Mattioli, Guido - In volo con Umberto Maddalena (1938) (Original Signed Edition)

In volo con Umberto Maddalena (1938)

Guido Matttioli

Editrice « L’Aviazione »

Edition dedicated by the author

Umberto Maddalena joined the Italian Navy in 1916. He obtained his licence on an FBA Type H seaplane in September of the same year. With a brilliant record of service during the First World War, he distinguished himself with a series of air raids.

In 1925, at the controls of a Macchi M.24 seaplane, with an identical aircraft, he was the protagonist of an important raid from the Balkans to Germany. The flight, which was called Circuito del Baltico (Baltic Circuit), was planned to make Italian aeronautical products known in that region and to find possible new commercial outlets. Among its crew was also the journalist Guido Mattioli, commissioned by Corriere della Sera to comment on the event that is the subject of this book. After flying over the Alps, he headed north over Germany and the Netherlands, then east over Denmark and Sweden, finally reaching Leningrad. On his return journey, he headed west, around the Baltic States, reached Amsterdam and then resumed his original route south. When it reached home, after more than 10,000 km (6,000 miles), both crews had a dramatic accident over the Splügen Pass.

Maddalena was killed on 19 March 1931 when his S.64 Bis exploded in flight. Maddalena was an inveterate smoker and could not help but consume his cigarettes even during the flight, and a match detonation is compatible.

232 pages in Italian