General Balbo's Transatlantic Mass Formation Flight (La crociera aerea transatlantica. Rome, Rio de Janeiro, Gennaio 1931).
Air mail.

Description:
Date of issue: December 1930. Valid only on this flight. Impression 20.000.

Italo Balbo was an Italian airman and fascist leader who played a decisive role in developing Benito Mussolini’s air force. Upgrading military as well as commercial aviation, Balbo became famous for his promotion of mass international flights to demonstrate Italy's air power.
In 1928 a Savoia flying boat (with the pilots A. Ferrarin and C.P. Del Prete) flew non-stop from near Rome to Brazil (4500 miles). They were not the first to cross the Atlantic in a westward direction, but it demonstrated Italy's modern airpower .

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Date created: 22/03/00 11:42:36