1909 - Mario Calderara, No Pilot 1 
Mario Calderara (Verona, October 10, 1879 - 1944) was an Italian aviator and inventor. It was the first Italian to achieve the patent flight in 1909, and to build the first Italian hydroplane in 1911. In 1898 he entered the Naval Academy in Livorno, and was promoted to ensign in 1901. He was strongly attracted by the possibility of man to fly, which in those years was beginning to slowly change from pure fantasy to reality. To this period because so many studies and the early successes of Otto Lilienthal and the Wright brothers. It is with them that Calderara was an intense match. In 1905, after learning the news that they had successfully completed the first flight with his plane, he asked them a few lights and technical details. He received the answers he sought, and was born in the years between their intense friendship with the information of the Wright brothers in 1907 began the first experiments in gliding in the Gulf of Spezia. During experiments with a biplane driven by a ship, first reached an altitude of more than fifteen meters, but then fell into the water and nearly drowning. In April of 1909, Wilbur Wright came to Rome and gave him some lessons with Mario Calderara. In September of 1909 following the triumphs of the circuit Calderara di Brescia organized by the Italian, he was awarded the pilot's license No. 1. In 1911 he designed and built his own seaplane, the largest in the world at that time that she flew in the spring of 1912, carrying three passengers plus the pilot. From 1917 to 1919 he was given command of a new school for pilots of seaplanes naval statutinense. The ability of the Lieutenant Calderara, were recognized by U.S. Navy awarded him the "American Navy Cross." From 1923 to 1925 he was appointed aviation officer at the Italian Embassy in Washington. Subsequently left the Navy, he moved to Paris, launching a successful business in the aviation field. In 1939, Calderara moved to Italy. At the outbreak of World War II, bought the house near Paris, he was dispossessed and his family faced many financial difficulties. In 1944, Mario Calderara died of a sudden illness. (
source)
At
technical naval museum of La Spezia are: "a series of photos related to STV Calderara, who was the first Italian rider to achieve the patent and the inventor dell'idrovolante, a copy of which was built and tested by him in 1907. His seaplane was tested at La Spezia in 1911, which was built the seaplane base, while the school was opened in Venice seaplanes.
Mario Calderara was born in Verona October 10, 1879, eldest son of a career Army officer, Mark, and Eleanor Tantini. Marco Calderara (1847-1928) rose to the rank of general of the Alpini. Tantini Eleanor died in 1901 at age 50, when Mario was twenty-one years. Mario
Since childhood he had been attracted by life at sea. In 1898 he entered the Academy Naval Academy in Livorno, and was promoted to ensign in 1901. During his years at Livorno was known to his classmates to dream of human flight, a phenomenon that in those years was totally unknown, except for flights with no engine of the German Otto Lilienthal (who died in a plane crash in 1896 ) and powered flight aborted by Clement Ader in France. Mario's classmates joked about his obsession of the flight, and one of them made a sketch of Calderara on a flying machine, which fell to the ground and was transported to the hospital first, then to the cemetery.
In 1905, Mario Calderara wrote to the Wright brothers in Dayton, Ohio, after learning of their attempts to fly that had failed (a documented report of their flights was known only after 1905). He asked them a few technical details, and was pleasantly surprised when he received a comprehensive response by Wilbur and Orville, as well as FCBishop, president of the Aeroclub of the United States. The correspondence continued in subsequent years and formed the basis of a friendship that lasted throughout his life. Calderara had already done some experiments in 1903 and 1904 with primitive gliders, and had studied the behavior of a flat surface on an inclined plane, by calculating the coefficient of wind resistance (along with the engineer. Canovetti, used the funicular from Como Brunate as inclined to make his calculations).
After receiving the information from the brothers Wright, Mario Calderara asked the Navy Department is authorized to perform some experiments to hover over the water, towed by a pirobarca. Permission was given in 1906, and
in the spring of 1907 he started his first gliding experiments in the Gulf of La Spezia , with a "flying machine" inspired by the Wright biplane. At first he placed the libratore on two floats, holding it with ropes to gradually release the unit for a controlled lifting. Following his car directly installed on the deck of the destroyer "Lancer" and made him soar to a height much greater advantage of the increased speed of the ship. He reached an altitude more than fifteen feet, but when the ship turned hard to the left, the libratore off balance and fell into the water. Calderara was dragged below the surface to a depth of over three meters, held by steel cables of the unit. He was taken to the hospital almost drowned and slightly wounded, and he was forbidden to continue his experiments, which are considered too risky.
