Description

One hundred years ago, on October 11, 1924, Argentinian pioneer aviator Pedro Zanni and his mechanic Felipe Beltrame alighted on Lake Kasumigaura, north-east of Tokyo, in their Fokker C IV floatplane, having reached the midway point in their ambitious attempt to circumnavigate the globe by air. It was an endeavour that was very much in vogue in international aeronautical circles at the time, with six separate teams from three continents setting off on ventures to girdle the earth during that enterprising year. In typical TAH style, we’ve taken a deep dive into one of the lesser-known attempts, in which Zanni and Beltrame set forth from Amsterdam on their intrepid journey, which – according to the plan – was to take in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, the northern Pacific and North America, followed by a transatlantic crossing back to Europe. I don’t think it’s giving anything away to state that Zanni and Beltrame did not ultimately claim the honour of completing the first circumnavigation of the globe by air (that distinction fell to US Army Air Service Douglas World Cruisers), but the story of the Argentinian pair’s epic adventure is deserving of much wider recognition. Ricardo M. Lezon opens a new two-part series on Zanni’s persistently troubled endeavour, with the first half providing some fascinating insights into the financial, political, logistical and personal challenges Zanni faced in even getting the right men and machines to the starting line, let alone around the world.

I’m also particularly pleased to be able to publish Michael J. Hardy’s history of the US Navy’s Goodyear “blimps”, which has been some 30 years in the making. Originally submitted to Air Pictorial in 1993, it fell through the cracks during a reshuffle there and resurfaced at TAH a few years ago. It was clearly a fine article written by a distinguished veteran aviation author, but I wanted to check that its foundations were still sound. I sent it to Richard G. Van Treuren of the USA’s Naval Airship Association, who went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure all was shipshape and Bristol-fashion. My profound thanks to him for finally getting it off the ground.

Elsewhere in TAH49, we present the most comprehensive illustrations of the Molins Gun ever published – see Ian Bott and Chris Gibson’s article on this formidable aerial weapon and its installation in the “Tsetse ” version of the de Havilland Mosquito. Also: post-WW2 British military aircraft procurement headaches; a Bell 47 helicopter crash in Australia which cast a long shadow; the Women’s Junior Air Corps; and the history of Trans-Canada Air Lines.

All this – and much more – awaits you in Issue 49 of The Aviation Historian.