Carlo del Prete Bust

Carlo del Prete’s long-distance flights depended on navigation as much as flying skill. In 1927, he served as navigator and second pilot with Francesco de Pinedo on an extensive journey through the Americas. Mechanic Vitale Zacchetti was the third member of the crew. The expedition was a coordinated undertaking, although public commemoration often concentrated on the pilots.

Born in Lucca in 1897, Del Prete went on to fly with Arturo Ferrarin in 1928. They set endurance and distance records in a closed circuit and then crossed the Atlantic from Italy to Brazil. A closed-circuit record measures repeated flight over a defined course; it is different from a record for reaching a distant destination.

Del Prete died in Rio de Janeiro in August 1928 after injuries sustained in a subsequent aircraft accident. He did not die during the successful Atlantic crossing.

These flights tested aircraft and crews while also serving the Fascist state’s presentation of Italy as a modern technological power. The engineering achievement and its political promotion belong in the same account. Neither requires the claim that an individual pilot acted without a supporting team.