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Cranston Fine Arts  Aviation Art World War One Countries  Italy |
[UP] - UK - US - France - Germany - Italy - Russia - Austria-Hungary - Belgium - Canada - Australia - New Zealand |
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Tribute to Maggiore Francesco Baracca by Ivan Berryman. Francesco Baracca was Italy's highest-scoring ace in World War 1, his victory tally being an impressive 34 at the time of his death. His Spad S.VII carried his personal emblem, the Prancing Horse, a tribute to his days in the cavalry. Upon his death in this aircraft on 19th June 1918, Baracca's mother donated the emblem to Enzo Ferrari whose cars still carry this badge the world over. He is depicted here despatching the Oefag-built Albatros of Rudolf Szepessy-Sokell of Flik 41J on 6th November 1917. |
Tribute to Sergente Marziale Cerutti by Ivan Berryman. All of Italian Ace Marziale Cerutti's WW1 aerial victories were achieved in the Nieuport 27 whilst serving with the 29a Squadriglia, including this Drachen balloon, his 13th victory on 31st June, 1918. His aircraft carried the letters MIR on the rear fuselage, which stood for Marziale Imperatore Romano (Marziale Roman Emperor), plus a stylised playing card emblem. Cerutti ended the war with 17 confirmed victories to his credit and was flying again in WW2, commanding the 14th Air Brigade 'Rex' in Tobruk, scoring another 5 victories. |
Battle Above the Alps by Ivan Berryman. Josef Kiss is depicted attacking a flight of Caproni Ca.III bombers above the Alps in a Hansa-Brandenburg C.1 of Flik 24 in 1916. He and his observer, Georg Kenzian successfully forced down two of these aircraft and returned to base safely, his own aircraft riddled with over 70 holes sustained during the combat. The Austro-Hungarian ace was to end the war with a total of 19 confirmed victories. |
The Maestro Strikes Again by Ivan Berryman. With Albatros 153.52 written off in a crash in February 1918, Hauptmann Godwin von Brumowski's final red mount was Albatros D.III (Oef) 153.209 with which he despatched an observation balloon and an Ansaldo SVA.5 on the same day on 19th June 1918, the latter belching flames before plunging into the bank of the |
Victory at Monte Santo by Ivan Berryman (PC) An Italian Caudron C.IV was a victory shared by Hauptmann Godwin von Brumowski and his great friend Frank Linke-Crawford above the Isonzo River, close to the ruined monastery of Monte Santo, both Austro-Hungarian pilots flying the recalcitrant Hansa-Brandenburg D.1 (KD). |
Maggiore Francesco Baracca - Spad S.VII by Ivan Berryman. Credited with an impressive 34 victories, Francesco Baracca was Italys highest scoring ace in WW1 and is shown here in his distinctive Spad S.VII which carried his personal emblem, the Prancing Horse, that paid homage to his cavalry days. Upon his death in this aircraft on 19th June 1918, Baraccas mother donated the emblem to Enzo Ferrari whose cars still carry this badge the world over. |
Springtime in Venice by Stan Stokes. Aviation historians often overlook the contribution of the Italians to the advancement of aircraft technology. This was particularly true during aviations earliest years. Giulio Douhet was an Italian air power theorist and advocate, similar to Billy Mitchell in America. Douhet postured in the early 1900s that air power would be become the critical influence on all future wars. He argued for a first strike capability that could hit an adversary in the battlefield, at his supply lines, and at his sources of production. The Russians and the Italians were the leading nations in the development of large, long-range, strategic bombers. In Russia the primary design force behind this movement was Sikorsky (who would later immigrate to the United States) In Italy Count Gianni Caproni di Taliedo was the guiding light with more than 300 aircraft designs to his credit. Born in 1886 Caproni had built at an early age a small biplane powered by a small 25-HP engine. He was to become a pioneer in the development of multi-engine aircraft. In 1913 he designed a three-engine machine utilizing 80-HP Gnome-Rhone engines with all three engines inside the fuselage. This arrangement proved impractical and was scrapped for a more conventional