVA 10 of the Legionary Aviation, the small air force of the independent city of Fiume. On its fuselage a sword between two wings is painted.

Cabruna, third from the left, in Cyrenaica with a SVA of the 23a Squadriglia.

An Italian SVA in Dalmatia, 1919, showing the shield with the halberd, insignia of the 58a Squadriglia.

Ferrarin in May 1923 flew the new prime minister of Italy, Mussolini, in an Ansaldo A.300 from Rome to Redipuglia, in the North-East, for a ceremony.

Stoppani, Brezzi, and journalist Piero Negro during the tour of European capitals with an Ansaldo A.300.

Stoppani, second from the left, in front of an Ansaldo A.300C, a passenger airplane with an enclosed cabin.

Aldo Bergonzi was a designer, he built at the Breda works in Milan a canard called Ardea, here shown at the aviation exhibition in Taliedo, August 1919.

A piece of fabric preserved in an Italian museum showing the color of Caproni bombers late in the war.

Brandenburg C.1 61.57, captured on 7 April 1916, was tested at Mirafiori. Behind it there is Caproni Ca.1 724 with experimental cowlings covering its engines. (Archive Schifano)

Caproni Ca.1 1165 at the Malpensa school. In the center is Silvio Resnati, who was killed in the crash of Caproni "Giulio Cesare" at Hazelhurst Field, New York, on 17 May 1918.

This Caproni Ca.3, serial 2330, used at Foggia, was called "the Russian", probably because it was the one ordered by Russia but never delivered.

Ten col. Armani with Luigi Ridolfi, his favorite second pilot, in front of Caproni Ca.3 #2342

Caproni Ca.3 4190 being loaded with two spherical anti-submarine bombs, weighing 150 pounds each.

Armani in 1922 standing in the nacelle of Caproni Ca.3 mod. 24271 that carries the blue pennant of the XI Gruppo.

American and Italian pilots with a Caproni, probably of the 1a Squadriglia.

Caproni Ca.5 #11587, US Navy, 1918

Ca.5 12258 at Ghedi, late 1918 - early 1919.

Caproni Ca.5 11587 US Navy, summer 1918.

Brand new Ca.5 19598 built by Breda. On the nacelle there is the logo S E B I.

Ca.5 Berlina 12036 of the Prima Squadra del Levante, first squad of the East, with the name Caproni written in Arabic characters and on its nose the Roman eagle, insignia of the Gruppo Comunicazioni Aeree. (Archive Mario Federighi)

Some of the airplanes of the 350a Squadriglia at El Palomar airfield, Argentina: two Aviatiks, a Fiat R.2, two Farmans, a Caproni Ca.5.

Ca.5 of the US Navy assigned to the Northern Bomber Group in France.

Some of the airplanes of the 350a Squadriglia at El Palomar airfield, Argentina: two Aviatiks, a Fiat R.2, two Farmans, a Caproni Ca.5.

Lordi with his dog, a French Bouledogue, with a Fiat BR.1 of the 13° Stormo.

Lordi's dog was chosen for the insignia of the 1a Squadriglia at Mirafiori, Turin. The Fiat BR.1 was a really big airplane.

The special contraptions used only for taxying were called "Checca", the Italian name for Maud the Mule, an American cartoon.

Gabardini monoplanes, nicknamed "Gabarda", the numbers 35, 45, and 50 indicate the horsepower of the engines.

In 1918 Gabardini introduced some conventional biplanes. The pupil in training is carabiniere Giovanni Zeppegno.

American and Italian officers, with at the center commander Calderara, at the Bolsena flying school, with an L.3 and an FBA.

Francesco De Pinedo with a Macchi L.3 at the Brindisi Naval Air Station, 1918.

Macchi M.5, 290a Squadriglia, Valona, 1918

The 287a Squadriglia was formed at Ancona with the Macchi M.5 fighters of the 264a Squadriglia.

A Macchi M.5 taxiing in the harbor of Ancona.

A Macchi M.5 in flight over the bay of Valona.

Pomilio PE, Unit Unknown

The landing at Rome of the first mail flight from Turin was not the best it could be.

A dual control Pomilio PE at the Centro Formazione Squadriglie of Riva di Chieri.

Mario De Bernardi as a test pilot with the Pomilio Gamma.

