THE AIR FORCE ADVENTURE

Pilots and technological experimentation to conquer the skies
From the point of view of design and engineering, Italy highly contributes to experimentation in aviation. Whether they work for the Caproni industries or for other Italian companies, Italian pilots (including those from Trentino), often coming from the academies of the Italian Royal Air Force, fly and test hundreds of aircraft, design improvements, innovate, fly prototypes and models that, during the Fascist era, are tested and monitored at the Guidonia Testing Center. The ingenuity, skills and know-how acquired in the two world wars, however, clash with an ‘artisanal’ industrial structure that in some ways is still underdeveloped and materially incapable of sustaining innovative ideas and designs. The WWII postwar period coincides with the final crisis in the Italian aviation industry.