system in the Ca.31, which first flew in 1914. The first operational three-engine Caproni was the Ca.32 biplane (military designation Ca.2) and it utilized 100-HP Fiat 6-cylinder, liquid-cooled engines. The 32 had a wingspan of almost 73 feet (compared to 98 feet for Sikorskys Ilya Mourometz) and a maximum speed of about 72-MPH. The 32 was armed with one or two machineguns, had a crew of 4, and a bomb capacity of 780 lbs. These aircraft were utilized in the first Italian bombing raid of the War. More than 164 Ca.32s were produced. In 1917 Caproni began a production run of 269 Ca.33s, which were similar to the 32 but with more powerful engines. Near the end of the War Caproni produced more than 225 Series 5 aircraft (some under license) Series 5 covered the Ca.44, Ca.45, and Ca.46. The 46 could carry a 1984-pound bomb load at a maximum speed of more than 94-MPH. One of the most distinctive in the series of Caproni bombers was the Ca.42. This was a triplane configuration. Thirty-two aircraft were built, and six of these were sent to the Royal Navy Air Service. The 42 was primarily used for night bombing, although a couple of variants were also produced, one of which was fitted with floats and could carry two torpedoes, and another which had a biplane tail fitted with a rear gunners position. In Stan Stokes painting one of Capronis WW I tri-engine bombers overflys the beautiful city of Venice in a scene very removed from the ravages of WW I trench warfare. Shortly after the War Caproni conceived of a plan for a huge flying boat capable of carrying 100 or more passengers on overseas journeys. The Ca-60 was a 55,000-pound behemoth powered by Liberty engines. Unfortunately production technology was not yet as advanced as Capronis farsighted thinking. The Ca-60 was destroyed during one of its early flight tests. |
The Young Stallion by Ivan Berryman. (PC) Italy's highest-scoring flying ace of WW1 was Francesco Baracca, seen here on the morning of 3rd June 1917, claiming his 13th victim, a Hansa-Brandenburg C.1 two-seater of the Austro-Hungarian Army Air Force above the Isonzo River, near to Plava. His yellow Spad S.VII was easily identifiable by the elegant prancing horse emblem that was painted on the fuselage sides of all his aircraft. Having achieved a total of 34 aerial victories, Baracca was killed in action during the Battle of the Piave, his Spad being shot down by an enemy Phönix C.1 close to the Montello. When his body was recovered from the burned-out remains of his aircraft, he was found to have a bullet hole in his skull and his pistol in his hand. Whether he committed suicide to avoid burning to death or was shot after crashing is unknown. In 1923, Baracca's mother, Countess Paolina, donated the prancing horse emblem to Enzo Ferrari, whose cars have carried this iconic symbol ever since. |
Tribute to Giovanni Ancillotto by Ivan Berryman. Italian Ace Giovanni Ancillotto scored a total of eleven victories during the Great War. This total includes two pioneering night-fighter victories in the summer of 1918. He is best known for his third balloon-busting victory in late 1917, however, during which his Nieuport 11 was severely damaged as he pressed home his attack with rockets, collecting much of the burning balloon with his aircraft. He is shown here during a previous balloon-busting victory with the empty launch tubes of 8 Le Prieur rockets testament to the fate of the enemy balloon. Giovanni Ancillotto was highly decorated and survived the war, but was killed in a car accident in 1924. |
Caproni Ca.3 by Ivan Berryman. The Italian Caproni series of bombers were the first to carry out long range missions during World War 1, frequently making round trips of over 150 miles in freezing conditions to deliver their meagre 1000lb bomb load on Austro-Hungarian targets. Here, a pair of Ca.3s return home, their gunners keeping a watchful eye for enemy fighters. The aerial gunners were particularly exposed to the sub-zero slipstream and often found it almost impossible to operate their guns because they were so cold, the rear gunners position being especially unpleasant due to his proximity to the mid engine and propeller that was just inches from his feet. |
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