Finzi introducing his wife to flying, in Aviatik I-ECIC of the CNA company at Centocelle, Rome. His marriage had been a big social event in Rome.

Arturo Ferrarin as an instructor, in an early SAML with lateral radiators.

SAML S.1 2513, assigned to training, sporting a spade and the portrait of an old man.

SAML S.2 3099 was serving as a trainer, while other SAMLs of the same production batch were fighting at the front.

A colorful SAML S.2 of the Italian Air Force. The SAML had an interesting history; it was an Italian version of the pre-war Aviatik B-type unarmed reconnaissance plane from Germany. Before the war Italy worked with the designer to arrange license production in Italy. The Aviatik two-seaters in Germany were largely removed from the front by the middle of 1917. However, the SAML, with more powerful engines and adequately armed, formed the backbone of Italian aviation units throughout the war. The sturdy SAMLs, although of modest performance, served reliably as newer Italian designs either suffered from prolonged teething problems or had to be grounded entirely.

Farman Colombo #2007, Sezione Difesa Ravenna, Summer 1917

Farman Colombo #2643, Unit Unknown, Campoformido, 1917

Farman MFC 1980 at Terni: This unit was based close to a city, 250 miles from the front, so visits of civilians happened.

Farman 2007 of the Sezione Difesa of Ravenna.

An SP.2 and a Farman MFC of the Sezione Difesa in front of the airship hangar at Jesi.

An SP.2 and a Farman MFC of the Sezione Difesa in front of the airship hangar at Jesi.

SP.2 3476 of the Sezione Difesa of Jesi. Formerly this airplane had served with the 31a Squadriglia.

Armed Farman MF 879 and an SP.2 of the Defense Flight in Foggia. Farman 879 then was sent to Libya. (USAF Museum)

An accident to an SP.2 of the Sezione Difesa Bologna on 4 July 1917

This modified SP.4 was used for dropping secret agents with parachutes. In the center, with an overcoat, is Camillo De Carlo, the leader of the Giovane Italia organization.

SIA 7B of the United States.

SIAI S.8 serial 18279 of the 277a Squadriglia at Sapri. It doesn't carry attachment point for bombs nor other weapons.

The SIAI S.8 was another failure, it could not carry anti-submarine bombs and its flight characteristics were dangerous; the commander of the 272a Squadriglia crashed to his death in one of them.

Two SIAI S.8s in the forefront, and other FBAs and S.8s at Sanremo.

The Maddalena, in the center, with Finnish airmen on a SIAI S.16 flying boat on Lake Maggiore.

Japanese Naval personnel examining the S.16 ter of De Pinedo. On its hull it shows the insignia of Point Cook naval air station, Australia.

De Pinedo checking the refuelling of his SIAI S.16 "Gennariello" somewhere in Australia.

Elwood Doherty was an American instructor at Taranto; in December 1915 he was offered a decoration for a daring exploration flight, which he refused, being the citizen of a neutral country. In 1914 he was pilot of the modified Langley Aerodrome that Glenn Curtiss prepared, trying to prove that the Wright brothers were not the first to fly.

Mario De Bernardi in training on a Bleriot.

Nine Bleriots and a Farman at the flying school of Venaria Reale, with the royal palace as background. (Archive Achille Vigna)

Breguet-Michelin, Sezione Difesa di Mirafori, Turin, August 1917

The big and impressive Breguet Michelin of the Defense Flight of Mirafiori. (Archive Lino Schifano)

The Breguet at Mirafiori; behind it the airship hangar of that airfield. (Archive Lino Schifano)
Breguet BUC in Italian service at Mirafiori, Turin. (Roberto Gentilli)

About 50 of the excellent French Breguet 14 arrived in Italy; some were then sold to Turkiye, others went in the civil market.

Aldo Finzi in front of a Caudron G.4 of the 48a Squadriglia.

The Farman HF20 floatplane of the Italian Army. (Archive Caliaro)

A chart reporting the Italian record for altitude established by serg. Giovanni Vaglienti on 3 September 1916.

FBA Type C construction number 178 of the 1a Squadriglia Idrovolanti. (Archive Achille Vigna)

French-built FBA Type C of the 1a Squadriglia Idrovolanti.

FBA Type C of the SIAI flying school at Sesto Calende.

