CARLO DEL PRETE 1897-1928

Captain Carlo del Prete Italian Air Force Historical Office Courtesy of Don Fiore

BIOGRAPHICAL BRIEF from Don Fiore, 8-26-03      Like Francesco de Pinedo, Captain Carlo del Prete (born at Lucca, Italy on August 27, 1897 Rio de Janeiro 16 /8/1928. He began his military career as a sailor, serving submarine duty during the First World War. He became actively interested in aviation after the Armistice, and received his pilot’s brevet in 1922. Reassigned to the newly-created Royal Italian Air Force, he was officially cited as an exceptionally skilled navigator.      Friends since their navy days, del Prete had assisted De Pinedo in his preparations for his 1925 Oriental tour. When arrangements for a co-pilot and navigator were worked into the upcoming tour of the Americas, De Pinedo called upon his old navy comrade, who he described as his "alter-ego", to fill those roles.      His participation in the 1927 American tour brought del Prete a promotion to the rank of Major, as well as his inclusion among the elite circle of the world’s leading airmen. In 1928, del Prete teamed up with Arturo Ferrarin to shatter the world’s long distance record by flying non-stop from Rome to Natal, Brazil.      Tragically, the young hero died on August 16, 1928 from injuries sustained in an airplane crash just weeks after this latest triumph.

 

ONLINE RESOURCES      If you search for Carlo del Prete using the Google search engine, (8-26-03), you will find about 450 links! Among the more useful are the following.

A FAMOUS CITIZEN: CARLO DEL PRETE

COMMANDER FRANCESCO DE PINEDO (1890-1933) The first pilot to fly a foreign aircraft to the United States New Orleans - March 29, 1927 75th Anniversary Commemoration in the United States of America under the auspices of Consul General Enrico Granara Italian Consulate General in Chicago      This website is a good place to start your search for information on the life and career of this Italian hero. Of special interest are two links, which may be seen at the right of the page. You will be well rewarded by clicking on The Lord of Distances and Canadian Site. Both websites may be accessed by clicking the the titles right below.

THE LORD OF DISTANCES by Don Fiore The life and deeds of Francesco de Pinedo      This website offers one of the best sources in English I have been able to find on the life and career of Carlo del Prete. If you will click on the section entitled De Pinedo's Milestone Flights, you will access a page which offers many details of del Prete's association with de Pinedo on his second great journey from Rome to Natal, Brazil in 1928. If you use your "FIND" button on "Prete", you will find a nice photograph of him, about a third of the way down the page. You will want to read the associated text which tells the story of the famous flight. If you click on the photo itself, you will access a page which offers a rather complete biography of del Prete.

As time permits, you will be well rewarded by visiting as many of the other links as you can.

 
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RECOMMENDED READING

CARLO DEL PRETE E GLI AVIATORI LUCCHESI   Giorgio Giorgi   Product Details Cloth: List Price: ISBN:

 

Raid Parigi - Roma - Torino Extract from CARLO DEL PRETE E GLI AVIATORI LUCCHESI Courtesy of Giovanni Giorgetti, 11-16-05      You can sample a portion of the book which displays a poster which features all 26 of the pioneer aviators who participated in the 1911 flight from Paris to Rome to Torino. Click on the title above to see the next page.

 

Carlo del Prete died in 1933.

 

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