In 1908, the French pilot Leon Delagrange visited Rome in preparation for the demonstration flights. The manufacturer of the aircraft, Gabriel Voisin, was with him. Mario Calderara Voisin asked if he could get to Paris to work in his workshop as a draftsman and designer. Voisin agreed, and he applied Calderara the Ministry for a license and unpaid for six months. In July 1908 he went to Issy Les Moulineaux (near Paris) and worked in Gabriel Voisin (the two had become good friends and collaborated on new ideas). Having worked on the design of various aircraft, received from Mr. Goupy Ambrose, a wealthy French who are interested in aviation, the proposed design and build it at the expense of a new type of flying machine, very light and small, a
"biplane propeller was" the first unit of that type. He built the airplane, called "Calderara Goupy," and flew it successfully on March 11, 1909 Buc (France). In those months
(Summer 1908) Wilbur Wright had been invited to France and had demonstrated the potential of his wonderful "Flyer" that could make the long flights of thirty or sixty minutes, while the planes built by Blériot, Farman and Voisin could stay in flight for only few minutes. The Aeroclub of Italy, acting in coordination with the brigade commanded by Major Specialists Maurizio Moris, Wright invited to Rome and offered to buy his own airplane. A Wilbur Wright was asked to teach one or two drivers in the field of Centocelle (the future airport of Rome).
Mario Calderara was chosen as the first student because he was the only one in Italy to have flown. Wilbur Wright came to Rome in April 1909 and, after have flown many VIPs, gave some lessons to Mario Calderara and in recent days, the lieutenant of genius Umberto Savoy. Wright left for the United States on May 1, stating that Calderara was able to fly alone, and that he could teach the flight to ten. Savoy. After his departure Calderara made many long flights with no problem but on a windy day, May 6, his airplane crashed and he was seriously injured (concussion). After being treated in hospital, he managed to repair the airplane Wright with the assistance of Savoy, who was a talented engineer, and after a month and a half (July 1909) resumed its flights to Centocelle.
In September 1909 the Aeroclub of Italy had organized an air show at Brescia (similar to what took place in Reims, France, in July). Calderara was allowed to participate in competitions, which were present in person by His Majesty King Vittorio Emanuele III. Three weeks before the opening of the circuit, a violent storm destroyed hangars built of wood and canvas on the airport of Brescia for the participants, and the Wright Flyer that was rebuilt in Rome was damaged beyond repair. The two officers (Calderara and Savoy) were able to reconstruct the biplane in 9 days, in time for the 'start of the race, using wood and canvas of the second quality. After a new engine mounted on the Italian, "Rebus" Mario Calderara participated in all competitions and won five of the eight prizes in the race. The other Italian pilots were unable to get up from the ground, with the exception of Anzalone, whose French air was almost destroyed in a plane crash. Pilots who flew successfully were the American Glenn Curtiss and the Frenchman Henry Rougier.
circuit Brescia was a triumph for Calderara, who overnight became a national hero, being the only Italian who could fly. The Aeroclub of Italy conferred on him the pilot's license No. 1. The famous poet Gabriele d'Annunzio was interested in human flight and had come to Brescia in the hope of flight as a passenger. He could be off the ground with Glenn Curtiss a flight aborted a few seconds which left him very disappointed. He then asked to Calderara, who knew from the time of Centocelle, take it in flight. The latter accepted it and did make a announcement of a long flight (over ten minutes) around the airport. The poet, enthusiastic, emphatically praised the expertise of Calderara. At that time, D'Annunzio was writing a novel about human flight, which renewed the myth of Daedalus and Icarus. He gave the hero of his book, Paolo Tarsis, a temperament like that of Mario Calderara, seen as a pilot with a strong and quick reflexes. The reputation of
Calderara exposed him to many interviews with journalists, and his willingness to explain his technique flight was not appreciated by his immediate superior, Major Moris, who considered this undignified behavior by a career officer (This was perhaps the beginning of a series of differences between the two officers). In the following months, Calderara was subjected to tests to an officers' course at Livorno (required for his promotion to Lieutenant) and was promoted penalized with low marks from its aviation activities, which enabled him to prepare for the exams: This greatly damaged his career.
Major Moris had agreed to use the small plane invented by Calderara Calderara-Goupy, for the education of Italian riders, after equipped with the engine (the biplane Centocelle had come to France without motor). However, in the autumn of 1910, during the absence of Calderara, the device was removed from the hangar where it was secure and left outdoors, exposed to weather. Soon the rain and wind damaged irreparably in the biplane, and it was demolished. This was a source of terrible sadness for Calderara, who was soon assigned to the Navy Department and was not used for training of new pilots.
Calderara asked the Ministry for permission to build in La Spezia a new type of aircraft suitable for take off and alight on the water. Seaplanes did not exist in those days, except for a French aircraft designed by Fabre, which had many drawbacks.
