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 GIUSEPPE
MARIO "GM" BELLANCA 1886 - 1960
THE AVIATION GENIUS THE DU PONT FAMILY ENTICED TO
DELAWARE MADE 3,000 AIRPLANES - AND AVIATION HISTORY!
List of Bellanca Achievements
Bellanca Airplanes
Bellanca was born in Sciacca, Sicily, in 1886. As
a boy, flying kites on the breezy coast, he shunned the local kites, and
designed one that had better control and flew horizontally. Recognizing his
ability as a student and his restless imagination, his parents sent him, at17,
to Milan, to study engineering at the Royal Institute. Fascinated by the thought
of flight, Bellanca was interested to hear that the Frenchman, Leon Delagrange,
who in 1907 had successfully completed a six-minute flight, was demonstrating
flights in Turin. The Wright Brothers had already achieved powered flight in
1904 and had demonstrated their Wright Flyer in Europe by 1907.
After attending the Turin exposition Bellanca was convinced aviation was the
life for him. He furthered his education at the Politecnico, earning degrees in
mathematics and engineering, and studied the efficiencies and theory of marine
propellers. Soon after completing his studies, Bellanca convinced two friends,
Eana Bossi and Paolo Invernizzi to help build a flying machine. Their craft was
completed, ready to test-fly from Baggio Airport in the fall of 1909. With his
friend at the controls, the brief flight ended in a crash, but was not fatal.
The union of the three produced the first flight of a totally Italian-designed
and Italian-built aircraft in early December of 1909. The flight was short, but
it was a start. Bellanca's second design, was a tractor-type aircraft. Although
the aircraft was successfully constructed, it was never flown due to
insufficient funds for an engine.
In 1911 Bellanca followed his elder brother Carlo, who had emigrated to the
United States, and lived in Brooklyn, NY. With help and contributions from the
local Italian community, he began to build an airplane in the back room of a
grocery store. It was a small, parasol high-wing, tractor monoplane, of open
construction with a seat on the lower longeron. It was powered by a radial,
three cylinder, 30 h.p. Anzani engine, a French power plant used in Bleriot's
1909 flight across the English Channel. Bellanca's monoplane was finished in
1913 and he used it to teach himself to fly, in a field on Long Island .
In 1914, Bellanca built an improved aircraft and opened a flying school in
Garden City, NY, where one of his students, an attorney who drew up the papers
for the flying school, was Fiorello LaGuardia, the future mayor of New York
City. The business thrived but in 1916 a Maryland company, contracted with
Bellanca to design and build a trainer. Giuseppe moved to Maryland and designed
and built two-open cockpit, conventional trainers, used to teach pilots to fly.
However the firm closed in 1919.
Next, Bellanca signed an agreement with a Nebraska firm to manufacture
airplanes. He moved to Omaha, but in less than a year the aircraft firm went
bankrupt. The postwar WWI period was a very mixed time for American aviation.
Tales of daring air flights and adventures in the war sparked interest in
flying, efficient air mail and new passenger service, while barnstorming ex-army
pilots flew about the country with "death-defying" shows and took passengers up
on a short "hop" for a few dollars.
But Giuseppe Bellanca foresaw and believed in the great future of American
aviation. By 1920, he had finished plans for the Bellanca CF monoplane, the
prototype of the first line of successful cabin monoplanes designed and built in
the United States. The CF incorporated an entirely new concept and design in the
early 1920's, providing passengers comfort and cover from the weather in an
enclosed cabin, while retaining the traditional and preferred open cockpit for
the pilot. The cabin provided comfortable seating for four passengers and had
windows on each side. The plane, powered by a 95 h.p. Anzani engine, was cited
for its stability, lift and maneuverability.
With Nebraska investors, Giuseppe formed the Roos-Bellanca Aircraft Co. in
Omaha. He initially roomed in a boarding house and married a local girl, Dorothy
Brown - the daughter of the boarding house operators. But it was not a good time
for aircraft companies, when war surplus aircraft sold for a few hundred dollars
- and Bellanca had a price tag of $5,000 for his new plane. The CF was sold in
1924 to The Yellow Aircab Co. of New York. It soon went broke and was sold to
another air service that also shortly went out of business. After passing
through the ownership of several individuals, it was displayed at the Roosevelt
Field Air Museum on Long Island with other early aircraft. The air museum
deteriorated and the CF was returned to the Bellanca family.
Although only one CF was built, its efficiency and performance earned it first
place in highly contested races and endurance record contests in 1922 and 1923.
Still the CF design did not take off, even though the plane was the forerunner
of a line of successful Bellanca cabin monoplanes yet to come, including the
famous WB2 Columbia, Pacemakers, and Cruisairs, for sport, general and executive
aviation. With the financial failure of the Omaha aircraft plant in 1923,
Giuseppe headed back to the east coast to join the Wright Aero Corp. of
Paterson, NJ and build airplanes to feature their new J-4 Whirlwind radial
aircraft engines.
In partnership with the engine manufacturer, Bellanca designed the Wright-Bellancas
I & II. The WBI, a cabin plane powered by the J-4 Whirlwind, crashed in 1925
while being tested under maximum load conditions. Giuseppe soon completed the
WB-II, an improved model, which won many speed and performance contests, and the
world endurance record in 1926. But his engine partner, fearing that aircraft
manufacturers would not buy Wright engines because they were in competition with
them in selling aircraft, was not interested in producing more planes. The
efficient prototype WBII was put up for sale.