FBA H #4261, 10a Sezione FBA, Terranova Pausania, February 1918

FBA Type H #6481, 284a Squadriglia, Trapani

FBA Type H #6483, 280a Squadriglia, Milazzo, 1918

FBA H #18102, Bolsena Flying School, 1918

FBA Type H 18126, 284a Squadriglia, Trapani, Autumn 1918

FBA Type H, 270a Squadriglia, Palermo, 1918

FBA Type H, NAS Porto Corsini, 1918

FBA H #2015, 2a Squadriglia Idro, 1917

FBA Type H, 273a Squadriglia, Leghorn

An FBA built by CIVES at Varazze.

FBA L2 of the 273a Squadriglia in hangar at Leghorn.

Like all units based in big cities, the 279a Squadriglia of Cagliari had lots of visitors when one of its seaplanes was on a beach.

The seaplane station at Leghorn, that remained in use post-war. FBA L6 is on the apron.

FBAs of the 266a Squadriglia at Sanremo; the fort in the background is now an exhibition center.

Two SIAI S.8s in the forefront, and other FBAs and S.8s at Sanremo.

FBA of the 280a Squadriglia of Milazzo with high individual numbers: M10, M14, M19.

A French-built FBA Type H at Desenzano, at that base the Scuola Alta Velocita, school of high speed, was established, where the pilots for the Schneider Trophy aces were trained.

FBA production at the CIVES factory in Varazze.

FBA construction number 373 of the 1a Squadriglia Idrovolanti.

FBA serial 435, individual number 19, at Bolsena 1918.

FBA 445, c/n 141 of the Sezione of Naples. Life for aviators of the defense flights had some advantages compared to service in the Alps or in Albania.

Corporal Masutti with the FBA on which he lost his life on 25 May 1917.

FBA serial 2015, SIAI construction number 116, with the crew of serg. Mario Gualtieri and the observer cap. Natale Palotta.

Happy Hooligan was the most popular nose art subject in the Italian Air Force.

Italian-built FBA 2017 with Hispano Suiza engine, showing the white star, insignia of the 2a Squadriglia Idro.

FBA 3157 was French-built, showing the white star and the horizontal bars of the 2a Squadriglia Idro.

Cap. Calogero Palamenghi in FBA 4242 of the 12a Sezione at Porto Corsini.

An FBA marked T1 of the Sezione at Terranova Pausania in February 1918. The visible construction number, 269, indicates that its matricola (serial number) was 4261.

SIAI-built FBA serial 4262 of the 1a Squadriglia Idrovolanti, this aircraft was later assigned to the Sezione of Syracuse.

FBA 4283 with cap. De Bosis at the controls. On the hull there is the ribbon of the "Fatiche di guerra" medal, and on the roundel the shield of Savoy is painted. (Archive Paolo Monti)

FBA 5150 and 18999 of the 285a Squadriglia at Orbetello. Plans to turn this naval air station, from which Italo Balbo started in his historical mass flights across the Atlantic, into a historical site have not materialized yet.

FBA 5210 of the 279a Squadriglia in the harbor of Cagliari. (Archive Caliaro)

FBA 5216 of the 267a Squadriglia at Porto Maurizio.

The 268a Squadriglia at Rapallo mainly used FBAs built by the GIVES company in nearby Varazze, like the first in this line, 5224.

FBA 5616, c/n 329, was assigned to the 269a Squadriglia; here it is seen at the SIAI factory, on Lake Maggiore.

FBA 5634 was assigned to the 3a Squadriglia Idrovolanti. Here it is seen at the SIAI factory, fitted with a dummy machine gun. (Archive Caliaro)

FBA 6407, c/n 34 of IAM, Industrie Aeronautiche Meridionali, in service with the 277a Squadriglia.

Another view of FBA 6407 of the 277a Squadriglia at Sapri.

FBA 6422 of the 286a Squadriglia.

The naval air station at Trapani, home of the 284a Squadriglia, was large and well equipped. In the forefront, FBA 6481 "T10" of the 284a Squadriglia. (Collection Paolo Monti)

FBA serial 6483 of the 280a Squadriglia of Milazzo, Sicily.