Calderara designed and built his flying boat, the largest flying machine in the world, in 1911 and flew successfully in the spring of 1912, carrying three passengers plus the pilot . He was invited to London, where he projected a film of its flights in front of a highly-targeted audience that included Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill.
World War I approached, and the Italian navy imposed a Mario Calderara interruption of its aeronautical activities and a return to his duties as naval service. During the war, Calderara was embarked on a number of warships, the last destination in command of a torpedo boat in the Adriatic.
At the end of 1917, The Ministry assigned it to the command of a new school for pilots of seaplanes on the shores of Lake Bolsena, north of Rome. The student pilots were officers of the Navy (America had just entered the war) and the school held its activities throughout 1918 and until July 1919. The educational activities of the American pilots from the Calderara was considered to be very worthwhile, since there was no plane crash in eighteen months, was a demonstration of safety and exceptional skill for those days. The U.S. Navy was impressed by the capacity of Lieutenant Commander Calderara, and awarded him the "American Navy Cross
In 1923, he was appointed clerk Calderara Aircraft at the Italian Embassy in Washington. He acquitted his task with great competence and met many American statesmen, including President Coolidge and the future president Herbert Hoover. Camera also in touch with his old friends aviation pioneers, Orville Wright and Glenn Curtiss visiting and making friends with other people active in the aviation.
His assignment in Washington ended in 1925, and he decided to interrupt his career in the Italian Navy (in which he had reached the rank of commander). Moved to Paris, using this city as the center for its new task: the representation of several U.S. corporations that produce engines Aircraft flight instruments and panels. His new job required constant trips to Europe, Turkey and the Soviet Union.
His work was very successful, despite the economic crisis of 1929. But now a new world war was approaching, and in 1939, Calderara had to move back to Italy. When war broke out, the house purchased by Calderara near Paris was expropriated as enemy property, and the family was faced with other financial difficulties. In 1944, worn down by the difficulties and especially by his smoking habit, Mario Calderara died, for an instant ill in his bed. His beloved wife, the Countess Gamba Ghiselli Emmy, lived for 38 years. She contributed substantially to the collection of data and documents that constitute the historical legacy of Mario Calderara.
Lodovico Calderara In 1999 he published a book called "Mario Calderara, Aviator and inventor" (The book is in Italian, and in the future will be translated into English). The book was written by Mario's son, Louis, in collaboration with the Air Force General Attilio Marchetti, who is the author of several books and monographs on the history of aviation. The book aims to tell the life of Mario Calderara with historical accuracy, and to draw a faithful portrait of the protagonist, pointing out some interesting ideas and insights that have inspired both as a driver and as a pioneer designer of aircraft. In 1935, Mario Calderara, who at that time lived in Paris, wrote a short report entitled "My memories of aviation," describing its activities during the early years of flight. Many quotations in this report were included in the book, since they are the only existing autobiographical document.
In 2002, the French magazine "Icare" devoted an entire number to Mario Calderara.
Early 1. Experiments WITH Canovetti
Mario Calderara AS FOLLOWS writes in a memorandum written in Paris in 1935 Entitled "My memories of aviation" (My Recollections of aviation):
“In 1902 I decided to cooperate with an Italian engineer,(Mr Canovetti) for the development of an experiment which attempted to establish the value of the coefficient “K” of resistance of the air, which at the time was evaluated quite wrongly. Our experiments took place on the funicular between Como and Brunate which was not operating during the winter. The carts had been loaded with surfaces having different shapes and dimensions; they were allowed to fall freely along the rails, and their velocity was recorded at regular intervals. Thus we succeeded in evaluating the coefficient of resistance of the air and its influence in function of the surfaces with an approximation which had never been attained before. In fact, these values are very close to those obtained today in the expensive wind tunnels utilized to this effect”.
In a later edition of his memories, Calderara mentions the experiments as having been carried out “in February 1903” but as their preparation must have started at the end of 1902, the conflict of dates does not appear to be very important (at that time Calderara was 23 years old).
Mr Canovetti was born in Florence in 1853; he graduated as an engineer in Paris. He made valuable technical studies, and published some papers which received prizes from scientific institutes, including the French Academy. In 1898 he was authorized by the Brescia municipality to install a cable stretched between a tower in a city castle and the bottom of a moat, with a level differential of 81 meters and a cable length of 170 meters. Some carts running along the cable were loaded with surfaces and volumes of different shapes. Between 1902 and 1904 he improved his experiments using a cable between Brunate and Como, with a length of 800 meters... (omissis) ...
