Silvio Pettirossi
Silvio Pettirossi (born June 16, 1887 in Asunción , Paraguay , † October 17, 1916 near Buenos Aires , Argentina ) was a Paraguayan pilot and aviation pioneer .
biography
His father was an Italian immigrant and his mother Rufina Pereira Boldán was of Paraguayan origin. He had five siblings.
At the age of seven he traveled to Spoleto , Italy , and attended the local school in the city, where his older brother Alfredo was in the Viterbo NCO School . He lived in Italy until the age of 15. After his return and military training at the Liceo Pre-Militar in Paraguay, he entered the army , with the rank of teniente primero , he married Sara Usher at the age of 27.
Aviation career
Pettirossi received a scholarship from the Paraguayan government and obtained his first flight license in France in 1912 through the International Aviation Federation . He bought a Deperdussin Model "T", a single-seat monoplane with a 60 hp, seven-cylinder Gnôme et Rhône - rotary engine . The machine, specially developed for aerobatics, reached a top speed of 105 miles per hour and had a range of two hours and 30 minutes. She was christened "Paraguay". Dimensions: 10.65 m wingspan, 7.3 m long, 2.69 m high and had a wing area of 21 m². Empty weight was 395 kg and the highest take-off mass was 550 kg. The machines had a streamlined hull made of a wooden shell and were equipped with the Deperdussin control (DEP), in which a steering wheel was attached for the pitch movement and for the roll movement.
Pettirossi became known for his many famous and extraordinary acrobatic flights not only in South America, but also in Europe and the USA. In December 1914 he founded the first Aeroclub de Paraguay and became its president.
In 1915 he took part in the World Expo in San Francisco (USA), where he earned a reputation as one of the best stunt pilots in the world.
On October 17, 1916, during an aerobatic demonstration in Argentina , the left wing of his aircraft broke off while looping . The plane crashed on a ranch near Buenos Aires. Pettirossi died at the scene of the accident at the age of 29.
Awards (posthumous)
In 1952, the Post of the Republic of Paraguay issued a 50 centimos postage stamp depicting the pilot Silvio Pettirossi.
In 1983 a centrally located district of Asunción was named after Pettirossi.
After the fall of the dictator Alfredo Stroessner in 1989, Asunción Airport received its current name after the Paraguayan aviation pioneer Silvio Pettirossi. Other places and institutions were named in his honor, such as a brigade of the Fuerza Aérea Paraguaya , a Paraguayan military base in Luque , an avenue in Lambaré and the Paraguayan Instituto de Historia de la Aviación . Even a football club in the first division of Paraguay, the Club Silvio Pettirossi in Asunción bears his name today. Famous poets and writers such as Eloy Fariña Núñez, Ignacio A. Pane, Manuel Domínguez, Juan Natalicio González and Leopoldo Centurión dedicated poems and writings to Pettirossi.
On January 16, 2014 the asteroid (15414) Pettirossi was named after him.
An imposing monument in memory of Pettirossi stands in Punta Lara , Buenos Aires Province in Argentina.
swell
- Antonio Luis Sapienza: La Contribución Italiana en la Aviación Paraguaya, Edition Asunción 2007 (Spanish)
- ^ Website of the Fuerza Aérea Paraguaya
- ^ Suplemento Escolar Super Temas, Historia del Paraguay, Diario La Nación. 2006
- ↑ Photo: Deperdussin control (DEP)
- ↑ Guarani portal page
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Pettirossi, Silvio |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Paraguayan pilot and aviation pioneer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 16, 1887 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Asunción , Paraguay |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 17, 1916 |
| Place of death | Buenos Aires |