The personnel of the 284a Squadriglia in front of FBA 6487. (Collection Paolo Monti)

Loading the mail for the Island of Lipari on FBA 6492 of the 280a Squadriglia. (Archive Scricciolo Monti)

For the 270a Squadriglia, being based in a big city away from the front, meant that visitors, particularly girls, were a frequent and appreciated occurrence. This is Mondello, the beautiful beach of Palermo.

FBA 18102, decorated with a skull, at the school of Bolsena. The instructor standing in the cockpit is 2° capo Pietro Valdimiro, a very capable veteran from the Stazione Miraglia of Venice.

FBA 18126 "T6" of the 284a Squadriglia of Trapani in need of help. (Archive Achille Vigna)

FBA 18153 of the 284a Squadriglia. (Archive Caliaro)

An FBA of the 2a Squadriglia Idro on the beach at Grado.

An FBA of the 267a Squadriglia taxiing.

FBA of the 270a Squadriglia, Palermo 1918

An FBA of the 274a Squadriglia from Piombino in flight.

An FBA of the 270a Squadriglia in the harbor of Palermo, with the signature of Romolo Manissero.

On 28 June 1917 an FBA of Industrie Aviatorie Meridionali, with pilot Ruggero Franzoni, formerly a Caproni pilot at 2a Squadriglia, and mechanic Francesco Romanuzzi, completed an air mail flight from Naples to Palermo and back. (Archives Fiorenzo Longhi)

A French-built FBA Type H with Hispano Suiza engine.

An FBA of the 273a Squadriglia in the port of Leghorn; the individual marking L6 is on a gray and white hull.

Personnel (all but two of the Army) in front of an FBA of the 269a Squadriglia at Muggiano.

All the personnel of the 283a Squadriglia of Syracuse in front of an FBA. (Archive Scricciolo Monti)

An FBA of the 280a Squadriglia of Milazzo with officers from the 282a Squadriglia of Catania. (Archive Scricciolo Monti)

The airmen of the Brindisi Naval Air Station after a successful mission over Durazzo, 27 December 1917. Under the engine of the FBA, Orazio Pierozzi and Umberto Maddalena can be seen.

Pilots and observers of the 2a Squadriglia Idro with an FBA with Hispano Suiza engine.

Three pilots of the 286a Squadriglia in Homs, Libya, July 1919. First from the left, Alessandro Passaleva, then the commander ten. Cappellotti. (Archive Longhi)

An FBA of the 271a Squadriglia at Civitavecchia, in front of the hull there is the model of a Nieuport fighter. The construction number, Y 991, indicates that the serial number is probably 7192.

An FBA of the 281a Squadriglia of Giardini Naxos, Sicily, with the commander cap. Pasquale Iodice. (Archive Scricciolo Monti)

Enlisted pilots and ground personnel of the 286a Squadriglia with a fully armed FBA.

American and Italian officers, with at the center commander Calderara, at the Bolsena flying school, with an L.3 and an FBA.

The 275a Squadriglia received mostly FBAs built by IAM, Industrie Aeronautiche Meridionali, in Naples. (Courtesy Ricci)

FBA flying boats under construction at the IAM factory in Naples. (Courtesy Fremma Uno)

The provision of air mail services from the Italian mainland to Sardinia was widely reported in the press.

In the immediate postwar years Gennaro Pistone, like many other veteran pilots, tried to set up a private aviation company, that soon folded.

Tenente Furlotti was saved from drowning.

A panel celebrating the rescue of the crew of a crashed FBA at Varazze on 14 March 1918.

Hanriot HD. 1 H.d. 14912, 78 Squadriglia

Asp. Amleto Degli Esposti, here with a Hanriot Hd.1, was one of the pilots of the 5a Sezione.

Scaroni at the controls of a Hanriot Hd.1.

Roberto Lordi, first from the left, with other officers and Hanriot Hd.1 fighters of the 81a Squadriglia in a post-war photo.

SVA 6827 at Sovizzo; behind it a Hanriot Hd.1. (Archive Renzo Catellani)

On 12 July 1918 Scaroni on Hanriot HD.1 7157 was shot down and badly wounded, a victim possibly of Josef Vratil of Flik 14 or Franz Strasser of Flik 14/J.

Farmans of the Sezione Difesa Rimini. The first one, MF 827, formerly of the 29a Squadriglia, is armed with no less than ten Le Prieur rockets.

