MARIO COBIANCHI 1881-1944

MARIO COBIANCHI Collection of Giorgio Giorgi, Courtesy of Giovanni Giorgetti, 10-10-04

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES - 1      Mario Cobianchi, was born on April 8, 1885 at Bologna, Italy. Italian flight licence N° 24 on November 13, 1910 at Pordenone (Biplane). Mario Cobianchi was a volunteer pilot at Derna during the war in Lybia, 1911 - 1912. He died on January 15, 1944, at Roma. via email from Giovanni Giorgetti, 10-19-04

 

Cagno, Cobianchi and Cei - Pordenone 1910

 

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES - 2 via email from Giovanni Giorgetti, 10-10-04      Mario Cobianchi has written the book "PIONIERI DELL'AVIAZIONE ITALIANA" from where I have taken the news about the italian pioneers. Mario Cobianchi, was born on April 8, 1885 at Bologna, Italy. Italian flight licence N° 24 on November 13, 1910 at Pordenone (B.). Mario Cobianchi was a volunteer pilot at Derna during the war in Lybia, 1911 - 1912. He died on January 15, 1944, at Roma.

 

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES - 3 From: Eroi e Pionieri dell'Aria - Enea Grossi - Milano 1934 Contributed by Giovanni Giorgetti, 8-10-09 Mario Cobianchi was in the Carolina. He was a friend of the Wright brothers. He returned toItaly around 1908. He was in New York on November 1917 at the General Mangement of the "Parisan Airplane Corporation" and at the Aircraft Engineering Corporation". On May 1918, at Oster Bay (N. Y.), he tested a new seaplane, built under his supervision. After the war, he was in the Civil Aviation Committee in Washinton. He was a Member of honour of the Aero Club of America.

 

Mario Cobianchi flys over the Pisa tower January 22, 1911 Collection of Giorgio Giorgi, Courtesy of Giovanni Giorgetti, 10-10-04

 

Detail from photo above. Collection of Giorgio Giorgi, Courtesy of Giovanni Giorgetti, 10-10-04

 

ONLINE RESOURCES      If you search for "Mario Cobianchi +aviation", using the Google search engine, (10-14-04), you will find about 18 links. Most are in Italian, but machine-translations are available directly from the listings.

Portale dell'AM      This page in Italian on the Aeronautica Militare website, offers a revue of the development of aviation in Italy. There is only a brief mention of Mario Cobianchi, but the story is an interesting one. To access the site, just click on the title above.      If you need a machine-translation into English, you can click on the title below. The Origins

 

HISTORY OF THE GHEDI AERODROME      Although there is only a brief reference to the activities of Cobianchi, this article is important to anyone wanting to understand the development of aviation in Italy. The following paragraph was extracted from the article so as to highlight the many pioneer aviators who played a part in its history. It is amply illustrated with seven photographs. I think you will want to read the whole article which details the history from 1909 to 2002.      "The beginning of the flying activity in Ghedi was in 1909 when in the moor on the border with Montichiari was organized an airshow of international importance which saw the participation of airmen such as Wright, Calderara, Cobianchi, Cagno, Rougier, Curtiss, Moucher, Lebland, Anzani and Blériot, who won the "Brescia Grand Prize" flying 50 Km. in 49.24" with a biplane aircraft, while Curtiss won the height race reaching 92 metres. Among the spectators were numbered the Princess Letizia Savoy Bonaparte, Franz Kafka, who acted as foreign correspondent for a newspaper, and Gabriele d'Annunzio, who flew as passenger on Wright's airplane and that would later make of aviation one of his greatest passions (very famous remained his "Flight over Vienna")."      To access the site, just click on the title above.

 

OTHER HISTORIC AIRPORTS via email from Don Fiore - 9-1-03      In addition to Ghedi, other very early but important Italian airfields included Centocelle (Rome) where Wilbur Wright gave his first Italian demonstration), Gioa De Colle, & Aviano (still used today by the United States).

 

WADP Numbering System WNS      This is an interesting site which offers a large photograph of a stamp which was issued by the Italian Government in celebration of the "Centenary of First Flight." In addition to the stamp honoring Mario, it displays stamps honoring Alessandro Marchetti, Mario Calderara and Giani Caproni. You can access the site by clicking on the title above. You will find the stamp near the bottom of the page, on the left-hand side.

 

RECOMMENDED READING

PIONIERI DELL'AVIAZIONE ITALIANA ITALIAN PIONEERS OF AVIATION      Mario Cobianchi wrote this very interesting book in the year 1943 and he died in the 1944. The book isn't for sale and in Italy there are only 11 copies in the libraries. It is the source of the information on other Italian pioneers which I have sent to you including Giuseppe Cei, Pasqua marquis Ugolino Vivaldi, Mario Calderara and Adorno Enrico Cammarota      His book is very interesting in that there are the names of italian aviation motors from 1884 to 1913 and the names of the italian pioneers killed from 1909 to 1914. Photo & text courtesy of Giovanni Giorgetti, 10-10-04

 

OLTRE L'AZZURRO Beyond the Blue      You are authorized to use the photos by Giorgio Giorgi, a friend of mine, author of the article on Mario Cobianchi, written in the book OLTRE L'AZZURRO, homage for the clients of the bank Cassa di Risparmio di Pisa, Italy.      The book is for sale at "Studio Bibliografico IL POSTIGLIONE, V.le Sardegna, 26, 27100 Pavia, tel and fax 038225857, e-mail: studio.postiglione@libero.it The price is 30,50 EURO. Photo & text courtesy of Giovanni Giorgetti, 10-10-04

 

Bologna nella storia del volo di Giorgio Evangelisti Bologna in the History of Flight      This book, in Italian, of 240 pages and 190 illustrations, is available from the publisher, Editoriale Olimpia, Firenze.. To access their site, just click on the name.      If you need a machine-translation into English, you can click on the title below: Bologna

 

Mario Cobianchi died on January 15, 1944, in Rome. Personal communication from Giovanni Giorgetti, 10-10-04   Editor's Note: If you have any more information on this pioneer aviator please contact me. E-mail to Ralph Cooper

 

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