1926 - 1933

The Golden Years

Many are the memories, the firsts and the records that our aviation has consigned to History, not only those of the previously-mentioned exploits of Faccioli, Brach Papa, Laureati, De Bernardi etc.

For example, the 1st of April 1926 is one of these historic dates, not only for the city of Turin, but for Italy as a whole: this was the date on which the Cosulich brothers' S.I.S.A. Company of Trieste first started regular commercial flights in Italy. Their route was Turin-Pavia-Venice-Trieste, using a Cant 10 Ter seaplane.

The aircraft took off from the stretch of the River Po River between the Isabella and the Umberto bridges. A ticket from Turin to Trieste cost 350 Lire.

his event preceded by a few days the first flight of the S.A.N.A. Company between Genoa, Rome and Naples, which took place on the 7th of April. From the 1st of August of that same year, "Aero Espresso" began the first service between Brindisi and Constantinople.

In 1926, FIAT started up a new company called "Avio Linee Italiane" (A.L.I.) wich later became "Ali Littoria". This, initially flying Fokker FVII aircraft, established the first regular Turin-Rome flights in 1929, departing from Mirafiori.

The headquarters of the Turin Aero Club "Gino Lisa" in those days were in Via Carlo Alberto 41, but were moved first to Via Pietro Micca then successively to Via San Francesco d'Assisi 14. Flying itself took place at Mirafiori South, site of many sporting events, demonstrations and gatherings of one sort and another through the years – meetings which are part of the history of Torinese and Italian aviation. There was a mixed gathering of members, enthusiasts and others who were just simply curious, many of whom, for the first time in their lives, came close enough to touch one of these marvellous machines called aeroplanes.

The presidents which followed one another as the leader of the "Gino Lisa" were in order: Count Carlo Nicolis di Robilant, Count Paolo Thaon de Revel, engineer Ugo Sartirana, and in November 1938, Count Antonio Farini.

In the meantime, on the runway of the Aeritalia airfield, which from Corso Marche points straight towards the mountain called Musiné, a long series of aircraft had headed into the skies – 30 years of activity had seen the prototypes of the SVA of Savoia, Verduzio and Ansaldo, the "CR's" and the "BR's" of Rosatelli and the "G's" of Gabrielli all lift off for their maiden flights.

To test these aircraft, FIAT built the tarmac runway "30" in the 1930's. It was originally 1000 metres long, but was lengthened to 1500 metres in 1963.

Between the wars, from this airfield, test pilots like the previously-mentioned Brach Papa, Lovadina, Ferrarin, Rolandi, Cus and Catella brought to perfection aircraft which would carry the name of Turin to the furthest corners of the world – one example being the CR30 fighter which was exported to China and to Romania in 1933, to Hungary, Austria and Spain in 1936 and to Venezuela in 1937.

Later, the famous FIAT G.50, G.55 and G.59 would take their place on the runway as they took off for their test flights.

Then came the difficult years of the Second World War, followed by those, equally difficult but full of hope years of the post-war reconstruction.

The Aero club of Turin had been seriously damaged by air attacks. The collapse of its hangar caused the loss of almost all its aircraft, and in the devastation caused by the retreating Germans, most of its documentation was also destroyed. Thus, much of its history is now gone for ever.