Giovanni De Briganti
Giovanni De Briganti | |
|---|---|
| Born | 12 October 1892 |
| Died | 8 November 1937 (aged 45) Pisa, Italy |
| Occupation(s) | World War I fighter pilot Air racer Aerobatic pilot Test pilot |
Giovanni De Briganti (12 October 1892 – 8 November 1937) was an Italian World War I fighter pilot, seaplane air racer of the 1920s, aerobatic pilot, and test pilot.
Biography
De Briganti was born on 12 October 1892 in
In March 1917 De Briganti transferred to the 77th Squadron under the command of Pier Ruggero Piccio where, for having achieved aerial victories, he was decorated with a Silver Medal of Military Valor. Promoted to lieutenant, he served as a flight instructor from the summer of 1918 to the summer of 1919 at the Furbara airfield,[3] where he also trained American pilots.[2]
World War I ended in November 1918. Discharged from military service in 1919, De Briganti went to work at
From 1923 to 1924, De Briganti was director of the flying school for seaplanes at the Schiranna seaplane base, performing numerous delivery flights of aircraft to Spain.[3] In 1924 he won the Italian Cup, flying a Macchi M.24 flying boat.[3] After the development of the Macchi M.33 racing flying boat in 1925, he participated in that year′s Schneider Cup race — held in the United States at Baltimore, Maryland — finishing in third place in an M.33 at an average speed of 278.269 kilometres per hour (172.908 mph).[3]
In 1926 De Briganti was employed as a
On 26 February 1937, De Briganti piloted the prototype (MM.434) of the new
Personal life
De Briganti married Alda Ramelli (1905–1947).[1] The couple had two sons, Guglielmo (1929–1973) and Andrea (1934–2017).[1]
Honors and awards
Silver Medal of Military Valor
Knight of the Order of the Crown of Italy
Commemorative Medal for the Italo-Austrian War 1915–1918 with four annual campaign stars
The citation for De Briganti′s Silver Medal of Military Valor reads:
As an airplane pilot, assigned to a
anti-aircraft batteriesand the attacks of enemy fighter aircraft. On 19 August [1917], after a long and difficult struggle, an opponent's fighter aircraft fell near Voiscizza. Cielo di Adelberg, May 1917–Voiscizza, 19 August 1917.
References
Notes
Bibliography
- Guido Guidi (1973). CMASA. Costruzioni Meccaniche Aeronautiche S.A. (in Italian). Rome: Ufficio Storico Stato Maggiore Aeronautica.
- Luigi Mancini, ed. (1936). Grande Enciclopedia Aeronautica (in Italian). Milan: Edizioni Aeronautica.
- Fernando Piccolo (ed.); Roberto Lancelotti; Elena Lancelotti (2015). ...Ai nostri padri. I quali elevandosi nello spazio dei cieli ebbero l'ala infranta (in Italian). Florence: Opera Nazionale per i Figli degli Aviatori.
{{cite book}}:|author=has generic name (help) - Piero Vergnano (1997). Fiat G.50. Milano: Giorgio Apostolo Editore.
- Roberto Gentilli and Paolo Varriale, I Reparti dell'aviazione italiana nella Grande Guerra (in Italian), AM Ufficio Storico, 1999
External links
- "Dossier FIAT G.50 - 2. L'incidente a Giovanni De Briganti". Ali e Uomini (in Italian). alieuomini.it. 30 May 2008. Archived from the original on 9 January 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2019.