Armed Farman MF 879 and an SP.2 of the Defense Flight in Foggia. Farman 879 then was sent to Libya. (USAF Museum)

Farman MF 913 of the Sezione Difesa of Terni.

Farman Colomb 1719 of the Sezione Difesa of Ravenna. The pilot is ten. Enrico Cottino, who died on 16 May 1917. (Archive Caliaro)

Retired from the front, many Farmans were reconditioned with less powerful, but cheaper, Anzani engines. (Archive Caliaro)

Some of the airplanes of the 350a Squadriglia at El Palomar airfield, Argentina: two Aviatiks, a Fiat R.2, two Farmans, a Caproni Ca.5.

Nine Bleriots and a Farman at the flying school of Venaria Reale, with the royal palace as background. (Archive Achille Vigna)

Francesco Baracca in the cockpit of a Nieuport monoplane.

A Nieuport 10, usually called "18 square meters" carefully restored and preserved at the Museo della Guerra of Rovereto.

Francesco Baracca with his first fighter, Nieuport 10 serial 385.

Nieuport 11 Ni.327X, Ten. Mario Fucini, OC, Sezione Difesa di Grottaglie e Brindisi, Summer 1917

Baracca, in the center, with Tacchini, left, and Scarpis, right, with Nieuport 11 1613 at Santa Caterina (Museo Baracca)

Before serving with the 301a Squadriglia in Foggia, Nieuport 11 1704 was the mount of serg. Gaetano Aliperta at the 82a Squadriglia. (USAF Museum)

Nieuport 11 2159 of the Sezione Difesa of Ferrara. (Archive Caliaro)

Nieuport 11 2168 before serving in the 301a Squadriglia was the mount of serg. Allasia in the 77a Squadriglia.

Five Nieuport 11s parked at Grottaglie; a "M" class airship is flying above.

Fucini, left, in front of his Nieuport 11 adorned with a lightning bolt, with serg. Emilio Zampieri of the Sezione Difesa Grottaglie.

Mario Fucini surrounded by Navy personnel at the airship base of Grottaglie.

A well-known official portrait of Baracca in the cockpit of a Nieuport 11.

Pilots of the 76a Squadriglia in 1916: from the left, Stoppani, unknown, Bonavoglia, unknown, unknown, Appiani, and Arrigoni.

Pier Ruggero Piccio with his Nieuport 11 equipped with Le Prieur rockets that he used to destroy an Austrian kite balloon.

A bullet hole through the rudder of Baracca's Nieuport 17 2614.

Perfectly restored, Spad 7 S.2489 is now preserved in the Francesco Baracca Museum in Lugo di Romagna.

An original Spad 7 restored with the colors of Cabruna's plane is preserved in the Officers School of the Carabinieri in Rome. (Courtesy Marco Gueli)

Ernesto Cabruna with a Spad 7

This Spad 7, S.2489, occasionally flown by Baracca, was exhibited at aviation events after the war.

In the spring of 1918 Cabruna had the shield of his hometown, Tortona, painted on his Spad. This airplane was exhibited at Genoa in 1919, then in Tortona, in Milan in 1934, and is now in the Italian Air Force Museum.

SVA 6827 of the 1a Sezione at Sovizzo, together with Spads of the 71a Squadriglia.

Baracca with an uncamouflaged Spad 13.

Francis Lombardi at the controls of a Spad of the 77a Squadriglia.

This post-war painting and a quote from a British journalist generated the now discredited theory that Baracca's prancing horse may have been red, not black.

Voisin 1441 of the Sezione of Cairo Montenotte. (Comune di Cairo Montenotte)

Old Voisins collected at Marcon airfield for the secret missions of the Squadriglia Mista.

A Voisin of the Sezione Difesa of Novi Ligure carrying flowers to be dropped to honor the victims of a railroad disaster, 5 August 1917.

At the flying school of Mirafiori, a Voisin with an unusual rotary engine. (Archive Schifano)

Gino Allegri began his career at the Sezione Difesa of Cairo Montenotte; he died flying with the 87a Squadriglia "Serenissima" and was awarded the Gold Medal for Valor. The photo is signed "L'amico pipistrello" your friend the bat.

The Austrians are puzzled examining the archaic Voisin of serg. Prudenza captured on 23 August 1918.