Giulio Gavotti
Farman
biplane in Rome (1910)Giulio Gavotti (17 October 1882 in Genoa – 6 October 1939) was an Italian lieutenant and pilot who fought in the Italo-Turkish War.
Aerial bombardment
On 1 November 1911, he flew his early model
Tagiura (Jagiura) oasis and one more onto military camp at Ain Zara.[2] This event is the first recorded airstrike launched from an airplane.[4][3]
After this and further missions, the Ottoman Empire issued a protest. The dropping of bombs from balloons had been outlawed by the Hague Convention of 1899, but Italy argued that this ban did not extend to heavier-than-air craft.[1]
The oldest known preserved Etrich Taube, in
Vienna, Austria
, is possibly a near-twin to the aircraft Gavotti flew in 1911, as both are said to have been powered with inline four-cylinder liquid-cooled powerplants.
Night mission
Gavotti performed the historically first night mission of a heavier-than-air aircraft. It took place as part of the same campaign in Libya on 4 March 1912.[5]
See also
Notes
- ^ ISBN 1-4053-0575-4.
- ^ a b c d The influence of air power upon history by Walter J. Boyne, p.38
- ^ ISBN 1-84176-376-4.
- OCLC 44794868.
- ^ "Libya 1911: How an Italian pilot began the air war era". BBC News Website. May 10, 2011. Retrieved May 10, 2011.
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