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AviaBellanca
Since 1912 the placards of some
of aviation's most innovative designs have borne the Bellanca name. The
company's founder; Giuseppe Mario Bellanca , received a
degree in Math and Physics from the Polytechnic Institute of Milan, and
was among the first in the world to apply these principles to the design
of aircraft. This early aeronautical engineer who has been honoured on the
cover of Time magazine and inducted into the Aviation Hall
of Fame, formed the Bellanca Aircraft Company in 1927.
Lindberg's first choice
of
aircraft for his epic Trans-Atlantic flight was a Bellanca. Bellanca
designs were unmatched in contests of efficiency, speed, endurance, and
technology in the early days of aviation. With Bellanca aircraft designs
topping the leader boards at national and international aviation races and
contests, Charles Lindberg sought the best. One of Bellanca's financial
backers insisted on riding along as a passenger, however, so the Lone
Eagle was obliged to seek his place in history in another craft.
Just eight days after
Lindberg's record flight, a Bellanca (the Columbia ) took off from
New York - with the passenger -and flew non-stop to Germany. In little
more than a week Lindberg's record had fallen - by a wide margin -with
little fanfare. During the next decade Bellanca aircraft made ten more
ocean crossings with increasing speeds and distances covered, and included
the first Trans-Pacific crossing. While others still dreamed about the
possibility, Bellanca was turning advancing technology into reality.
August T. Bellanca,
son of the
company founder and himself a graduate aeronautical engineer later joined
his father in the business. In 1954 the Bellancas left their company to
form a new engineering and development firm. In 1983 this new company
became the AviaBellanca Aircraft Corporation. August
Bellanca today is an expert in the design of both civil and military
aircraft, and in the use of strong, lightweight composite materials. He
holds a number of patents. He has provided engineering services in these
fields for such giants in aerospace as Boeing/Vertol, Douglas, and
Grumman.
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