Umberto Nobile

Lauro, 1885-Rome, 1978

Test Pilots and Experimenters

An Italian officer of the aeronautical engineering corps in WWI, constructor, airship pilot and Arctic explorer. He is the author of many technical publications, and distinguishes himself in the design and construction of airships in Italy and abroad. He designs the first Italian parachute and the first Italian metal airplane. He is famous for his two flights over the North Pole (1926, 1928), especially for the unfortunate expedition in 1928 that ends dramatically and because of which he is forced to resign from all of his positions. He is reinstated to the Italian Air Force only in 1945. Elected to the Constituent Assembly as independent candidate in the lists of the Italian Communist Party (1946).