2. GLIDING EXPERIMENTS
Following is a transcription of the first part of the report entitled “Experiments with airplanes” presented by Calderara to the Ministry of the Italian Navy on July 26, 1907:
“I would like to inform briefly this authority about the present state of the well known experiments with airplanes for which I am ready to submit a complete and detailed report. The tests which have been carried out so far are of two types:
2.1. GLIDING EXPERIENCES: (these words are both in Italian and in English in the text). These are a reproduction (I trust it is a faithful one) of the well known experiments of the American Chanute and they have allowed me repeatedly to cover a distance of 15 to 50 meters in a straight line while being lifted to a height of 50 cm to 3 meters. These preliminary experiments had the double aim of verifying the data which I had received (in which I could not find any artificial exaggeration) and of acquiring a certain mastery of the machine which will prove very useful in case of breakage or hooking of the towing cable during final tests. As I operated the machine repeatedly and continuously I acquired the reflexed movements (as opposed to the instinctive ones) required to balance and control the flight, and acquired also a certain amount of self assurance which will allow me to repeat these glidings whenever I will be requested to do so, as long as weather and site conditions will allow them.. These conditions consist in the availability of a sloped meadow ( inclined 20 to 30 degrees ) with a wind blowing uphill at a minimum speed of 7 meters per second. The length of the flight depends almost exclusively from the extension of the slope.
2.2. TOWING EXPERIMENTS.
2.2.1. TOWING ON SOLID GROUND: When there was a strong wind I succeeded in being towed on a flying machine used like a kite, pulled by two persons who ran against the wind. The combined speed of the runners and the wind allowed me to be lifted to a height of 4 meters in a stable and continuous way , and I could have increased that height if I had not chosen to avoid useless risks. This type of test does not require like the preceding one a methodical preparation, and can be repeated at any time. A possible ground for these tests is the “Piazza d’Armi” in La Spezia.
2.2.2. TOWING EXPERIMENTS AT SEA:. In the report which I had the honor of submitting when I proposed the present experiments” ... (omissis) ... (Calderara discusses the well known tests of gliders towed by motor boats and war ships, which ended with the “Lanciere” accident)
3. WHEN DID THESE EARLY EXPERIMENTS TAKE PLACE
Establishing the dates of the early flying experiments described by Mario Calderara seems rather difficult, because Calderara himself does not mention any dates in his report to the Ministry... Before 1904 he could presumably rely only on vague reproductions of the Chanute gliders, and he must have also utilized his own capacity for design. This explains also why he neglected to show details of his early gliders, as he must have thought that their design was obsolete with respect to the more advanced technical information obtained from the Wright brothers.
Therefore we can only surmise that these flights took place in 1904 –or early 1905, i.e. before Calderara started his correspondence with Dayton, and before he presented ( end of 1905) his first proposal to the Ministry for using large kites of the “Hargrave” type to lift observers high above war ships .Calderara mentions in his memories that in 1905 he did not dare (not yet) to propose towing real “gliding-airplane, because he feared that the conservative senior officers who analyzed his proposal would find it unfeasible and even ridiculous”.
(
fonte : excerpts (some of them summarized) translated from the “Note al capitolo III” Notes to chapt. III on pages 56 to 75 of the book “MARIO CALDERARA , AVIATORE E INVENTORE” written by Lodovico Calderara and Attilio Marchetti).
Mario Calderara Mario Calderara
(1879-1944) was an Italian aviator and inventor who in 1912 designed, built and successfully flew
the largest seaplane in the world at the time .
Passionate about flying from an early age, Calderara pursued a career in the Italian Navy. Inspired by the gliders of Otto Lilienthal, he convinced the Italian Navy to allow him to experiment with gliders on water. After risking his life on several failed attempts to launch from the water, he took a six-month leave of absence to study with the aeroplane manufacturer Gabriel Voisin, in Paris.
In 1910, Calderara applied to the Admiralty for permission to build a new type of airplane, which could take off and land on water.
Seaplanes did not exist at the time, except for a French model designed by Fabre, which had many drawbacks .
It seems Calderara was always obsessed with flight. His classmates at school joked so much about his passion, one of them sketched him in different stages - first on a flying machine, secondly as it crashed to the ground, and later as he was rushed to hospital and then put to rest in a cemetery!
Calderara, like many other pioneers, was not deterred. On hearing about their successful attempts in flight, he wrote to the Wright brothers for technical advice and was pleasantly surprised when he received a response.
When war broke out, Calderara was deprived of his home near Paris when it was used as enemy property. His family went on to suffer further financial losses and in 1944, worn out by a life of challenges, Calderara died suddenly in his bed at the age of 65 years.
(fonte:
Discovery Channel , con un video 1 minute)