With the Wright Co. out of airplane production, Bellanca resigned and sought
capital to establish an aircraft plant of his own. With a New York financier he
formed the Columbia Aircraft Co. and bought the WBII from the Wright Co. in
January 1927. He renamed the plane Columbia
Bellanca hoped to sell the plane to the pilot who most wanted it, Charles
Lindbergh, who thought the WBII was the best plane for his planned solo flight
from New York to Paris. Lindbergh wrote a check for $15,000, but when Bellanca's
new partner refused to sell the plane unless their company could select the
pilot, an annoyed Lindbergh withdrew his check and went instead to Ryan Aircraft
in California. Lindbergh named his new monoplane The Spirit of St. Louis, and
when it and not the Columbia carried him to Paris, Bellanca's outstanding plane
became a footnote in the history of aviation. Giuseppe resigned from Columbia
Aviation furious that his partner had not allowed Lindbergh to buy the Columbia
- the plane he really wanted for his epic flight.
Just two weeks following the Lindbergh flight, the Columbia made the longest
flight up to that time - from New York to Berlin. The pilot was Clarence
Chamberlin and he took along the plane's owner, Charles A. Levine. The flight
distance surpassed that of Lindbergh's, setting a new record, and Levine became
the first transatlantic airplane passenger. But the impact of the flight was
lost in the acclaim for America's daring and courageous Lone Eagle.
Bellanca was soon approached by new, more enthusiastic, financial backers and
continued to build airplanes. In Wilmington, DE, Henry Belin du Pont and other
family aviation enthusiasts made a proposal to Bellanca, inviting him to come to
Delaware and build an aircraft plant. Giuseppe turned down the du Pont
proposition, but after a delegation of prominent Delaware and local business
interests and city fathers were involved in a new plan, Bellanca consented. In
1928 a large plant and runways were constructed on farm land near New Castle. On
December 16th 1929, GM was made a citizen of the USA.
Descendants of the Columbia evolved into the CH series, which were used in
numerous famous record-setting flights. The most notable was the Miss Veedol,
flown by Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon Jr. in the first successful non-stop
flight across the Pacific in 1931, in a Bellanca CH-400. They took off from
Samishiro Beach, 280 miles north of Tokyo, on Oct. 3, 1931, and landed in
Wenatchee, Wash., 41 hours later, covering 4,558 miles without incident.
Bellanca's earlier airplanes broke many major endurance, distance and altitude
records and were frequently cited by authorities as the best all-round aircraft.
In May 1931, a Bellanca Pacemaker, constructed with extra large wings and
control surfaces, stayed aloft over Jacksonville, Fla., for 84 hours and 32
minutes. The record stood for 55 years -until 1986. Powered by a 225 hp Packard
diesel engine, the Pacemaker was the first to demonstrate the efficiency of
diesel. Two months later, another Bellanca Pacemaker named the Cape Cod flew
non-stop across the Atlantic to Istanbul, Turkey, establishing yet another
flight distance record of 5,012 miles (8,066 kilometers).
By July 1931, six Bellancas had crossed the Atlantic, including a flight to
Istanbul—a record 5,012 miles. In the years that followed, Bellancas set more
records for speed and endurance. His Airbus caught the interest of the United
States Army and by 1933, four of the eight Airbuses then constructed were being
flown by that service. The U.S. Army then ordered ten more of the machines
modified to be equipped with a more powerful engine and incorporating other
changes that allowed a 2000 lb. increase in the all-up weight of the aircraft.
In this form it received the U.S. Army designation C-27A but it was generally
known as the Bellanca Aircruiser.
The 1934 Bellanca Aircruiser, with its distinctive W-shaped bottom wing, is
still considered by many to be the most efficient single engine aircraft ever
built, capable of carrying 15 passengers or more than 4,000 pounds (1,814
kilograms) of cargo—which is more than the airplane itself weighed empty.
Bellanca's designs were efficient, safe, fast, reliable and with outstanding
payload capacity. They turned out to be excellent executive and commuter craft -
and bush planes. His planes were purchased by governments, companies,
celebrities and airlines in South and Central America, Asia, and Europe
purchased his planes. Pacemaker and Skyrocket designs saw extensive use in
Canada, Alaska, and in frontier and severe climate locations around the world.
From 1928 to 1956 Bellanca produced many record-breaking aircraft.
During the depression, when dozens of American aircraft companies went out of
business, Bellanca survived. He attracted some very capable and efficient
colleagues who were loyal and dedicated, and most of who stayed with GM until he
retired. This slightly built innovator was a giant in his contributions to early
American aviation, and his outstanding aircraft were recognized as such
internationally. Delaware officials in1928 were hopeful that 120 workers might
one day be employed at the new facility. At the peak of the war, over 3,000 men
and women were at work at the Bellanca Factory. It produced many aircraft plus
many aircraft parts and sub-assemblies. It was an important contributor to the
aviation war effort in WWII.
After World War II, his company built approximately 500 four-place "Cruisaire"
general aviation type aircraft at the rate of 5 per day. The company became
established as a leading manufacturer, but he continued to specialize in quality
aircraft rather than in quantity of production until his retirement in 1954,
when he sold his interest in the company. After his retirement, he and his son,
August, conceived the idea of building a composite general aviation aircraft.
Before they could complete the aircraft, Bellanca died in 1960, at the age of
74. Shortly after the family donated the CF to the Smithsonian along with many
personal and corporate papers and correspondence. NASA craftsmen restored the
aircraft. It is on display at the Smithsonian Air & Space museum. The
far-sighted, innovative designer, builder and conceptualizer of American
aviation, Guiseppe M. Bellanca was enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of
Fame in 1993.
Compiled by Friends Of Bellanca Airfield, Inc.
Sources: Delaware Aviation History, Geo J Frebert
World Encyclopedia of Civil Aircraft, Enzio Angelucci
National Aviation Hall of Fame, Aviation History Magazine
Smithsonian / NASA. Golden Age of Bellanca, Al Abel
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